Celebrating podcast diversity, accessibility in Philadelphia style

Podcasts remind me of radio shows, books on tape, story slams, or anything that draws me in to a voice or voices. And they are downloadable, so they go anywhere I go.

For the fifth year going, you can pull up a seat and — here’s the twist — watch as podcasts are recorded throughout this city at a variety of venues for the Philadelphia Podcast Festival or PPF.

Beginning Friday and running through July 23, the PPF will feature 55 local podcasts;  some are free to watch, others require tickets.

I recently spoke with PPF co-founder Teagan Kuruna her about her take on podcasts as a medium that’s grown in popularity. You can listen to our interview by clicking the button above. Here are a few things Kuruna, who produces the podcast “Teagan Goes Vegan,” had to say:

Podcast gear

“I have a pretty expensive audio setup because my husband and I have been podcasting for many years. But, it doesn’t actually require a mixing board and microphone and a quiet place. You can easily record on your phone, using your Voice Memo app.

“You can record using basically any device that do a decent quality audio recording.”

Rising popularity of podcasts

“If I had a really good answer to that, I would have a much more popular podcast. I think that authenticity is generally one of the most important pieces of a successful podcast. If you are talking about something that you care about and that you put the time in to really understand and create some kind of content that is compelling to other people, you will have a better shot at becoming a more popular show.”

“The other thing to consider is that podcasters don’t always get into podcasting in order to become more popular. They do it because they love it, and it’s a creative expression.”

Podcasts as radio competition, companion

“I think that radio has started to move toward releasing its content as podcasts, which is probably one of the best ways to capture that podcast audience. We do have a shift in the way that we consume media in that we want it on demand, on our own time. So I’m much more likely to listen to a WHYY show in the afternoon — even if it aired in the morning — because that’s when I’m in my car coming home from work. There’s a lot of symbiosis there.”

For a list of podcasts to watch in this year’s Philadelphia Podcast Festival, you can visit phillypodfest.com.