Why Apple’s move to video could endanger podcasting's greatest power

Apple is adding video podcast support to its Podcasts app, but requiring creators to use a small set of pre-approved commercial hosting providers rather than allowing self-hosted video. This breaks with podcasting's foundational open-standard model — the same model that has kept podcasts free from algorithmic manipulation, surveillance advertising, and platform lock-in. The author argues this shift risks enshittifying podcasting the same way social media and streaming platforms have been corrupted. Apple could mitigate this by supporting a fallback open video specification alongside its approved partners, preserving the decentralized nature that makes podcasting uniquely resistant to censorship and corporate capture.