There are podcasts which are not, and which I find vastly more interesting. I do find US public broadcasting podcasts to be among the less tolerable of the set I do listen to in terms of ad / sponsorship spots, though they're probably far better than the run-of-the-mill example. (My standards are high, and tolerance of any advertising exceedingly low.)
Academic and informational channels tend to be better, with Peter Adamson's "History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps" and Stephen West's "Philosophize This" among my faves. Even here there are exceptions with intrusive spots (often dropped without any break / segue from the main content), with LSE and the New Books Network (otherwise both excellent) being notably annoying.
Learning to skip into/outro themes is part of the game. "You Are Not So Smart" wins my award for most annoying intro, and the opening monologue / ad break are highly skippable in most cases.
Otherwise, my principle problem with most US public-media pods is that they're overly popular (in the negative sense) and talk down excessively (Freakonomics, Planet Money, etc.), though there are exceptions. I find Fresh Air's long-form interviews typically excellent, for example, and its ad spots whilst excessive are clearly indicated and can be skipped pretty easily.
Academic and informational channels tend to be better, with Peter Adamson's "History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps" and Stephen West's "Philosophize This" among my faves. Even here there are exceptions with intrusive spots (often dropped without any break / segue from the main content), with LSE and the New Books Network (otherwise both excellent) being notably annoying.
Learning to skip into/outro themes is part of the game. "You Are Not So Smart" wins my award for most annoying intro, and the opening monologue / ad break are highly skippable in most cases.
Otherwise, my principle problem with most US public-media pods is that they're overly popular (in the negative sense) and talk down excessively (Freakonomics, Planet Money, etc.), though there are exceptions. I find Fresh Air's long-form interviews typically excellent, for example, and its ad spots whilst excessive are clearly indicated and can be skipped pretty easily.