There has been much debate about Time Magazine’s recent list of the Top 100 Best Podcasts of All Time, which was released earlier this week. Reactions poured in from those who made the list—and perhaps even more from those who didn’t. Fred Toucher of Toucher & Hardy shared his perspective on the rankings during his Friday program on Boston’s 98.5 The Sports Hub.
In his commentary, Toucher offered a candid view on how celebrities are using podcasting to rake in millions, land spots on lists such as the one from Time Magazine, and, in his opinion, take away opportunities from younger, emerging broadcasters.
“What scares me about podcasting isn’t that everyone has a microphone, it’s that celebrities have microphones,” said Toucher. “Celebrities will d**k around and make an hour-long podcast, then they get $10 million that should have gone to some kid. Sirius should have spent that $10 million on a bunch of young broadcasters that they made stars.”
Furthermore, the Boston sports talk host criticized celebrities for siphoning money from traditional and satellite broadcasters—funds he believes could be better used to nurture and develop fresh talent. He called out celebrities such as Dax Shepard and several comedians, accusing them of lacking creativity while producing content that, despite its simplicity, is widely consumed and heavily financed.
“The laziness of, ‘We’re just going to sit in a room and talk to other comedians.’ You dopes consume that and then act like it’s somehow reinvented the wheel,” said Toucher. “Wow, that’s crazy. Audio that’s been prerecorded. I thought they stopped that with eight tracks. This is the future. Get out of here.”
Additionally, Toucher admitted that he listens to only a few podcasts, though he emphasized that the ones he does follow are created by professional hosts who work hard to develop original material. He contrasted this with what he views as lower-effort productions—such as New Heights featuring Jason and Travis Kelce—specifically criticizing a recent episode that broke down the movie Pretty Woman. According to Toucher, the segment blatantly borrowed from Bill Simmons’ style at The Ringer.
“They can’t even come up [with their own material]. They’re stealing, they’re stealing from The Ringer,” explained Toucher. “You rip off artists, you con artists, you pieces of garbage. No one says that to them? They can just go around? No one to hold to no standard anymore. There’s no one to call you out?”
In total, six podcasts were recognized by Time Magazine in the sports category of its Best Podcasts of All Time list. You can read more here.
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