Too Many Podcasts, Not Enough Listeners? Industry Panel Weighs In

The Isaiah Factor Uncensored starts now. It is a sign of the times. Nearly everyone has a damn podcast, and now they're recording them everywhere. So most people, they take the present and drive it into the future, but what you're doing is... A sauna, a bed, a bathtub, even a moving subway car. When I moved to L.A., it was such a culture... Three in four American adults have tuned into a podcast, and one in three listeners started just this past year. Jumping, But the audience isn't growing like it used to. Podcast reach has been flat since 2024, while Spotify alone hosts more than 300,000 video podcasts. So with everyone talking, is anybody still listening, listening to those podcasts out there? And our guests are here on the Fact Or Fiction. We're talking about the future of podcasts and where do they go next? We have with us a big news of podcast hosts, Ryan Woods, Adam Nelson, who's a podcast host and Latoya Lemon, who is a publicist. And Latoya, you and I saw a recent post that said at some point the CIA would drop crack cocaine into black neighborhoods to ruin them. Now they're dropping podcasts to ruin them. Your thoughts about podcasts, the future and just how useful are they? I mean, I think we're in a point right now where it's overdone. Right. Everybody doesn't need a microphone. Some conversations can just stay right at the barbershop or the beauty shop or whatever. And I think what's happening is, is the etiquette of journalism is starting to fade because of the podcast culture. Like everybody thinks they're media now. And it's like, get some etiquette, get some training, get some media training and understand that some of these topics we can do without. I don't want to see you in a bathtub talking about politics. All right. And Adam, you are the host on a podcast. Your thoughts about this. are we seeing too many podcasts out there are we seeing an over saturation well i think it's not the podcast i think it's the information that's being displayed right everybody has a microphone and to Latoya's point i think it's more of the information that's being put out right you don't have to listen to these podcasts right right this is your it's your choice now if you i i think that information that's being given out that's real good information those podcasts gonna last long you know they're gonna last but if you're just putting stuff out like the guy in the bathtub come on they're just trying to get clicks for whatever reason yeah so all right ryan your thoughts i mean this is a multi-billion dollar business now a lot of advertisers are interested in podcasters out there your thoughts about the future and the usefulness of podcasts um i think it's probably gonna die down um i feel like everybody is trying to do it and it's not like good information out there it's a lot of think pieces it's not a lot of thought going into it it's just like private conversations like miss latoya was saying that are being broadcasted to the world and it's not making sense and then a lot of people now with 2026 social media they're being influenced by what people are saying on these podcasts that i'm a human i have my own thoughts i'm letting somebody on a podcast in the bathtub telling me how to work this how to do this so i think a lot of people are being influenced the wrong way with podcast so that's why it's kind of dying down people aren't really listening people kind of just get something you hear a piece of it oh yeah i'm going with that instead of using their own brain to like analyze things figure out what's going on and the biggest your thoughts about that those who may be getting incorrect inaccurate or wrong information to conduct their lives as a podcast host let me speak on it as well no because this is how i feel about it man i feel like everyone made some great points i feel like the examples that were shown the clips you guys showed uh they were a bit extreme you know the people in the bathtub i feel like all that is yes that seems a bit much is that just desperate yeah yeah you're really trying you're trying you just kind of trying anything just to get somebody to tune in it's clickbait you know what i'm saying but i feel like if you have some kind of uh integrity about the content that you're putting out as far as podcasting you're taking your time you're in the studio you're not just doing this in your closet. I think you should be able to put out your stuff. There's room for everybody to make some money, express themselves. If you feel like this is your talent, this is your dream, who are we to say, nah, y'all shouldn't be doing this or something like that or it's oversaturated? If that's the case, a lot of people shouldn't be making music, shouldn't be posting pictures, you're not a model. It's like, where do you really draw the line? Well, we have seen the Instagram model disappear, right? Well, hey, if that's the case, if you fall off, your podcast will disappear, right? And I think it's relatability. I think, like what I said, anybody could put a podcast out with any type of information. It's relatability, what people relate to, right? Now, it's like you just said. I'm going to give you an example. The news. All news ain't good news, but we still watch it, right? It's the same thing. Why you got to pick on my game? You got to drag Willie. Man, we just can't speak on it, you know? They calling out the podcast, we calling out the news. Come on, man. and is it is there potential there for danger the information that may be put out for some who may be looking to manipulate for sure absolutely i think so i mean again i still strongly believe everybody doesn't need a microphone everybody doesn't need to create this audience because there's a lot of false narratives that are out there there's a lot of false information which i think if you go back to our world journalism professional media things of those nature you have to research you have to be able to be accurate with podcasts there's it's just opinion based in a lot of things and i think it's it's getting to a point where it's it's kind of poisoning society in some ways all right and adam you think there's some poison out there a little i think i think our podcasts are not like politics right you have a lot of politicians that say one thing it's up to you if you believe it or not same thing right all right let's get you guys to wrap up i say you gotta you gotta make your own choice man you can't let nobody think for you because if that's the case she made a great example but if that's the case nobody should have a cell phone you can't make music it's the same exact thing it's freedom of speech so you're gonna tell me i can't say this because i didn't read the book on it but i feel like in 2026 the social media is such a big influence now that every podcast can like deter you from the like people can make the wrong decision based on what they hear hearsay if somebody just thought like oh i thought about this and i go online and i say this and i was like oh yeah and now we all rallying together to think something that's not even true or cause a bigger scene like even with the Texas Roadhouse stuff that wasn't a podcast but that's a weak-minded person man you let the social media kind of tell you how to act or react to a situation on the podcast