Every day we are bombarded with images, videos, music and news. In this age of visual and aural hyper-stimulation, the medium of radio is making a phenomenal comeback.
每天大量的图片，视频，音乐和新闻扑面而来、令我们应接不暇。在这个视觉和听觉高度刺激的时代，广播也正以惊人之势卷土重来。
“We’re at the dawn of a golden age of audio,”said US-based podcaster Alex Blumberg in an article in The Sydney Morning Herald. In the last month alone, 15 percent of US adults listened to a radio podcast. These statistics, released by Edison Research, reveal the successful evolution of traditional radio broadcasts to the present day’s digital podcast format. The term “podcast,” was coined in 2004, but the trend only started gaining mainstream popularity in recent years. Since the leap in consumer demand for smartphones and tablets, podcast subscription rates have only accelerated.
“我们已迎来了广播的黄金时代，” 美国播主亚历克斯•布隆伯格在《悉尼先驱晨报》上发表的一篇文章中如是写道。仅上一个月，就有 15%的美国成人在收听播客。爱迪生研究所发布的这些数据表明，传统广播已成功转型，变成了如今数字播客的形式。“播客”一词早在2004年就已出现，但直到近些年它才受到主流群体的青睐。由于消费者对智能手机和平板的需求激增，播客的订阅率也大幅上涨。
The appeal of the podcast partially resides in its multiplatform delivery and on-demand capabilities. You can tune in during those extra minutes of the day when you’re walking to the shops, waiting in a queue or riding the subway. Similar to television shows, podcasts are generally free to download and most offer new content every week.
能在多平台按需播放是播客的一大吸引力。不论是在去商店的路上，还是排队等地铁或是坐地铁时，你都可以收听几分钟的播客。播客和电视节目一样，大都可以免费下载，而且每周更新。
Donna Jackson, 22, Sydney university media graduate, listens to podcasts two or three times a week, via iTunes. “I listen while I’m pottering around the house doing something else. It makes completing a boring task a lot more enjoyable… And it’s an easy way of keeping in touch with what’s going on in the rest of the world,” she said.
22岁的唐娜•杰克逊是悉尼大学媒体专业的毕业生。她每周使用iTunes收听播客两到三次，她说，“我在家里晃荡时就会听（播客），它让我做枯燥工作时更享受……它还可以让我轻松了解国际时事。 ”
“I mainly listen to BBC podcasts, but recently I’ve also been tuning into This American Life and Serial. They have a knack for really drawing you in.”
“我主要听BBC播客，不过，最近我也在听《美国生活》及《连环杀手》。它们真的会让人一听就欲罢不能。”
Unlike television and music, the audio format has the potential to create a deep impression on readers. Blumberg says this comes down to the podcast’s ability “[to create] intimacy and emotional connection.” Sydney University undergraduate Hazel Proust, major in social work and arts, agrees. “When you’re tuned in, it feels as if the voice of the [podcast’s] narrator is talking directly to you. It’s comforting,” said Proust.
播客与电视和音乐不同，它能给听众留下深刻印象。布隆伯格认为这是由于播客能“制造出一种亲密感、能建立起（与听众的）精神纽带”。 在悉尼大学主修社工及艺术专业的本科生黑兹尔普鲁斯特也赞同布隆伯格的说法，他说，“ 当你听播客时，你会感觉播主在直接与你交流。 这让人感觉很舒心。”
It seems the age-old tradition of verbal storytelling is very much alive and well.
看来，这种口头讲故事的传统仍充满活力，经久不衰。
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