Director Kevin Smith disappointed by podcasting medium’s political takeover
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Director Kevin Smith, one of the early pioneers of podcasting, told Fox News Digital that, in his view, the media lost much of its soul and authenticity after becoming too bogged down in politics.
Smith, who started “SModcast” with his friend and fellow director Scott Mosier in 2007, said he sees himself as the “Johnny Appleseed for podcasts,” encouraging other artists to create their own podcasts and teaching them the ropes along the way.
Over the years, Smith has noticed that the “intimacy layer” podcasts originally offered had faded, turning the medium into just another iteration of “traditional media.”
“When we were enjoying podcasting, it was basically radio again, but now podcasting has basically become TV again,” he explained. “That’s the mind-blowing thing. They could have gone anywhere with that.”
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Director Kevin Smith talked about the evolution of podcasting in a sit-down interview with Fox News Digital. (Nik Lanum/Fox News Digital)
While Smith initially thought others would use the medium to discuss pop culture, movies and other passions, he said he was shocked to see how much politics chose podcasting, even though there were still countless programs on other topics.
“You know what I never predicted? A lot of people would do political podcasts,” he recalled. “What a ridiculous waste of a beautiful environment where you could talk about anything – anything! And instead you say, ‘Let’s talk about what he said and did.'”
“Oh, damn I hate this. It disgusts me. But a lot of people get rich off of it,” Smith added.
The director noted that the first movers in podcasting were not rich “beyond imagination,” but said it was the next generation who figured out how to maximize profits — though he disagreed with how they did it.
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“A group of people realize that they can turn people against each other politically and say, ‘You know what I hate? I hate this, don’t you hate this?’ He realized that they could divide a nation by saying this. And because it’s such a friendly environment, people [felt] It’s like they’re being talked to,” he theorized, accusing right-wing broadcasters of doing so for decades.
Kevin Smith attends the “Dogma” rerelease celebration at the Morrison Hotel Gallery on June 5, 2025 in New York City. (Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)
Looking back on his podcasting journey, Smith recalled a conversation he had with his business manager about podcasting being “free,” which led him to the realization that media was headed for a similar fate as television and radio.
After learning that podcasting wasn’t actually free and that hosting costs were draining his wallet, Smith and his co-host set out on what they initially thought was a creative way to generate income.
The duo began reaching out to companies and projects they had worked with in the past to promote their products on “SModcast,” and were successful in doing so.
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“I felt so smart. I thought, ‘This is crazy. We’re finding someone to pay us to practice our art,'” he recalled. “Then Scott said: ‘Yeah, just like TV and radio.’ And I said, ‘Oh, that’s true.’ It’s an old model, we all do it.”
“No one discovered anything new, and it was a complete disappointment to watch podcasts go all the way to f—— TV. One of the nice things about podcasting was that you didn’t have to dress up. You could walk around in your pajamas in front of a microphone. It was all about sound, theater for the mind, getting into people’s heads. Now there always has to be a video component or something, and that makes it f—— television.”
Kevin Smith attends the premiere week screening of SYFY’s “Deadly Class” hosted by Kevin Smith at The Wilshire Ebell Theater on January 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Paul Butterfield/Getty Images)
According to Smith, what started out as a tool available to everyone has become much less possible to produce as production standards have increased rapidly over the past two decades. He predicted that “in the next 10 years, podcasting will not be accessible to everyone.”
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Smith is known for comedy films such as “Clerks”, “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”, “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma”, as well as horror films such as “Red State” and “Tusk”.
