Ideas: The Podcast ‘Productivity’ Trap

Photo: IMAGO/Gary Waters/IMAGO/Westend61 Photo: IMAGO/Gary Waters/IMAGO/Westend61 Ideas The Podcast ‘Productivity’ Trap Maybe don’t fill every available silence with people talking.First published in The Atlantic on December 30, 2025. Podcasts have devastated my relationship to music. Confirmation of that sad fact came earlier this month in the form of my Spotify “Wrapped,” the streaming service’s personalized report of what I listened to this year, including a playlist of my top songs. In the past, this annual playlist supplied a loop of sonic pleasure, propelling me through workouts, dinner preps, and hours-long commutes. This year, I haven’t even opened it.
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