A new breed of podcasts is adopting interactive formats that were once the exclusive domain of radio.

Radio has long featured ‘talk-back’ – where listeners can ‘call in’ and talk on air to presenters – and live broadcasts, but now podcasts are introducing similar audience engagement activities, such as audio games and social events. Popular Australian comedy podcast Swag on the Beat, for example, is hosting a live podcast at the Sydney Opera House next month.

Co-host of Swag on the Beat, Isaac Gibbons, says their podcast’s format is partly influenced by radio’s style of engagement, but its tone complements the comedy skits they publish on their social media platforms.

‘We want everyone to be able to relate to our content, and we don’t want to exclude anyone from being able to listen or feel uncomfortable listening,’ Mr Gibbons says.

Media and Communication experts are divided over whether podcasts are more or less inclusive compared to the radio format.

Swinburne University’s Corey Martin says community radio and interactive podcasts “elicit … a similar sense of community”, but the fragmentation of podcast genres means audiences can avoid voices that are different from their own.

“We end up in these sort of filter bubble echo chambers,” Dr Martin says. “It’s sort of a proclamation of one’s identity in a lot of ways.”

However, University of Sydney’s Lea Redfern says market practices that attract listeners to a particular genre impact both radio and podcast platforms. “There can be a tendency to look backwards at radio in the past with a bit of a nostalgic lens,” Ms Redfern says.

“There is a splintering, but I think that it was there to a degree in the past anyway, when people chose which radio station they listened to.”

Swag on the Beat’s Opera House live podcast comes just months after they held their first in-person event for their listeners. Dubbed “’Bounty Day’, the event was held near Northcote Plaza in Melbourne.

They have also adopted the vodcast platform to reach different audiences. Vodcasts are visual and audio recordings of podcast production. They usually depict hosts sitting across from one another, recording a podcast.

According to The Infinite Dial 2025 report by Edison Research, 33% of Australians watch a vodcast every month and big name sites that help creators launch podcasts recommend creating vodcasts. In a 2024 article, Buzzsprout suggests recording video alongside audio to create YouTube shorts helps ‘drive traffic’ to podcasts. And aSpotify for Creators article titled The future is video suggests “publishing video is one of the fastest ways to grow your audience”.

Fan of the Swag on the Beat podcast, Charlie Smith, says social media content helps him stay engaged with the podcast group, even though time constraints restricted him from participating in games aired on the podcast.

“(I interact) just through their social media, keeping up with the news and everything, but, other than that, this [Bounty Day] is the first in-person interaction,’ Mr Smith says.

But, Swag on the Beat co-host Mr Gibbons says their podcast is more intimate than conversing with followers on social media.

“On social media, you’re largely disconnected from your followers. It’s pretty one-way posting and receiving. Versus, on the podcast, you give them the opportunity to contribute, to talk to us on the podcast and that felt like something we were lacking: that close relationship with our followers,” he says.

Fellow co-host, Jack Say, says fans approach him with ease now that they listen to him being himself in podcasts rather than purely acting characters in skits on their social media channels.

Swag on the Beat’s producer, Mike Liberale, says building a community is part of the show’s identity.

‘It’s so fun … to know that there are people experiencing this world with us. If you want to make a podcast, I would strongly encourage trying to build community around it,” he says.

“Interactive content isn’t limited to just radio. You can easily do it on podcasting. And I think there’s a huge market for creating these fan bases and fandoms around your show.”