We've seen around $600M of investment dollars pouring into podcasting in the last 35 days. And we're barely out of the 2nd month of the year.

The most recent funding round was for as-yet-unreleased listening app betting heavily that if they can make (or at least fund) content worth paying for.

Naturally, this has caused a stir in the podcast community, with voices on one side decrying the eventual pay-walling of free content, while the others celebrate the fact that they and their staff are getting paid to create amazing content.

But what's the impact to podcasting overall with moves like this? In this short episode, I'll discuss the benefits that a limited set of professionally produced content can have on the overall ecosystem. And maybe not all of those changes are bad.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselves and their families, including when it comes to ending a pregnancy. This decision has dire consequences for individual health and safety, and could have harsh repercussions for other landmark decisions.

Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health and independence of all Americans. Even if you live in a state where abortion rights are upheld, access to safe medical procedures shouldn’t be determined by location, and it shouldn't be the privilege of a small few.

You can help by donating to local abortion funds. To find out where to donate for each state, visit donations4abortion.com.

If you or someone you know needs help, or if you want to get more involved, here are 5 resources:

1. ShoutYourAbortion.com is a campaign to normalize abortion.

2. DontBanEquality.com is a campaign for companies to take a stand against abortion restrictions.

3. Abortion.cafe has information about where to find clinics.

4. PlanCPills.org provides early at-home abortion pills that you can keep in your medicine cabinet.

5. Choice.CRD.co has a collection of these resources and more.

We encourage you to speak up! And spread the word.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy