Have you ever wished you could take the knowledge of say, National Geographic, with you on the go and learn about a brand new topic that interests you? Well, now you can. National Geographic launched its new podcast series, Overheard at National Geographic, with its first episode titled “Humpback Hit Factory.”
This new podcast will tackle a new topic each week, and inform and entertain audiences with conversations they’ve overheard at National Geographic (hence the title). It will feature explorers, photographers, and scientists who are experts on the given topic, providing listeners with all kinds of interesting information.
“Humpback Hit Factory” touches on the topic of whale songs. The episode features expert testimonial from a photographer and a scientist who studies humpback whale song culture. In the beginning, the topic may seem a bit dry and have you wanting to take a nap (you are listening to whale sounds after all), but when they really start to dig into the topic, it actually gets pretty interesting.
Here is the official description of “Humpback Hit Factory”:
There’s a humpback whale song sensation that’s sweeping the South Pacific. We’ll learn about the burgeoning study of “whale culture”—and why these super smart cetaceans may have a lot more in common with us than we’d ever imagined.
They do tell you outright fairly early in the podcast that they do not fully understand the purpose of these whale songs, which may have you questioning for a moment what exactly they’re going to talk about. However, once they get into the songs and start breaking them down and explaining the evolution of these songs over time, it becomes a topic worth listening to.
I will say I was a bit surprised with the run time of the episode. At only about 19 minutes, it felt as though there was a lot more that could have been said about this topic. Personally, as someone who tends to listen to podcasts in my car, the fact that this episode wouldn’t even fill my half hour commute may deter me from listening in the future. On the flip side, not having to commit too much time to a single episode can be seen as a plus to a lot of people. So do with that information what you will.
That’s the only negative I have for Overheard. I found the episode to be very interesting and I am intrigued by the concept of the podcast as a whole. I definitely plan to listen to future episodes (I may just have to change up my listening habits).
You can subscribe to Overheard at National Geographic on Apple, Google, Tune In, iHeart, Spotify and Stitcher. You can also listen to the first episode here.