Nicholas Quah is far from the only person to speed up his podcasts.
But, as a critic with New York Magazine and Vulture, he is one of the few to make a public plea to the world to not only speed up podcasts but also virtually every kind of media.
To some it’s a crazy trend. (According to American sportswriter Bill Simmons, it’s sociopathic.) But for those who agree with Quah, it’s the new way of life.
To answer why people might be drawn to doing this, CBC News talked to some of the leading researchers in cognitive science about what double-time music, podcasts and movies does to our brains.
Podcasts
According to Audible, about five per cent of its audience listens at speeds of 1.5 times or faster, while 1.25 times is the most common choice.
UCLA psychology professor and metacognition researcher Alan Castel says this trend actually makes perfect sense — at least for …