Comment by oddthink 3 days ago
I'm sorry, it's a really inefficient format. I don't want to sit and listen for two hours to what's most likely half an hour of content by reading. Just write down what you have to say already!
I guess you could do double-speed, but I find that somehow stressful.
Edit: I just read the paper. It took me 21 minutes. It's not long, only 11 pages.
I don't particularly like the podcast format either, but it's not inherently less efficient. You can potentially do other tasks while listening to one which would be difficult while reading. I personally find it difficult to concentrate on the content of the podcast when I do this (I don't take in information well from auditory sources), but others don't (and some actually find it hard to remember things they read).
I sympathize, but just happened to listen to this episode over several days. The discussion actually adds a lot to the paper, and they seem very qualified to critique it. One of the guests(?) has written several esolangs. There must be a way to generate a transcript.
Slight spoiler: they have lots of criticisms of the paper.
That's Lu, one of the regular hosts now. All very bright and interesting people, different from each other. I think only Jimmy has a formal CS education, but he'll talk as much about philosophy sometimes.
Also, show notes link to the paper that they talk about that they do like much better.
I really enjoy listening to people talk about things. I get the same enjoyment out of talk radio and any news radio that is editorialized. I enjoy lots of shows on the various NPR member stations.
This format isn't inefficient, you're just judging it based having a different goal than it does.
For me, podcasts are useful for learning while I drive. They are also useful for refreshing my recollection.
Finally the are useful for synthesis…a podcast can talk about tenuously related topics that would not usually be appropriate for an academic paper; use analogies, metaphors, and similes; and simply go off topic and discuss other interesting ideas that turn out to be more applicable than the formal subject.
But again that’s for me, not someone else.