I never used to do this when I was young, but now that I'm getting older a sense of haste has crept into my life. I speed listen to podcasts, YouTube (non-music videos) and educational videos (such as technology learning modules on Eggheadio, Udemy etc.). It took me some time to adapt to this style of learning, but now, I wouldn't do it any other way. It makes me feel like I'm packing more into my day and as you get older, this is a comforting thing.
I wonder if it's an age thing (seems counter to my intuition) or more of a zeitgeist, sign of the times type of thing. The world (especially the digital/knowledge world) is faster these days.
I believe the need for constant stimulation reflects today's world, while the desire to focus on productive subjects tends to come with maturity (not age).
Personally, I think we're over-indexing on knowledge acquisition while underemphasizing taking action.
I'm "young" and I love 2x on youtube and such, not to get "more" but it actually gives me more time to reflect on the content. If I can listen at a pace I'm comfortable, usually when the video ends I can spend that extra time or so thinking about the concepts presented, not just moving on. The fact that it helps both of us to achieve different ends is pretty interesting.
