From his opinion on the legalisation of marijuana in India someday to his thoughts on Shaadi.com's dowry calculator - Ask Aakar Anything is an audio platform that answers many such questions on a weekly-basis posed by listeners of all walks of life. The queries may sound irreverent, funny or serious, depending on who is tuning in, but no one can deny that the topics covered are both diverse and engaging.
Audiomatic and it's offerings
Ask Aakar Anything is just one of the four shows on Audiomatic, India's first podcast network. Audiomatic is founded by Rajesh Tahil and Tariq Ansari, a media entrepreneur. Other shows include The Real Food podcast, The Intersection with Samanth and Padmaparna (science) and our Last Week with Anuvab Pal and Kunaal Roy Kapur. Talking about his association with Aakar, Rajesh says, "I have worked with Aakar Patel for more than 10 years. We were an editor/publisher partnership at Mid Day and then we became business partners at Hill Road Media, a company we set-up together. Since his columns became all the rage, I have had people come up to me in meetings, at parties, at Nature's Basket, wagging their fingers and saying "Ask Aakar….why he …". this show allows all those people (and we assume there are more) to get answers to all the questions they have.
So why Aakar and not anyone else?
"We wanted a current affairs show that was not boring and cliched. Aakar is unique because he can relate Greek philosophy to bollywood hierarchies and discuss single-malts and vada pav's with equal passion. He also has a grasp of indian social and political affairs and can decode them for listeners with skill and simplicity that few others could,." adds Rajesh. And you would be surprised to know that the response has been very encouraging. The podcast gets about 30 to 40 queries on a weekly basis from people of all walks of life.
Podcasts - a new way showcase content?
Rajesh believes that podcasts will get more popular as more and more mobile users have cheaper data packs available. He adds, "There will be a huge shift towards consuming all kinds of content on the go according. We believe audio content/podcasts are well-placed to benefit from that shift.
Podcasts v/s youtube as a platform
Rajesh clarifies, "Youtube is a fantastic platform and we will probably use it. But it primarily for video, we were clear we wanted to create an audio platform. Our favourites (besides the ones we make :) are radiolab, 99% invisible, NPR Fresh Air.
He concludes egging you on to tune in. He wraps up saying,"Podcasts are a great way to listen to stories, learn new things and you can do it while doing whatever else you are doing simultaneous and therefore they demand very little from you…they should try listening, not just to ours to any podcasts."
You can tune in at audiomatic.in
