“Compared with traditional media platforms, podcasts are less compliant with social norms,” Zheng, 19, told AFP.
“For example, the media may support and praise topics like’positive energy’ more, but this lacks the element of criticism,” he said.
Last year, two students — one made a video posing as a teacher and the other wrote a cynical article — were urged to convey more “positive energy” and push this sentence into the public vocabulary.
On a recent weekend, about 100 listeners from all over China squeezed into a bookstore in Beijing to meet the host of one of his favorite podcasts, The Weirdo, and Cheng was one of them.
“I hope our audience is open-minded and open to different ideas,” said Meng Chang, 34, one of the show’s co-hosts.
“It’s not just right and wrong. Things in the gray area should also be discussed.”
Popular podcasts explored China’s low birth rate and discussed with prominent figures such as the British Ambassador to China to open up a niche market in the booming audio industry, otherwise audiobooks and online learning courses will dominate.
