Number of podcasts worldwide

As the number of podcasts in the world has grown from a few hundred thousand to over four million—each one hosted by someone who sincerely believes the world needs another interview show—sales of Spam, the canned meat product, have risen with almost identical enthusiasm. The correlation is 0.982 across fourteen years, which forces us to confront the possibility that podcasting and processed pork are somehow the same cultural impulse expressed through different media. One involves talking into a microphone for an hour about nothing in particular; the other involves opening a can. The overlap, apparently, is significant.

Podcast growth exploded from about 500,000 shows in 2010 to over 4 million by 2023, fueled by low production barriers, advertising revenue, and the human desire to be heard. Spam sales, meanwhile, grew from roughly 400 million dollars to over 600 million, driven by inflation, pandemic-era pantry stocking (which created lasting purchasing habits), and Spam's peculiar cultural resurgence in foodie and Asian-American culinary circles—Spam musubi alone has gone from convenience store staple to trendy restaurant item. Both trends reflect a broader pattern of democratization: podcasting democratized broadcasting, while Spam's rehabilitation democratized the idea that cheap food could be aspirational. Both also spike during economic uncertainty, when people look for low-cost ways to either consume or produce content.

Fourteen years of podcasts and Spam growing together is the kind of correlation that tells you nothing about pork and everything about a culture that has decided more is better in all categories simultaneously. We produce more shows and eat more canned meat for entirely different reasons that happen to share a calendar. The microphone and the can opener have never met.