The Cult Of The Middle Aged Podcast Host

I don’t know about you but one of the most frustrating things about selecting my next podcast to listen to, is, well, selecting my next podcast to listen to.

You see, my time is (or I consider it to be) precious.

And if I’m going to spend the next 2-3 hours of my life getting intimate with someone and their guest, I want to know who I’m jumping into bed with.

But often it’s hard to nigh-on impossible to select exactly which one to go for.

I don’t know if I’m a bit jaded because I’ve been on the podcast gravy train for so long and nothing seems new anymore, but they all feel kinda same-y and repetitive.

To wit: here is a blog post I wrote all the way back in 2016 called ‘The 15 Tim Ferris Podcasts You Need To Listen To,’ and here is another from a year later in 2017, called ‘The 15 Lewis Howes Podcasts that Will Improve Your Life.’ 

And then the realization belatedly hit me, square between the eyes.

They all feel the same because they ARE all the same.

Or, at least, the host of the podcast is. Let me show you what I mean.

The Big 6

My top 5 subscribed podcasts are:

The Tim Ferriss Show – Tim Ferris (age 47)

Huberman Lab – Andrew Huberman (aged 48)

The Drive – Peter Attia (age 51)

Rich Roll Podcast – Rich Roll (age 57)

The Joe Rogan Experience – Joe Rogan (age 56)

The Kevin Rose Show – Kevin Rose (age 47)

Jocko Podcast – Jocko Willink (age 52)

This is an extremely well-qualified and credible bunch of middle-aged guys. They are exclusively American, and alarmingly successful in their chosen field. It’s also a heavily testosterone-led and macho bunch (for the most part).

Interestingly and somewhat surprisingly, some of them have expressed extreme vulnerability and weakness. They are clever enough and wily enough to know that such openness might lead to markedly increased popularity, and yet in the case of Ferris, Attia and Rich Roll, it’s so confrontingly honest and in your face, it’s hard to believe this is a cynical ploy.

Still, the archetype is clear and unavoidable, and thus it makes selecting my next episode a real trial, largely because they generally discuss the same topics with the same guests (who usually have a book to shill).

Then there’s the younger crew; the new wave of podcasters who have seen the trail blazed by their forebears and now nipping at their heels:

The New Breed

Stephen Bartlett (age 34)

Chris Wilkinson (age 34)

Lex Fridman (age 40)

Lewis Howes (age 41)

These guys are perhaps less overtly macho and American guy-like, presumably because two and possibly three of them aren’t American guys, but there’s a softer, more sensitive edge and an even greater willingness to share vulnerability. At least, on the face of it. 

The fact that two of them are (or could be) models, one is elite at both chess and Brazilian jujitsu, perhaps does make it easier for them to express and share vulnerability.

As with the older Big Bro’s they share a wealth of interesting, useful and actionable content and are insanely good at what they do.

I just wish they weren’t all so good or didn’t all have such similar content, so that I could spend more time actually  listening and less time figuring out what to listen to.

Yours in fitness,

SFD