How to find a podcast

Listen Notes is the best source for results based on engagement

Well hey there, reporters! A few years ago, podcasts were talked about as the newest frontier for journalism. These days, they might not seem so cutting edge, but they do seem to be good for converting lurkers into subscribers.

So - where do you find a good podcast, or engagement stats? As someone from outside the podcast world, it’s surprisingly difficult. Usually, you can’t even find how out many listeners a pod has.

The closest I’ve found is a website called Listen Notes. They use a “Listen Score” to rank podcasts compared to each other, instead of giving hard numbers. For example, NPR’s Marketplace is in the “top 0.05%” podcasts in the world.

Frankly, I think the website is overly stuffed with details (see above), and the Listen Score is pretty opaque. But Listen Notes is the only source that I’ve found is even remotely reliable for information like this.

You can also search for episodes or pods that mention a certain topic - another feature that distribution platforms seem to trip over. Listen Notes doesn’t have an app, and the mobile site is meh, so it’s tough to find a new pod on the go. But at least they surface results!

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