Auditory space is limited.
It is more difficult to audio-multitasks than visual.
We spend all day talking or being talked at and, in between, music or silence is the superior medium to occupy auditory space.
Anything you listen to in a podcast, you could read 2x faster on paper.
According to several studies, the average adult reads lines around 250 to 300 words per minute. The approved talking speed for high comprehension is 150 to 160 words per minute. By contrast, auctioneers speak at 250 words per minute, the equivalent rate as reading. (Here's a video of the fastest talker in the world).
Reading is faster. Period. You can finish a transcript of a podcast in a fraction of the time it takes to listen to it.
If you are biking/running/driving, you ought to be paying attention... which is why music is better choice, requiring less brain space to enjoy. In fact, it’s insane that just holding your phone while driving is illegal in California but audio-reading a book isn’t.
Information consumption for pleasure (books, news, anything) should be dedicated to “slower moments” for dedicated relaxation.
And it annoys me how aggressively Spotify is launched podcasts in 2015 to save their business bc their margins post song royalties are blasphemously bad. Just wait - audiobooks is next (fastest growing sector of digital media).
I object.