The podcast boom: Podcasts had a really good 2020, despite the lack of a commute

3/16/21 7:00PM

Podcasts had a pretty good 2020. Even without the endless hours of commuting time, podcasts managed to grow their reach while we were all stuck at home. According to the latest data from Edison Research, 37% of Americans have listened to a podcast in the last month. That's up from 32% the year before, and is more than triple the number from a decade ago, when just 12% were regularly listening to podcasts.

So you should start a podcast right, seeing as there are more people listening to podcasts than ever before? While the latter is true, there are also more people recording podcasts than ever before, with ~850,000 active podcasts in the world. That makes it hard to stand out and build an audience.

‍Sell pickaxes

‍There's an old saying that you should sell pickaxes during a gold rush. If you're on the lookout for your next big startup idea (hoping to get it into the first chart from this newsletter) you might be better off building a "pickaxe" — any tool that helps podcasters or podcast advertisers do their job better. Of course, if you're really funny - just start an actual podcast.

Max Knoblauch10h

Hollywood is developing a film adaptation of the wildly popular Roblox gardening sim created by a 16-year-old

A popular Roblox game being developed for the big screen could test the limits of the recent success of video game film adaptations.

“Grow a Garden,” a gardening sim in which players plant seeds, sell their crops for in-game currency called sheckles, and then use that money to purchase more seeds, is reportedly being adapted as a feature film by production company Story Kitchen (which has adapted other video games for the big and small screen such as “Tomb Raider”). Can we start the awards season buzz now?

The game has become hugely popular, boosting Roblox’s player counts and breaking concurrent user records multiple times in recent months. It was also originally created by a 16-year-old.

No doubt Hollywood, and Roblox, are hoping that every kid-friendly video game adaptation can see the billion-dollar (or close to it) success of Nintendo’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and Microsoft’s “A Minecraft Movie.”

Story Kitchen Developing Film Adaptation Of Roblox Game ‘Grow A Garden’

The game has become hugely popular, boosting Roblox’s player counts and breaking concurrent user records multiple times in recent months. It was also originally created by a 16-year-old.

Luke Kawa11/4/25

Thieves are targeting “Pokémon” cards in robberies since they’ve skyrocketed in value

A real-life mishmash of different Team Rocket wannabes is having a lot more success thieving “Pokémon” cards than Jessie and James ever did in their attempts to pilfer Pikachu throughout the anime series.

The Washington Post reports on a string of DC-area heists of “Pokémon” cards, with CGC Cards Vice President Matt Quinn quoted as saying, “Any time you’re carrying around collectibles that are worth money, whether it be gold bars, Pokémon cards, coins, toy trains, or whatever it might be, you have to be vigilant with knowing that you’re carrying collectibles that can be easily stolen from you,” adding that these episodes are happening across the country.

Gotta thieve ’em all is an outgrowth of the massive boom in the value of “Pokémon” cards, with The Wall Street Journal reporting on 3,000% returns earlier this year. Their meteoric rise has been a big boon to GameStop, whose collectibles business has played a critical role in the stabilization and nascent turnaround of its operations.

Both individual cards and unopened packs have been targeted in robberies of stores and personal residences, per the Post report.

Stealing unopened packs of “Pokémon” cards is effectively thieving and buying call options at the same time: an individual pack might not be worth much on its own, but the most valuable cards in the recently released Mega Evolutions set are going for over $1,000. And at about 23 grams per pack and relative differences in security, the logistics seem a lot less onerous than trying to rob a gold dealer.

(Note: I don’t know for sure. I’m not a thief, besides that Klondike bar one time in high school.)

Max Knoblauch11/4/25

iHeartMedia surges on report Netflix, competing with YouTube, wants its video podcasts

Video podcasts are becoming a key part of Netflix’s efforts to keep pace closely behind YouTube in the streaming wars.

According to reporting by Bloomberg, the streamer is in talks to exclusively license video pods from iHeartMedia. Shares of IHRT surged on Tuesday morning.

Under the deal, iHeartMedia, which produces shows like “Las Culturistas,” “The Breakfast Club,” and “Jay Shetty Podcast,” would reportedly stop posting full episodes on YouTube — the site that more than a billion people use to watch podcasts every month.

Netflix made a similar deal with Spotify last month and will begin streaming 16 video podcasts produced by Spotify Studios early next year.

According to the Nielsen Gauge, YouTube pulled in 12.6% of all TV viewership in September, compared to 8.3% for Netflix.

Netflix Is in Talks to License Video Podcasts From iHeartMedia

Netflix made a similar deal with Spotify last month and will begin streaming 16 video podcasts produced by Spotify Studios early next year.

According to the Nielsen Gauge, YouTube pulled in 12.6% of all TV viewership in September, compared to 8.3% for Netflix.

Millie Giles

PERSONNEL BEST

11/3/25

The 2025 New York City Marathon saw a record number of runners

Almost 60,000 people took part in the NYC Marathon this year — as celebrities, influencers, and hordes of routine-starved young people keep long distance races on trend.

Millie Giles

FIT CHECK

10/31/25

“KPop Demon Hunters” costumes will probably be everywhere this Halloween

Again, Google Trends data shows one of the year’s buzziest movies is inspiring Halloween heads across the country.

"KPop Demon Hunters" Themed Zone Opens In Everland