Fresh newsletter is up! Talking about the weirdness of our current media moment, plus job postings & submission news, plugs, & a requiem for CBS Radio & (maybe!) BuzzFeed. Get @goodtape.com in your inbox fortnightly at GoodTape dot com.
You can now read my Nicole Byer profile online! It was, to quote the cover star, a treat and a dream!
Order The Threat Issue today to get this feature and more in print! shop.goodtape.com/gtm/p/issue-03
It’s our most requested article so far: @briwellen.bsky.social profiles our illustrious cover star, Nicole Byer.
Delightful, sharp, and candid as ever, Nicole shares the story of her rise to podcast queendom, which started with an edible at LAX and spawned a multiverse of comedy shows.
My latest for @goodtape.com includes a roundup of under-sung news podcasts that help contextualize the Current Moment (TM), including @aljazeera.com 's The Take, @hellgatenyc.com, @citycastnash.bsky.social (& all the City Casts), @chrislhayes.bsky.social 's WITHpod, and more. Read it! Please & TY!
“2025 made me feel like I was that meme dog in the fire saying ‘this is fine.’ This episode walked in and yelled FUCK THAT LET’S PUNCH SOMETHING. Lauren Shippen’s new fiction show is like ‘Fleabag’ meets ‘Venom.’ It does not shy away from the cathartic urge to create some havoc. And while I regularly have days where I feel like an angry loser, it is so rare to have stories where women get to be that! So if you like chaotic women as much as I do, this is for you. I love this episode, and it made me feel less crazy in 2025.” – Eleanor Hyde, CEO and producer, Audacious Machine Creative
absolutely DELIGHTED by this summation of TWO THOUSAND AND LATE in a list of the "The Most 2025 episodes of 2025"
“2025 made me feel like I was that meme dog in the fire saying ‘this is fine.’ This episode walked in and yelled FUCK THAT LET’S PUNCH SOMETHING"
can't wait to wreak more havoc in 2026
It’s important to consider, however, whether this change to the medium reflects a fundamental shift in the art form, or whether it’s just another ill-conceived pivot to video, in which titans of industry duke it out for the crown while creators try to avoid the fallout.
Read the rest at here:
The most significant advantage YouTube has, of course, is that its infrastructure was built for video consumption from the start. This puts Spotify at a disadvantage, yet it’s unlikely this massive media corporation known for spending its way to cultural dominance, will give up without a fight.
Major corps have taken notice. Most notably, Spotify has leveraged its position as a top music streaming platform in an attempt to corner the podcast market as well. But when it comes to podcasts specifically, Spotify has captured only 26% of American podcast listeners compared to YouTube’s 33%.
But the traditionally audio-based art form is overwhelmingly becoming a video-based one. While video is not a new facet of podcasting, only now is the number of reported viewership growing. In 2025, 51% of Americans said they watched at least one podcast.
There’s a marked hunger for audio content right now. According to “The Podcast Consumer 2025,” an Edison Research report on the industry published earlier this year, the number of hours Americans spend listening to podcasts increased by 355% over the last decade.
The inter-corporate struggle for dominance in video podcasting wages on. Now that the cameras are rolling on creators, will YouTube or Spotify emerge as the video podcast platform of choice? And where does that leave audio-first shows?
Opheli Garcia Lawler explore in "Battle of the Bandwidth":
New from me on @goodtape.com about the perfect DIY double-header.
Was @yoweishaw.bsky.social perfect? Indeed! Did @joshgondelman.bsky.social kill? 💯. Did Tony Shalhoub have a lot to say about bread? Indeed! And after 25 yrs, @jessethorn.bsky.social still makes the best case for Making Your Thing.
Good Tape presents THE THREAT ISSUE.
Get your copy at goodtape.com/shop.
The magazine you should be reading if you care about podcasting’s future.
The Threat Issue ships November 7. Pre-order now at goodtape.com/shop.
We don’t just report on the industry, we’re shaping it.
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The Threat Issue, featuring Nicole Byer, ships November 7. Pre-order now at goodtape.com/subscribe.
Surprise! I returned to journalism to talk with one of the best to ever do it. Issue drops November 7!
Issue 03 also explores podcasting's latest crossroads, where threats loom large, systems break down, and bold voices break through. The Threat Issue drops November 7. Pre-order now at goodtape.com/subscribe.
Nicole Byer on the cover of Good Tape.
You know her. You love her. It’s Nicole Byer!
In a conversation with @briwellen.bsky.social, Byer shares how an edible started her podcasting journey, the challenges of transitioning from audio-only to video, and the importance of vulnerability with boundaries.
“What ‘Tusk gets right about comedy podcasting … is the single-minded mission it’s capable of instilling within its participants.”
New piece up by @rockmarooned.bsky.social on the macabre delights of 2014’s TUSK, a film that is not only about a podcaster, but was inspired by a podcast conversation. In some ways, the most authentically podcast movie of all.
Got a new piece in @goodtape.com on some of the best journos & podcasters covering AI right now: like @bcmerchant.bsky.social @parismarx.com @404media.co @edzitron.com & more. Check it ouuuut....
Insert of a raw-wood table graffitied with many signatures, including Clint Watts, Leonard Maltin (with a lil drawing of him), Wallace Shawn, Allison Layton-Brown, and many others. There's also an inscription that says "For a good time call Paul DeBoy."
Today's @goodtape.com newsletter features an ode to the Earwolf table, a lookback at PUMP UP THE VOLUME via @rockmarooned.bsky.social, a tribute to a podcast pioneer, and a show rec if you hate Bill Maher (it's @oldmanweldon.bsky.social's ofc). Subscribe!
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Celebrating Shelley Duvall on her birthday today, a year after her passing, with our feature from The Celebrity Issue.
