To Live and Die By the Algorithm

How did you discover the last book you read?

Was it through Goodreads? BookTok? Kindle’s “recommended for you”? 

How about the last film you watched? Did Netflix pop it onto your homepage? And the last song you discovered – did you find it in a Spotify playlist? 

More and more, something else is doing the discovering for us. The algorithm gets an inkling that you enjoyed one piece of content, and suddenly your feeds are flooded with similar titles by similar artists in similar genres. Buy a book Amazon recommended, follow a curated Spotify playlist, binge a Netflix pick – the more you engage with those recommendations, the more you’ll see of the same. Before you know it, every influencer you come across is recommending the same book. Every ad is for the same movie. Every TikTok is using the same song. 

The Algorithm Always Bets on the Middle

The algorithm isn’t just following your lead; it’s also making the safest bet about what you will like. This means algorithms prioritize showing you what’s already been proven popular, because that’s the easiest way to keep you watching, listening, or scrolling. So, the algorithm pushes us towards the most palatable middle. New and strange is a risk. If it’s already trending, it’s more likely to keep you engaged. This gets really boring very quickly. 

And it becomes impossible to discover anything new. 

In recent years, AI has started pouring gasoline on that “palatable middle.” LLMs point consumers towards the median option, the most commonly mentioned, least offensive choice. Plus, it’s never been easier to churn out more of whatever’s working– more listicles, more mood boards, more “content” engineered to look like the thing that’s already trending. If you don’t believe me, just go open Pinterest. I used to love finding inspiration for new crafts, home design, and fashion on Pinterest. Now, I find it barely usable. It’s not exactly “inspiring” when there’s nothing original to discover. (Make fun of Millennials’ old wedding Pinterest boards all you want, but you’ll never find such creative ways to DIY your centrepieces on Pinterest today.) 

"...people are still making creative shows like this. But they’re getting absolutely buried under the incredible weight of the average."

Podcasting Was the Last Holdout. Until YouTube.

Podcasting, for a long time, mostly lived outside of the algorithm. For years, the most common way people discovered a new podcast was because a friend told them about it. As recently as 2021, recommendations from friends and family represented a top way for discovering new shows. But now that’s shifting. A 2026 study found that 40% of listeners now discover their favourite podcast on YouTube (more than double any other source). The YouTube algorithm rules all. 

On the one hand, this isn’t all bad. If the algorithm grants you its favour, it can put you in front of people who already have some interest in similar content. On the other hand, it discourages creativity. It pushes podcasters to simply replicate what they saw in the last video YouTube’s algorithm showed them. Chase the algorithm, trade originality for the safest bet.

Ten years ago, when I first started working in podcasting, there were so many incredibly unique and creative shows that were still breaking through and reaching decently large audiences, like a podcast musical, a dating show, an audio sitcom. Of course, people are still making creative shows like this. But they’re getting absolutely buried under the incredible weight of the average. 

And it’s not just me that’s noticing. It’s frustrating to feel like you can’t find anything new – and even when you go looking for a human recommendation instead of an algorithmic one, you often land in the same place. The bookstore clerk points you towards the latest bestseller because it’s most likely to sell. Your friend sends you a “new” song you just scrolled through 50 times on TikTok. Every friend is posting about the drama from the same reality TV show. 

We have a real hunger for something new, something unique, something that hasn’t already been flattened into the middle. 

Podcasting spent years living in a world where word-of-mouth, not an algorithm, decided what caught on. That instinct hasn’t completely disappeared just because YouTube’s algorithm has entered the picture. If podcasters chase the algorithm at the expense of creativity, they might be granted virality from YouTube’s almighty algorithm.

But will it stick with any of those viewers?

Will they think about it for months to come?

Will someone recommend it in a blog post nearly a decade after it was released?