The Impact of Podcasts on Listeners’ Emotions and Behavior
The internet has revolutionized the way we communicate and interact all over the world, transforming it into a rapidly changing place. Having easy access to online media has had an extraordinary impact on our everyday lives. Our leisure activities are, in many cases, influenced by the materials we consume through the media. But are media outlets, especially social media, which became an integral part of our lives truly a positive influence on the way we live now? There are crucial questions to reflect upon. First, how does online media influence us? Second, do we need to be aware of how the stereotypes they transmit might negatively affect us? For this reason, this essay examines the relationship between media and psychology, focusing on audio media, specifically the effects of today’s podcasts which have replaced the radio—an outlet that has throughout history effectively engaged the public, influencing perceptions, opinions, and causing emotional responses that can affect social behavior.
The impact of audio media is especially important because the brain processes what we hear more quickly, and what we hear determines what is positive or negative for us, which in turn influences our emotions. Furthermore, sound waves also have a frequency that connects with our perceptions; for example, music can easily make us feel calm and relaxed. Therefore, listening can be a powerful force that directly affects us (Professor Gregory Oswald in a lecture about how music evokes emotions in us 2025 ).
This essay will focus on podcasts, a relatively recent and popular platform that shares several similarities with previous audio platforms like the radio. I argue in this essay that podcasts can be deeper than the impact of traditional radio because podcasts can create parasocial relationships, foster emotional immersion, and provide spaces to create identity, and build personal validation. I focus on podcasts because they are not only becoming the new radio but may even surpass the strong impact that radio had when it first emerged as a means to effectively connect with audiences. This is why it is important to indicate the differences between new and old, traditional media.
The podcast, which emerged in 2004 but became more popular around 2014, is considered part of new media, while radio became widely known much earlier, in the 1920s, with the rise of broadcasting and commercial radio, making it part of traditional media. Both are audio formats with similar structures but different purposes and ways of influencing audiences. Podcasts allow users to participate by choosing episodes and specific content, while radio only offers whatever the station broadcasts. This gives podcasts the advantage of being able to claim a stronger connection with their audience. Jolynna Sinanan, in her book Social Media in Trinidad: Values and Visibility, specifically in the chapter “The Social Media Landscape: New Media and ‘Old’ Media,” contrasts these two forms of media. According to Sinanan, digital formats like podcasts empower users, who are no longer satisfied with being passive recipients. Today, users want control over the content they consume, with the ability to choose specific shows and episodes, rather than passively accept what a radio broadcaster decides to air.
Historically, one of the primary applications of radio was sharing political messages. Presidents like Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton regularly delivered weekly radio addresses to the American people, informing them of their activities and maintaining transparency. Radio fundamentally allowed elected leaders to communicate directly with the public, by passing coverage by third-party news outlets. Lori Cox Han, in her article “New Strategies for an Old Medium: The Weekly Radio Addresses of Reagan and Clinton,” explains how these weekly broadcasts became an important tool for presidents to advance their political agenda and share their views about the direction of the country. For example, in Bill Clinton’s final weekly address, he stated:
“That’s what these radio addresses have been all about… These Saturday talks have often marked action taken to make our schools stronger, our environment cleaner, our food safer, our health care more secure.”
These statements were highly effective because they helped people feel more secure and better understand the presidents’ visions for the country (Han). Broadcasting these messages through radio also created a routine, allowing listeners to stay informed about current events on a regular schedule. U.S. presidents used the radio to great effect. Franklin D. Roosevelt gave regular “Fireside Chats” on the radio, which helped reassure Americans during the Great Depression (Han). Reagan, in the 1980s, used radio addresses (along with television addresses), to present his foreign policy agenda and present himself as a “president of peace,” effectively using radio as a public relations tool. Yet, despite the manner in which radio could foster a sense of closeness or familiarity with listeners and facilitate global reach, radio still delivered collective—not individualized—messages, keeping audiences in a passive role compared to today’s interactive media environment.
In contrast, podcasts can be more appealing to modern audiences in search of a wider variety of topics and flexibility to choose the specific content they want to consume and how they want to listen. Podcasts are also available on various platforms like YouTube, which includes them in the category of audiovisual content, expanding their availability across geography and technological device.
All this positive accessibility, which includes podcasts as a new communication medium, allows users to try new experiences, which captivates the audience and leads them to abandon traditional media like radio. This is because they have already experienced how radio works and are looking for something that surpasses and evolves beyond it, as stated by Chan-Olmsted, S. and Wang, R.: “Research on media substitutability and complementarity has clearly stated that consumers ‘motives of using one medium could after their usage of other media”( p.689) This shows us that the audience wants something new, and that traditional media will have the role of measuring the evolution by comparing one with the others.
For example, Podcasts have often been compared to traditional radio, and what stands out most is their ability to interact with listeners. Audiences can select topics for self-education, information, or entertainment. The full impact of podcasts is still difficult to determine, as each listener seeks different content for different purposes. This personalization is a key factor in making audiences feel engaged. Chan‑Olmsted and Wang note the “perceived advantages of podcasting over competing media, such as superiority in terms of convenience” and “included customizable experiences, multitasking, companionship, para-social interactions with podcast personalities and other listeners” (687). This explains why audiences prefer podcasts and the purposes for which they use them. Another crucial factor is that podcasts must make users feel closer to the platform: motivation and gratification drive consumption, with motivation providing focus and gratification delivering satisfaction.
What makes a consumer feel special is the close relationship and informal interaction. Using informal language builds trust and facilitates the creation of a connection. In contrast, the formal and more general structure of traditional media makes it more difficult to establish a parasocial relationship. This parasocial aspect is very important for audiences to connect with a medium because it creates a sense of closeness with the person sharing the message.
Radio, as a strong audio medium, maintains a formal structure, but it can be said that it has managed to create both an attempt at a parasocial relationship and a successful parasocial relationship. Figures like Franklin D. Roosevelt are considered to have made an attempt at this type of connection, since during the difficult period of the Great Depression, his chats helped reassure the audience by sharing information about the measures and progress being made to address the crisis. This fostered a sense of comfort among listeners, but it does not constitute a fully developed parasocial relationship, as FDR did not share personal details or emotions explicitly. In contrast, podcasts often feature narrators who regularly share their experiences, revealing aspects of their personal lives and personalities to listeners. A successful example of a parasocial relationship on radio was created by DJ Barb Abney, who showed her true essence to the audience.
In the article Parasocial Breakup and Twitter: The Firing of Barb Abney, Peter B. Gregg discusses the case of Barb Abney, a DJ from the Twin Cities. After her dismissal from the radio station, Twitter erupted. Gregg explains that before The Current arrived in the Twin Cities, listeners were not concerned about who was fired because the station lacked a parasocial relationship with its audience. However, when The Current arrived, the station focused on building parasocial connections with listeners, which helped it grow both as a radio station and financially, as it relied on public funding. For this reason, it was crucial to maintain audience satisfaction.
Gregg notes how The Current distinguished itself from other radio stations, helping it gain recognition: “The Current changed all that… the ‘antiformat’ station unquestionably marked a seismic shift in Twin Cities radio options. Where before, stations’ DJs were rarely heard, The Current put their DJs up front. Each had a distinct personality and music taste, and listeners engaged with them via social media at local shows” (39). This strategy fostered a parasocial relationship, in which each host became a visible figure rather than just a voice. By showcasing their personalities, the hosts encouraged the audience to analyze them and identify with them. That’s why, after the audience learned of Barb Abney’s departure, listeners reacted so intensely on Twitter: they already felt a parasocial connection with her, they were accustomed to her style, and the way she presented herself authentically to the public meant that listeners remembered her for her genuine personality and the connections they had formed with her, rather than simply as a generic DJ who played music.
However, not all radio programs have been inclusive or have shown interest in developing a parasocial relationship with their audiences, thus creating a weak connection with them and causing listeners to develop feelings of low self-esteem, feeling rejected by that medium. This cuts off any opportunity for traditional radio to act as a platform that fosters positive habits for them. In the article “Where radio dare not tread: Podcasts as queer audio media.”, Bruce Drushel recounts a story of how LGBTQ+ audiences did not identify with the content of traditional radio and were often forced to conform to prevailing stereotypes.
Basically, throughout the article, Drushel recounts how the opportunity to share content that radio denied them is embraced by podcasts, which prioritize creating a connection with this type of audience and making them feel comfortable consuming content on their platform. Radio, which initially used its stations to share music, trend advice, and content for teenagers, did not include the queer community because sponsors had very conservative values and prohibited them from sharing this type of content. They didn’t want to risk generating negative opinions on these topics, and they were also subject to a greater degree of government oversight, meaning that if they violated these restrictions, their federal broadcasting licenses could be revoked.
This resulted in the exclusion of queer individuals, forcing them to adapt to something that didn’t represent them. “Queer adolescents were compelled to the ultimately doomed task of Guempung to conform to standards and Tifuals that did not fif them”( Bruce Drushel P.68). This led society to begin rejecting a group of listeners who simply wanted to be themselves. This article even provides examples of how media professionals had to hide their identity to avoid being fired, and how other radio programs addressed the topic, but in a negative way, mocking this group. : “LGBTQ+ persons have been convenient sources of mockery in the so-called comedy of morning commercial radio programmes…” (Bruce Drushel, P.71). This demonstrates that while some radio stations avoided the topic entirely, others exploited it to ridicule this community and also due to the lack of diversity on the radio, this negatively affected the self-esteem of these listeners, thus answering question number 2 from our introduction, which asked whether radio was promoting a stereotype that negatively affected a group that simply wanted to be themselves.
But podcasts came much later; they gave them hope, a safe space, and provided support to the queer community, finally allowing them to identify with the content they offered. As the article notes: “Portability. Because podcasts exist essentially as computer files, they are extremely compact—one might say dimensionless—and suitable for playback on any number of devices, from a desktop computer to a mobile phone. This means they emphasize both portability and privacy, the latter of which makes them particularly suitable for adolescents or young adults in the throes of early exploration of their sexual identities” (Drushel,p.72). This demonstrates that podcasts can create a positive connection with their audience, making listeners feel understood and safe from judgment. In doing so, podcasts directly address the first question posed in our introduction.
In conclusion, both audio media performed well during their respective broadcast eras. However, as outlined in this paper, podcasts connect more effectively with consumers because their design allows users to search for and select episodes. This enables audiences to participate actively rather than remain passive listeners, as is often the case with radio news. Podcasts have proven effective in positively influencing users’ emotions and behaviors, even serving as a tool for self-education. This supports the argument that the more developed podcast format has a greater impact. Nonetheless, this does not diminish the importance of radio, which continues to be used and laid the foundation for the development of audio media like podcasts. The fact that audiences now prefer podcasts over radio indicates societal progress and highlights how each platform is recognized for its significant contributions.
Cited Work
Chan-Olmsted, S., & Wang, R. (2022). Understanding podcast users: Consumption motives and behaviors. New Media & Society, 24(3), 684–704. https://doi-org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/10.1177/1461444820963776
Sinanan, Jolynna. “The Social Media Landscape: New Media and ‘Old’ Media.” Social Media in Trinidad: Values and Visibility, vol. 11, UCL Press, 2017, pp. 30–56. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1xhr53j.6.
Gregg, Peter B. “Parasocial Breakup and Twitter: The Firing of Barb Abney.” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, vol. 62, no. 1, Mar. 2018, pp. 38–50. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/10.1080/08838151.2017.1402900.
Drushel, Bruce. “Where radio dare not tread: Podcasts as queer audio media.” Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, vol. 21, nº 1, abr. 2023, pp. 67–81. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/10.1386/rjao_00073_1.
Han, Lori Cox. “New Strategies for an Old Medium: The Weekly Radio Addresses of Reagan and Clinton.” Congress & the Presidency, vol. 33, no. 1, Mar. 2006, pp. 25–45. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/10.1080/07343460609507687.
