© 2024 St. Louis Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Want to find a local podcast? Adam Frick’s STL Vernacular has you covered

Kelly Moffitt | St. Louis Public Radio
Adam Frick, founder of STL Vernacular.

Local podcasting guru Adam Frick says that a podcast can be “really anything, these days.”

“They’ve been around for over a decade now,” Frick said. “The most common example would be something like an NPR show that gets distributed digitally. It’s like Netflix or anything else that you can time-shift how you want to listen to things. They range from 5-10 minutes to three hours.”

The podcast scene has really expanded in these past ten years.  In 2015, Pew Research found that Americans who had listened to a podcast in the past month had doubled since 2008. They also found that 1/3 of all Americans had listened to a podcast. 

This uptick in popularity became clear to Frick after he was repeatedly asked if his production company would produce various podcasts. With nearly 20 years of experience in sound design, Frick began mixing and editing podcasts.

While many people already had a distribution network of their own, there were several people who didn’t know where to publish their podcasts. So, Frick made a space.

Frick started the local podcasting hub STL Vernacular over a year ago. There, he collects and displays locally-made podcasts so there’s a one-stop shop for those looking for new, local podcast content. Music, comedy, film, personal narrative, food are just some of the genres these podcasts talk about.

As for what’s making the podcasts grow in popularity?

“A lot of it is that accessibility: you can listen to them anytime, anywhere, you don’t have to be listening to them at any certain time,” Frick said. “No matter what you’re interested in you can find somebody making a podcast, and talking about the thing you really love.”

While flagship shows like “WTF with MarcMaron” and “Serial” garner millions of listeners, Frick said that successful podcasts on a local scale usually get between 500-1500 downloads per episode.

Listen to Frick discuss quality, how St. Louis podcasts compare nationally and what he sees as the future of podcasting here:

Have you ever thought “hmmm, maybe I’ll start a podcast?” Join us next week!

In a week’s time, St. Louis on the Air will host a live recording event with five local podcasters about what it is like to start, create and continue making great local podcasts. There’ll even be time for you to ask your questions about starting your own podcast. You can sign up to come to the free event on June 9 at 7 p.m. here

What questions do you have about podcasting? Ahead of the event, we’re collecting your questions about podcasting so we can put together a “how to start your podcast” guide from the event. Email talk@stlpublicradio.org or tweet us at @STLonAir. Or, ask your question in this Google Form:

St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh and producers Mary Edwards, Alex Heuer and Kelly Moffitt give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region. 

Stay Connected
Kelly Moffitt joined St. Louis Public Radio in 2015 as an online producer for St. Louis Public Radio's talk shows St. Louis on the Air.