From Joe Marler’s visual-only stunts to the incomprehensible shuffling sounds Steven Bartlett recently subjected headphone users to, dodgy audio experiences are on the rise To understand where we are in the evolution of podcasting, the opening episode of Joe Marler Will See You Now is unexpectedly instructive. The podcast finds Marler, former rugby player and breakout star of The Celebrity Traitors, impersonating a psychotherapist and subjecting guests to “totally unregulated psychological testing”. The mock-therapy conceit is hardly a new one, but on paper it still has the makings of a successful pod. Celebrity host fresh from ratings-busting TV triumph? Check. Fancy studio setup for the viewing crowd? Check. Weird visual stunts that will leave audio listeners baffled? Er … check? The big news in podcasting from the last 18 months has been the medium’s swift and unstoppable pivot to video. Where a podcast was previously defined as an audio recording available to stream online, it has since expanded to become an umbrella term taking in visual and audio content. The idea, at least in theory, is that audiences get to choose whether they watch or listen. But there are creeping signs that video is taking precedence, with audio considered to be secondary. Continue reading...