The concept of the book club is practically as old as the book itself. It might even go all the way back to 400 B.C, when Socrates, Plato and a cabal of other heady white men gathered to talk about big ideas.
Fast forward some millennia and book clubs remain an integral part of readers’ lives. They’re a place to meet and discuss and connect, and often to eat and drink wine—all things essential for the soul. But with the resurgence of audio and the proliferation of high-quality podcasts, there’s a new kind of club in town—the podcast club.
In 2015 Adela Mizrachi was recovering from surgery. Her injury left her in a dark place and listening to podcasts became her mental escape, more so than watching television or reading books. One day she was chatting with a friend about the podcasts she was listening to.
“We were getting excited about sharing and getting recommendations and that’s when it hit me—this should be a thing that happens regularly. I needed to start a podcast club! We decided to get friends together for brunch to discuss a set of assigned podcasts and Podcast Brunch Club was born in Chicago,” Mizrachi said.
That was in 2015. A year later she put the idea out there on social media to see if anyone wanted to start a sister club where they live. Podcast Brunch Club now has about 50 chapters across five continents.
“When I put out the call to start new chapters, I really thought it would just be a few group of friends here or there who would join us. Instead, most of our chapter leaders opened their groups up to people outside of their networks. It’s been a great way to meet new people and to really connect with them over a shared interest,” Mizrachi said.
I talked to Mizrachi about the evolution of the podcast club and whether it could actually replace the traditional book club.
Jo Piazza: Why do you think the podcast club is the new book club?
Adela Mizrahi: Book clubs started because reading is a solitary experience and people wanted to find ways to create a community around that experience. Similarly, people often listen to podcasts alone and find themselves wanting to share the experience and feelings they have while listening. When it comes to these sorts of clubs there is a huge element of creating community where there was none before. I think there are a few reasons that podcast clubs are the new book club. First, reading is an activity that requires dedicated time, while podcasts can be listened to while doing other things. I can listen to a podcast while cooking, cleaning, commuting, and working out. I can’t read a book while doing any of those things. Time is one thing you just cannot get back, so multi-tasking is a necessity for most people who have busy lives. Reading is huge time investment, which is unfortunately a luxury that a lot of people cannot afford. Second, podcasts feel extremely intimate and, for me, more so than reading. There is something about the human voice—hearing the pauses and the cracks—that makes me feel so connected to the person on the other end. And I can’t help but want to talk to other people about it.
Piazza: Do you think podcasts are replacing books?
Mizrahi: I can’t speak for everyone, but, for me, podcasts are absolutely replacing books. As I mentioned, reading is such a huge time investment and I happen to be an extremely slow reader, so I also have that working against me. Furthermore, just like writing, there is artistry involved in creating an interesting or engaging podcast and because the medium is relatively new, there is a lot of excitement around where it can go in the future. There are people out there that are taking the art to the next level and it’s a really fascinating thing to witness.
JP: What podcasts resonate most with your clubs?
Mizrahi: I think two types of podcasts resonate with our PBC chapters: educational and storytelling/narrative since both inspire discussion and, at the end of the day, that is what Podcast Brunch Club is all about. Our favorite podcasts are those that manage to teach us something by way of a compelling narrative or story. Some examples of podcasts that do a good job of this and have been featured on a few listening lists are Hidden Brain, Radiolab, Reveal, and Invisibilia. Those are some of the bigger podcasts that are produced by networks, but we have also included quite a few independent podcasts on our playlists as well.
