In this episode, Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson discuss the evolving landscape of podcast consumption, particularly in light of Satya Nadella’s innovative approach to engaging with audio content through AI. They explore the significance of transcripts, the potential for AI to facilitate interactive experiences, and the challenges that come with adopting these new technologies. The conversation highlights the future of podcasts as a medium that can be both passive and interactive, reshaping how audiences engage with audio content. Neville and Shel also examine how these same generative AI tools can make other content interactive and the ease with which users will be able to take advantage of it as LLMs become multi-modal.

Links from this episode

• The surprising way Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella uses AI to consume podcasts on his commute
• Podcast Transcription: How & Why You Must Transcribe Podcasts

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, February 24.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. To obtain the credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request them in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this podcast are Shel’s and Neville’s and do not reflect the views of their employers and/or clients.

Raw Transcript:

Shel Holtz (00:03.168)
Hi everybody, and welcome to episode number 459 of Four Immediate Release. I’m Shel Holtz.

@nevillehobson (00:10.742)
And I’m Neville Hobson. One of the more thought provoking stories I came across recently was a short piece on Geekwire about Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and how he listens to podcasts, or rather how he doesn’t. According to Nadella, the best way for him to consume podcasts these days isn’t by listening to them in the traditional sense. So what does he do? We’ll discuss that in just a minute.

@nevillehobson (00:38.72)
Instead, during his commute, he interacts with the transcript of a podcast using his personal AI co-pilot. He speaks to it, asks questions, interrupts when needed, essentially turning what would normally be a passive listening experience into an active conversational one. Nadella describes it as a full duplex conversation, a two-way interaction, which until recently would have seemed futuristic. This kind of back and forth modality, he says, is more convenient and powerful than traditional listening.

His comment was, there’s no going back. This shines a spotlight on a crucial, but sometimes overlooked asset for podcasters, the transcript. Provid