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In October 2014, Chicago’s public radio WBEZ debuted their ‘Serial’ podcast. By February 2016, it had been downloaded over 80 million times. And with its success, the world of podcasting was catapulted from the world of little-known specialists to that of an all-encompassing audience on a truly global scale. But what exactly is a podcast? How does it differ from traditional audio storytelling? And what’s the secret to its success thus far?

With iTunes podcasts subscriptions now surpassing the one billion mark, this dramatic rise to the limelight for podcasts has resulted with many scrambling to monetise the newest member of the ‘new media’ family – but will this work? Arguably symptomatic of the more general trend of democratisation of all media – think YouTube, Netflix etc. – can this cheap and effective method of storytelling survive the bite of capitalist consumerism?

Ultimately, what does the future hold for the world of podcasting? And can it remain true to its bedroom ‘roots’?