The end of podcasting as a viable cottage industry really does seem to be here now, and the end of podcasting as a culture-moving media format has arrived. Amy Poehler won the first podcasting Golden Globe for a “hang out and promote my new project” podcast. Most celebrity podcasts are this way. Even the ones that ostensibly have a theme: Smartless is barely anything anymore. They’re warm applesauce, and they dominate the format to the point that ad revenue is draining away from a lot of better shows.

“Actors give podcast award to actor with a podcast” isn’t all that shocking, but still, look at the nominees for “best podcast”:

  • Good Hang with Amy Poehler
  • Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard
  • Call Her Daddy
  • The Mel Robbins Podcast
  • SmartLess
  • NPR’s Up First

I guess we can at least be grateful they didn’t nominate JRE. For every single niche these shows occupy - maybe with the exception of Up First - you can easily find a better version that is less popular. I guess the fact that “massive media breeds mediocre media” is maybe not all that surprising, either.