Hello and welcome to the first Casual Friday, an experimental divergence from our usual coverage. Thoughts on today’s issue? Hit reply.

PodMov Daily: Friday, July 22

Episode 687: Week Download Complete

Casual Friday: Podcast News & Commentary

• Podcast listening is on the upswing after the dip reported in March, according to Gabriel Soto of Edison Research. “We can’t say U.S. podcast listening will break through the ceiling … but what we can say is something my girlfriend always says with relief after checking in on her pets at dinner: The [pod] cats are doing alright.”

• The iconic Love+Radio has left Luminary. Previously paywalled, its eighth and ninth seasons are being released incrementally. Love+Radio began in 2005, became one of Radiotopia’s original shows in 2014, and moved to Luminary in 2019. Nick Quah covered the saga in Vulture this week.

• “Using your podcast as a direct to consumer vehicle” is a questionable strategy, muses Nick Hilton. His hypothetical product is inspired by Crooked Media’s new coffee line: “‘If you like coffee that’s been through the digestive tract of a lemur,’ Joe Rogan would say, ‘then you’ll love Lemur Anus Coffee.’” [Strong language.]

• This newsletter is “almost as good as Podnews”! We’ll take it. Thanks to our friend James Cridland for the birthday well-wishes in yesterday’s Podland. We also learned that there are more than 3,150 podcasts called Let’s Talk. The discovery curse strikes again.

Here's what else is going on:

• Bad take of the week: “Podcasting will kill modern celebrities,” yet, at the same time, Hollywood is killing podcasts. (??) A popular Medium post has it all figured out: Before Gwyneth Paltrow came on the scene, podcasters used to show listeners their unfiltered lives, like on “MTV Cribs.”

• That’s what this podcast’s host looks like? In the style of The Onion, The Hard Times describes the disorienting experience of putting an attractive face to a familiar voice. [Very strong language.]

• Reader note of the week: “Please keep doing what you're doing! It’s the most important thing out there, for anyone who is serious about this medium and treating it as a profession not a hobby.” Thank you, Esther. (Just kidding about the weekly horn tootin.’)

Keep Episodes Fresh with Dynamic Content

With Buzzsprout, it’s faster than ever to keep your podcast fresh — and your listeners up-to-date. The Dynamic Content tool lets you easily add and remove short pre-roll (intro) and post-roll (outro) content to your episodes. It's the perfect solution for timely messaging.

Whether you’re promoting a virtual event or giving a special shout-out, Dynamic Content makes it simple to swap, automatically add content to new episodes, or apply it to your existing catalog with a click. Old files are removed and replaced, so there’s no clean-up.

This innovative feature offers more than flexibility. It benefits your audience in more ways than one: Buzzsprout respects your listeners’ privacy. Unlike most Dynamic Ad Insertion, the Dynamic Content tool includes no tracking or targeting. Ready to make the switch?

That’s all, folks. Event listings will begin next week. Because an absurd stock photo is worth a thousand words: We wish you…