Miranda Sawyer is joined by podcaster Helen Zaltzman to explore spoken word audio podcasting, play some podcasts and ask why it has taken off in such a big way.

Miranda Sawyer presents a new, stylish round-up of the best and most memorable podcasting from around the world.

There's been an explosion in the profusion and quality of podcasts, plus a new public awareness after the breakthrough moment in 2014 with Serial. Suddenly, podcasts have become cool.

There are now more than 100,000 English speaking podcast feeds worldwide covering everything from science to sport to every conceivable niche. Last year, there were 165 million podcasts downloaded just from BBC Radio 4 programmes alone, and the trend is seemingly ever upwards. But is this a bubble or is podcasting set to take its place alongside TV and radio as a long-term media genre?

British podcaster Helen Zaltzman guests in this first episode which explores the genre, plays some great podcasts and asks why it's taken off in such a big way.

Producer: Jim Frank.