Why Discovering a Podcast You Love Is Such A Dopamine Rush

 Have you ever gone to the supermarket for a product — like, say, jelly — and discovered, to your horror, that the choices seem overwhelming because there are too many of them?

There’s peach, strawberry, blackberry, chokeberry, high bush grape, rhubarb crisp, pineapple habanero, and raspberry horseradish. It’s so difficult to choose.

Now imagine, instead of jelly, we’re talking about podcasts. So many choices out there. For podcast superfans, the stress derives from missing out on a terrific, ear-worthy podcast. 

Despite the superabundance of podcasts, it is still gratifying to find a podcast that enthralls you.

Have you ever had that feeling? 

Typically, podcast superfans — like me — will find a podcast producing episodes for years. You listen to an episode because a podcast review website, such as Ear Worthy, Bingeworthy, Great Pods, or a friend recommended it. That first episode captivates you. You search your podcast app, like Pocket Casts, and find that podcast’s archive. To your utter delight, the podcast has 500, 1,000 or more episodes. 

There is a tremendous dopamine release as you comprehend the hours of listening pleasure ahead of you as you dive into that podcast’s archives.

Let’s do science — for my benefit — and ask: What is dopamine? According to Harvard Medical School, dopamine is most notably involved in helping us feel pleasure as part of the brain’s reward system. Sex, shopping, smelling cookies, baking in the oven — all these things can trigger dopamine release, or a “dopamine rush.”

Let me give you a personal example. I love trivia. I watch Jeopardy almost every night and like to believe I could beat Ken Jennings if, of course, I could use Google to find the answers. 

On the social media site Discord, a user recommended a trivia podcast from the U.K. named appropriately PodQuiz. The format is deceptively simple. Each week, there are twenty questions, some music as an interlude, followed by the answers. The podcast has recorded and released episodes for nearly 20 years and 1,005 episodes since my discovery. James Carter, an understated but brilliant man, hosts the PodQuiz weekly trivia quiz. 

Here’s a sample of recent episodes: June 13: Music (Sax Solos), Postage Stamps, Quantities (Quickfire), and Pandas 
May 16: Music (Connections), Printing, Flowers (Quickfire), and Transport.

Now, I can’t wait for my Friday trivia fix every week, and I dive into the podcast’s archives during the week when I need a trivia cocktail.

One of podcasting’s strengths is the availability of its content. When my favorite sitcom, Superstore, finished its six-year run on NBC, it filmed and broadcast 113 episodes. 

When I discovered Slate’s Hit Parade with Chris Molanphy several years ago, the podcast had already produced and released 120 episodes and now is up to 174. 

That thickness of content enables me to relax and revel in the lush archives with an early episode such as The Silver Medalists Edition. In the episode, Molanphy explains that “While having a №1 song can define an artist’s career, there’s far less glory in finishing one spot shy of the top slot. Yet some №2 hits have gone on to become classics, such as Shop Around by the Miracles; We Got the Beat by the Go-Gos; and Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson.”

About a month ago, I met Steve Cooper, a veteran podcaster who lives near me in South Jersey. Steve has a podcast called CooperTalk that has published over 1,000 episodes. 

After listening to Steve’s riveting life story and his endless tales of famous people he’s met or interviewed on his podcast, I dove into a few episodes. I found that Steve has interviewed 63 members of the Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame. I was hooked. I’ve listened to his recent episodes with actor Danny Pino from TV’s Cold Case, Mayan MC, The Shield, and Law & Order SVU, and actor Penelope Ann Miller, who just played Nancy Reagan in the recently released film Reagan. 

I discovered that Steve Cooper may not have the name recognition of a Joe Rogan, but the man is one of the best interviewers in podcasting. Now, I have nearly 1,000 episodes that I can listen to whenever I have time or an inclination.

That’s podcasting. It’s true that often, the greatest weakness is also the greatest strength. In the case of podcasting, its greatest weakness is its overflowing, overstuffed, and ridiculous number of podcasts and corresponding content. And that is also its greatest strength. Because when a listener finds a podcast they love, they often have anywhere from a few hundred to more than 1,000 episodes to enjoy.

I still listen to archived episodes of The Nutrition Diva and harvest nuggets of wisdom on eating healthy and smart. It’s my fortress of solitude. 

Happy listening, everyone.