As a matter of simple reflex, I always snort and turn up my nose at any new fad. If it's popular enough to spread like wildfire, it's probably really stupid and a waste of my time. Reality TV, anyone? I rest my case.
If I'm caught participating in a cultural fad, it's usually because I was doing it long before it became popular, and its popularity came simply because it was really that good. Internet, Linux, MP3/iPod, etc. I was doing all of those years before they exploded.
Rare is the fad that I end up picking up after it's already a worldwide hit. Blogging was probably the first I can think of, and that's only because Deadron made me do it. And now, we have podcasts (knowing his position at a certain company, maybe Deadron made me do that too!). Well, it's not a fad for me, but I did recently subscribe to one podcast that interested me.
This post relates directly to my previous one ("A Super Colossal Evening"). A few weeks ago I learned that Joe Satriani was doing a podcast to preview the songs in his upcoming album. For 4 weeks prior to release, he released a new episode every few days talking about how one new song came to be, and playing about a one-minute sample of the track. Satriani is my favorite guitarist by far, so there was no hesitation: I had to hear this stuff.
Most podcasts I couldn't care less about; I'd rather be listening to music than people talking, even if they're talking about something interesting. This podcast was different, just the kind of thing that finally made the whole concept worthwhile to me. I don't think I'll go out and find a bunch of other podcasts to listen to (too busy listening to Joe's new album for one thing), but maybe if other artists I like do the same thing, I'll check them out too.
And finally, the podcast: http://www.satriani.com/podcast/Super_Colossal/
I highly, highly recommend you check it out, even if you've never heard of Joe Satriani, or you don't think it might be your cup of tea. Listening to this is far better than your typical online song previews because you get some background behind each song, and you get a longer preview than most stores give. Who knows, you might even like some of it!
Penny Arcade just did something similar with their webcomic. It's not quite the same, it's just a recording of the process where they come up with the idea.
Maybe with such a popular website doing it this sort of non-standard podcasting will take off.