This Simple Method Helps You Learn More from Podcasts (and Audiobooks!)

Summary

The video script emphasizes the importance of active listening to podcasts for effective learning. It suggests starting with a pre-listen knowledge activation by jotting down what you already know about the topic. The host recommends listening in one-hour segments, followed by free recall exercises to reinforce memory and comprehension. This method helps in reducing mind-wandering and deepens material processing. The script also encourages seeking clarification on unclear points and connecting new information with prior knowledge, potentially using multiple podcasts for a broader perspective.

Takeaways

• 🎧 Podcasts are a great resource for learning, but to maximize their educational value, active engagement is necessary.
• 📚 Unlike reading, podcasts don't allow for easy control over the pace of information intake, which can affect comprehension.
• 🚗 Multitasking while listening to podcasts can lead to a lack of focus and reduced learning effectiveness.
• 📝 Activating prior knowledge by writing down what you already know about a topic can enhance understanding of new information.
• 🧠 Listening to podcasts in focused, one-hour increments can help maintain concentration and reduce mind-wandering.
• 🔍 Free recall exercises after each listening session can reinforce memory and improve retention of the material.
• 🤔 Pre-listening to a podcast with the intent to recall later can change how you listen, making you more attentive and engaged.
• 🔗 Making connections between the podcast content and other knowledge can aid in sense-making and deeper understanding.
• 🔎 Looking up unfamiliar terms or concepts during recall exercises can clarify understanding and fill knowledge gaps.
• 📊 Organizing the podcast content into a cohesive structure or diagram can help visualize and solidify your learning.
• 📅 Scheduling future recall sessions can reinforce long-term memory and provide an ongoing test of your understanding.

Q & A

Why might podcasts be considered more challenging to learn from compared to books?

Podcasts are considered more challenging to learn from because you have less control over the pace of information, and you often listen to them while doing other tasks, which can lead to a lack of focus and comprehension.

What is the speaker's suggestion for enhancing learning from podcasts?

The speaker suggests taking control of the learning process by listening to podcasts in focused, one-hour chunks, followed by free recall exercises to reinforce and organize the information.

How does the speaker recommend preparing before listening to a podcast episode?

The speaker recommends writing down what you already know about the podcast's topic to activate your prior knowledge and set the right mindset for understanding new material.

What is a 'free recall exercise' as mentioned in the script?

A 'free recall exercise' is a technique where you write down everything you can remember from a podcast episode without referring back to the content, which helps in reinforcing and organizing the learned material.

Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of reducing fade-in/fade-out moments while listening to podcasts?

The speaker emphasizes reducing fade-in/fade-out moments to maintain focus and minimize the chances of missing important information, thus enhancing the learning experience.

What benefits does the speaker associate with doing pre-recall exercises before listening to a podcast?

Pre-recall exercises make you listen more attentively and process the material more deeply, as you are aware that you will be tested on the content, which creates a learning benefit.

How does the speaker suggest dealing with unclear points or unfamiliar terms encountered during a podcast?

The speaker suggests looking up unclear points or unfamiliar terms after a free recall session to ensure a good understanding before proceeding with the next part of the podcast.

What is the purpose of organizing and understanding the material after a free recall session?

The purpose is to make sense of the information, create connections, and bind the learned content with what is yet to be heard, which aids in comprehensive learning.

Why might the speaker recommend creating a cohesive picture or pictures reflecting your understanding after a podcast?

Creating a cohesive picture helps integrate the learned material into a structured form, which aids in long-term retention and provides a visual summary of the content.

What additional strategy does the speaker propose for deepening the understanding of a podcast's topic?

The speaker proposes listening to another podcast on the same era but from a different perspective to gain a more comprehensive understanding and see connections that might be missed from a single source.

How does the speaker encourage engagement and sharing of ideas from the audience?

The speaker encourages audience engagement by inviting them to share their ideas for learning from podcasts in the comments section, fostering a community of learners.

Outlines

00:00

🎧 Enhancing Podcast Learning Through Active Engagement

The paragraph discusses the challenges of learning from podcasts compared to books, such as the lack of control over the pace of information and the tendency to listen while doing other tasks, which can lead to a lack of focus. The speaker introduces a technique to enhance learning: before listening to a podcast episode, write down what you already know about the topic to activate prior knowledge. Then, listen in one-hour chunks and follow up with a free recall exercise to test your memory and understanding. This approach helps to minimize distractions and deepens the processing of the material. The example used is the 'Twilight of the Aesir' episode from Dan Carlin's Hardcore History Podcast, which is about the Vikings.

05:05

📚 Solidifying Knowledge with Free Recall and Multi-Perspective Listening

This paragraph continues the discussion on effective podcast learning by emphasizing the importance of free recall exercises after each listening session to reinforce understanding and connect new information with what is about to be heard. The speaker suggests creating a cohesive picture of the material using memory and recall materials to fill gaps in understanding. Additionally, scheduling a recall session after a few months can further strengthen learning. To gain a broader perspective, the speaker recommends listening to other podcasts on the same era from different viewpoints, which can reveal connections and insights that a single podcast might not provide. The paragraph concludes with an invitation for viewers to share their own podcast learning strategies in the comments.

Keywords

💡Podcast

A podcast is a digital audio file made available for downloading to a computer or mobile device, so you can listen to it at your convenience. In the context of the video, podcasts are the primary medium through which the speaker aims to enhance learning. The video discusses how to get the most out of podcasts by actively engaging with the content, rather than just passively listening.

💡Learning Technique

A learning technique refers to a method or strategy used to improve the learning process. The video presents a specific technique for maximizing learning from podcasts, which includes active listening, note-taking, and recall exercises. This technique is central to the video's message about how to actively engage with podcast content to improve retention and understanding.

💡Pace Control

Pace control in the context of learning refers to the ability to adjust the speed at which information is consumed. The script mentions that with books, readers can naturally control the pace by speeding up or slowing down, which is not as easily done with podcasts. This concept is important because it highlights a challenge in learning from podcasts and suggests ways to overcome it through active engagement.

💡Multitasking

Multitasking is the act of doing two or more tasks simultaneously. The video script points out that people often listen to podcasts while doing other activities, which can lead to a lack of focus and reduced learning. The concept is crucial as it explains why passive podcast listening might not be as effective for learning as focused, single-task engagement.

💡Free Recall Exercise

A free recall exercise is a memory test where one tries to remember as much as possible about a topic without any cues or aids. In the script, the speaker uses free recall exercises after listening to podcast segments to reinforce learning and check comprehension. This technique is highlighted as a key part of the learning strategy from podcasts.

💡Sense-Making

Sense-making is the cognitive process of interpreting and making connections between new information and existing knowledge. The video emphasizes the importance of sense-making during free recall exercises, where the listener organizes and makes sense of the podcast content, ensuring deeper learning and understanding.

💡Testing Effect

The testing effect is a psychological phenomenon where the act of retrieving information from memory improves future recall of that information. The script mentions that knowing there will be a recall test can change how one listens to a podcast, leading to more attentive and deeper processing of the material.

💡Perspective

Perspective in the context of learning refers to the viewpoint or framework from which information is presented or understood. The video suggests listening to multiple podcasts that offer different perspectives on the same historical era to gain a more comprehensive understanding. This concept is used to illustrate the value of diverse viewpoints in deepening learning.

💡Hardcore History Podcast

Hardcore History Podcast is a specific example of a podcast mentioned in the script, hosted by Dan Carlin. It is used as a case study to demonstrate the learning technique discussed in the video. The podcast's focus on historical events, such as the Vikings, provides a practical context for applying the learning strategies outlined.

💡Vikings

The Vikings are a historical group of seafaring people from the late eighth to early 11th century, originating from the Nordic regions. In the script, the Vikings are the subject of the 'Twilight of the Aesir' episode from the Hardcore History Podcast. They serve as a focal point for the speaker's demonstration of how to learn effectively from podcasts.

💡Cohesive Picture

A cohesive picture refers to a unified and comprehensive understanding of a topic. The video suggests creating a cohesive picture by integrating information from various sources, such as different podcasts, to form a well-rounded view of a subject. This concept is used to show how synthesizing information can lead to a deeper and more interconnected understanding.

Highlights

Podcasts can be challenging to learn from compared to books due to less control over the pace of information.

Good readers naturally adjust their reading speed based on the difficulty of the material.

Podcasts are often listened to while multitasking, which can lead to a lack of focus and reduced learning.

Activating prior knowledge about a topic before listening to a podcast can enhance understanding.

Listening to a podcast in one-hour chunks with a free recall exercise afterward can improve retention.

Free recall exercises before listening can change the way you process the material, leading to deeper learning.

Allowing the mind to wander during recall exercises can help make connections and enhance understanding.

Recall exercises are not just about regurgitating information but about making sense of it.

Looking up unclear points or terms during a podcast can solidify understanding.

Binding the recalled information to the next part of the podcast aids in the learning process.

Creating a cohesive picture of the material using recall exercises can reinforce learning.

Scheduling a recall session months later can test and reinforce long-term memory.

Listening to multiple podcasts on the same topic from different perspectives can provide a more comprehensive understanding.

Engaging in a sense-making process during recall exercises can lead to new questions and a desire to learn more.

The presenter encourages viewers to share their own methods for learning from podcasts in the comments.

Transcripts

Podcasts are awesome, but if you just listen  to them and you don't do anything else,  

you're probably not learning as much  as you could from them. In this video,  

I show you a simple technique to learn a  lot more from the podcasts that you love.

I think podcasts are a little bit more difficult  to learn from than a book. One reason is that you  

can control the pace at which you read. Good  readers do this naturally as they are reading  

so when things get easier to understand they'll  probably speed up a little bit and when things  

get a little harder they'll slow down. But with  a podcast you are less in control of the speed at  

which information is coming at you. Now, I guess  you could set the podcast speed to go a little  

faster or a little slower, but that doesn't  occur naturally as you are listening to the  

podcast. But another important drawback to using  podcasts and audiobooks to help learn something  

is how we listen to them. Often people listen  to podcasts when they're doing something else,  

right? They're driving. They're doing the dishes.  They're folding laundry. They're at the gym.  

Because we are doing two things at once, it's  easy for our mind to wander and to zone in and  

out of awareness of what the podcaster is saying.  Sometimes, you might not even be aware that you  

missed 20 seconds or 30 seconds somewhere. So  what's my approach to learning from them? Well,  

I want to show you with an example of me learning  from a popular history podcast that you may have  

heard of. And if you've seen my video on how to  learn from YouTube videos, some of this is going  

to sound kind of familiar. Right now, I'm going  to listen to the episode Twilight of the Aesir by  

Dan Carlin on his Hardcore History Podcast. It's  a four-hour episode on the Vikings and presumably  

the disappearance of the Vikings. And so I already  know what the topic is about. Since I already know  

what the broad topic is before I listen to it at  all, I take a few minutes to just write down what  

I know about the topic on a piece of paper. And  you can use a blank text file or really any kind  

of medium you want to use where you just take a  few minutes to write down - like what do I know  

about Vikings? Anything? The purpose of this is to  activate my prior knowledge about the Viking era,  

so even if I don't know that much about it - which  I don't - I'm at least putting myself in the right  

frame of mind to understand the new material  and when I go to listen, I either just listen  

and don't do anything else at all, or I will try  to do the least demanding task possible because  

I want to reduce those fade-in/fade-out moments  as much as possible. I'm going to listen to it in  

roughly one hour chunks. So I'll listen to the  first hour now and then I'll do a free recall  

exercise after that first hour. Okay, so now I'm  back. I just listened to the first hour earlier  

today and now I'm gonna do a free recall exercise  kind of like what we did in the beginning. So I'm  

just going to get out a blank sheet of paper  I'm going to try to remember everything that I  

can. One of the advantages of doing free recall  exercises like this happens before you even sit  

down to listen to the podcast. If you know you  are going to be tested on something - which is  

what these pre-recall exercises are by the way,  they are self tests - you listen differently. You  

pay more attention and you process the material  more deeply. This is one of several kinds of  

testing effects because knowing there is a test in  the future creates a learning benefit right now.  

When I'm doing this, I'm letting my mind wander a  bit. It's perfectly okay to bring in other topics  

and to go on tangents and these things. If you can  relate what you're learning about Vikings to other  

things, that's really great. Perhaps this goes  without saying but I'm going to say it anyhow:  

as we are doing this - as we are doing these free  recall exercises - we are trying to make sense of  

the material. It's not just a word vomiting  session. It is a sense-making exercise. For  

instance, Dan Carlin, in the podcast, talks about  various reasons that Viking attacks increased in  

the late 700s and early 800s but this happens  over the course of, I don't know, maybe 45  

minutes of discussion. What I've done here is to  distill those reasons and organize them in a way  

that makes sense to me. After I do a free recall  session I will have some things that maybe I am  

not that clear on or some words or names that I  don't quite remember what they were. For instance,  

Dan Carlin references Jutland many times in the  podcast and I just didn't know: is that all of  

Denmark is that a little tiny piece of it? I don't  know let's look it up I didn't exactly know where  

the Saxons were living at this time or really  where they originally came from. I didn't know  

that, so I looked it up. Once I'm satisfied that  I have a pretty good understanding of what has  

gone on so far, then I can keep listening to the  next hour or so and usually when I am engaged in  

this sense-making process I end up with questions  - open questions that the podcast hasn't answered  

yet. Maybe the podcast is never going to answer.  But a lot of times these are questions that make  

me want to learn more. Ao doing this free-recall  exercise is about organizing and understanding  

what I heard, but it's also about binding what  I heard - that one hour that I heard before - to  

what I am about to hear - the next hour or the  next hours that I'm going to listen to. As you  

might guess we are going to do the same kind  of thing after every hour and we're going to  

see how my understanding progresses. So now I'm  done with the podcast I'm going to show you the  

results of my free recall exercise that I  did at the end of each hour of listening.  

[Music] Doing what I just described alone can  be quite helpful but if you really want to go  

the extra mile, you can bring all of this material  into a cohesive picture or pictures that reflect  

your understanding. If you do this, start off by  just relying on your own memory first before you  

go back and you use your free recall materials  or other references to fill in the gaps. You can  

also schedule a free recall session a couple of  months from now and that will be another way of  

testing and reinforcing what you've learned.  And, if you want to get really crazy you could  

download another podcast talking about the same  era but from a different perspective. So if you  

had another podcast talking about England or  France during this time period, and so you had a  

perspective of the French during this time period,  a perspective of the Vikings from this time  

period, a perspective of the English from this  time period... Then you would really start to see  

some of the connections that maybe you wouldn't  see just from listening to one perspective. So  

that's it for me, but I want to hear from you  what are other ideas that you have for learning  

from podcasts? Write them down in the comments  and I'll see you next time. Thanks for watching.