Podcasting Management: How Audio Platforms Are Shaping Business Ideas

Abstract

Podcasts are reshaping how management ideas are disseminated and consumed in the digital age. This conceptual essay applies insights from management fashion theory to analyze how podcasts operate as hybrid media that both mirror and amplify popular business ideas. We explore the interplay among platform dynamics, storytelling formats, and the performative roles of podcast hosts as fashion-setters. Through illustrative examples, we show how podcasts elevate certain management styles, repackage leadership narratives, and bypass traditional gatekeeping structures. This essay concludes with reflections on the implications of podcasting for the credibility, diversity, and direction of management discourse, and outlines future research paths in this emerging domain.

1. Introduction

Podcasts have exploded as a cultural and educational force, turning headphones into gateways for leadership advice, startup wisdom, and strategic soundbites (Bottomley, 2015; Persohn & Branson, 2025; Sullivan, 2019). In today’s digital attention economy, they offer more than just convenience—they create intimate audio spaces where management ideas are performed, popularized, and sometimes canonized (García de Torres et al., 2025; Waddingham et al., 2020). As business media shifts from print to platform (D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2015, 2025), podcasts are emerging as influential vehicles for idea diffusion and reputational branding.

This paper uses insights from management fashion theory (Piazza & Abrahamson, 2020) to examine how podcasts function as both mirrors and amplifiers of dominant management trends. Traditionally, fashionable ideas spread through books, journals, and conferences—formats with clear gatekeepers and relatively slow cycles (Kieser, 1997; Nijholt et al., 2014; Røvik, 2002). Podcasts disrupt this model; they collapse production and consumption into a single stream, allowing consultants, entrepreneurs, and self-styled gurus to bypass traditional publishing and speak directly to a global audience (Barros & Rüling, 2019; D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2015, 2025).

By integrating recent work on social media and leadership fashions, we explore how podcasts contribute to the fast-moving marketplace of management ideas—repackaging complex concepts into story-driven, algorithm-boosted content (D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2025). Podcasts may appear democratizing, but they also risk reinforcing mainstream narratives, favoring charisma over critique. This essay asks the following question: What happens to management knowledge when it becomes a performance, a brand, and a playlist? In addressing this, we pose the following research question: How do podcasts shape and diffuse management ideas in the modern digital environment?

While previous studies have examined how books, journals, and social media contribute to the spread of management ideas (Barros & Rüling, 2019; D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2015; Sturdy et al., 2019), podcasts remain underexplored, despite their rising popularity among professionals and executives (e.g., Horn, 2025; Watts, 2025). This essay helps fill that gap by showing how podcasts combine the rhetorical patterns of management fashions with the affordances of platform media, emerging as a hybrid arena for shaping business knowledge.

This paper proceeds in five main sections: Section 2 outlines the foundations of management fashion theory and the role of traditional media in spreading fashionable ideas. Section 3 examines how digital and social media have transformed these dynamics, paving the way for new diffusion arenas like podcasts. Section 4 focuses specifically on podcasting as a hybrid medium, analyzing its affordances, such as intimacy, interactivity, and platform-driven amplification. Section 5 explores how management podcasts shape discourse by highlighting recurring themes, rhetorical patterns, and dominant voices. Section 6 offers a critical reflection on the broader implications of podcasting for management knowledge—its benefits, limitations, and ideological effects. Finally, Section 7 concludes with suggestions for future research and reflects on podcasting’s role in the evolving management fashion ecosystem.

2. Management Fashion Theory and Idea Diffusion

2.1. Defining Management Fashions

Management fashions are typically defined as “relatively transitory collective beliefs” that particular management techniques promise progress (Abrahamson, 1996). In practice, this means that new management ideas (e.g., agile methods, design thinking, learning organizations) ride waves of popularity before fading (Abrahamson & Piazza, 2019; Kieser, 1997; Piazza & Abrahamson, 2020). Abrahamson’s (1996) seminal definition emphasizes that such ideas are framed as rational and innovative but often lack solid evidence. Research identifies key features of these fashions: catchy brand names, broad applicability across contexts, and rhetoric framing them as radical breaks from the past (Benders & Van Veen, 2001; Giroux, 2019; Røvik, 2002). For example, a concept might be presented as universally relevant (applicable in any industry) and aligned with audiences’ values, using clear but ambiguous language to seem broadly useful. These rhetorical patterns (simplicity, no-blame framing, “newness”) are precisely the kind of storytelling that podcasts often employ.

2.2. Fashion-Setters and Media as Venues

In management fashion theory, diffusion depends on suppliers (“fashion-setters”) and demanders (Abrahamson, 1996; Piazza & Abrahamson, 2020). Fashion-setters include consultants, gurus, academics, and media outlets that introduce and promote ideas (Jung & Kieser, 2012; Kieser, 1997; D. Madsen & Slåtten, 2013). Traditionally, management books and journals served as the key media, acting as gatekeepers of what ideas received attention (Nijholt et al., 2014). For instance, editors in professional magazines decide which concepts to feature, and consultants publish books to showcase new frameworks (the “supply side”). Managers (the “demand side”) are presumed to want novel solutions framed as rational progress. This creates a classic fashion arena or market (as Abrahamson or Kieser put it) in which ideas compete for mindshare (Abrahamson, 1996; Jung & Kieser, 2012). Research notes that publishing activity and discourse intensity spike during an idea’s upswing phase, fueling bandwagon effects among suppliers (e.g., Benders, 1999; Benders et al., 1998; David & Strang, 2006).

Management knowledge is not only produced in academic or consulting contexts but also disseminated and reshaped through mass media channels. These media play a central role in framing, legitimizing, and popularizing management ideas (Alvarez et al., 2005; Mazza & Alvarez, 2000). This backdrop is essential when considering new platforms like podcasting as sites of fashion diffusion.

While management fashion theory provides a robust framework for analyzing idea diffusion, its traditional focus on print-era channels raises questions when applied to digital media (Barros & Rüling, 2019; D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2015). While robust in analyzing idea diffusion, management fashion theory pays less attention to power relations, ideological framing, and audience agency—dimensions that are central in the podcasting environment. Podcasts challenge the assumption of cyclical, supply-driven diffusion by introducing more interactive and algorithm-driven mechanisms. These tensions suggest the need to adapt or expand fashion theory to better capture the affordances and risks of platform-era media.

2.3. Impact of Digital Media on Diffusion

Importantly, scholars have argued that new digital platforms (social media, blogs, podcasts) introduce new arenas that alter diffusion dynamics (D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2015; Piazza & Abrahamson, 2020). D. Ø. Madsen and Slåtten (2015) observed that most fashion research focused on print media, and little has addressed how social networks change the game. They theorized that social platforms can supplement or even substitute traditional channels. For example, podcasts are part of this shift: they are a new communication channel that allows fashion-setters to broadcast ideas directly to audiences, without waiting for quarterly magazines or books. The interactivity of social/digital media means that managers can encounter and discuss ideas online in real time. As Kieser (1997, p. 64) suggested, podcasts and social networks might become arenas within the management fashion arena—places where suppliers and consumers mingle more fluidly. We build on this insight: podcasts blend the roles of media venue and content community, offering new possibilities for idea amplification and user engagement.

The defining features of management fashions—such as catchy slogans, emotional appeal, and claims of novelty—are not only theoretical constructs but also directly observable in podcast discourse.

Table 1. Characteristics of management fashions and their podcast amplification.

Fashion Feature	Typical Characteristics	Podcast Relevance
Catchy label or slogan	Memorable phrases (e.g., “Agile,” “Servant Leadership”)	Podcast episode titles amplify labels for discoverability and virality
Promises of performance improvement	Framed as solutions to current problems	Framing of guests and ideas as solutions to scaling, retention, innovation, etc.
Broad applicability	Ideas claim relevance across industries and functions	Generalist business podcasts feature cross-sector guests and generic advice
Moral or emotional appeal	Appeals to authenticity, empathy, and transformation	Podcasts favor stories with emotional resonance, heroism, or personal vulnerability
Ease of adoption	Vague or flexible enough for local interpretation	Hosts often simplify frameworks into three tips, stories, or tools
Perceived novelty	Presented as “the next big thing”	Podcasts emphasize freshness (“future of work,” “new way to lead”)

summarizes how these typical fashion characteristics map onto podcasting practices, highlighting the medium’s role in amplifying and shaping fashionable management ideas.

3. Traditional vs. New Media for Management Knowledge

3.1. Print Media and Legacy Channels

Before digital media, managers learned about new concepts mainly through books, trade journals, and conferences (D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2015). As Røvik (2002) noted, “management literature is probably the single most important medium for the diffusion of organizational recipes” (pp. 117–118). These legacy channels have slow publication cycles and gatekeeping (Nijholt et al., 2014), but they lend ideas a veneer of scholarly credibility. Business school publications, Harvard Business Review articles, and seminal textbooks once dominated the flow of fashionable ideas (Furusten, 1999; Jones & Dugdale, 2002; Sahlin-Andersson & Engwall, 2002). In this regime, an idea became “hot” when publishers and consultants backformed a package around it (e.g., best-selling books on business process reengineering in the 1990s, such as Hammer and Champy (1993)). However, critics argue that this system is biased toward established elites and can lag behind real-world innovation.

3.2. Rise of Digital and Social Media

In contrast, digital media shorten the diffusion lag. Social platforms allow ideas to “go viral” online, sometimes in ways unseen with print (D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2015). Practitioners can post success stories or tips on Twitter, LinkedIn, and niche blogs instantaneously. The podcast is one such form: it allows instantaneous global broadcast of a conversation or talk. Empirical and anecdotal data suggest that managers (especially younger ones) now often turn to online sources—newsletters, webinars, and podcasts—for ideas (D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2015; Waddingham et al., 2020). In effect, podcasts complement traditional media by providing a dynamic, user-driven forum. They can rapidly amplify trending topics (e.g., the latest buzzword leadership style) and foster communities around them. Thus, podcasts should be seen as part of the evolving media ecosystem of management fashions: one in which the boundaries between producer and consumer of ideas become more permeable (D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2015).

To better understand how podcasts differ from older channels of management idea dissemination, it is helpful to compare the media landscape more broadly.

Table 2. Evolution of media channels in the management fashion arena.

Media Channel	Gatekeeping	Speed of Diffusion	Audience Interactivity	Fashion-Setter Visibility	Example Medium
Books and Journals	High (editors, peer review)	Slow	Low	Elite academics, consultants	Harvard Business Review, textbooks
Trade Magazines	Medium	Moderate	Medium	Practitioners, editors	Fast Company, MIT SMR
Blogs	Low	Fast	High	Niche experts, enthusiasts	Medium blogs, firm blogs
Social Media	Algorithmic (opaque)	Very fast	Very high	Influencers, consultants, platforms	LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok
Podcasts	Low editorial control	Fast (episodic)	Moderate to high	Hosts, gurus, organizational actors	HBR IdeaCast, Masters of Scale

contrasts legacy and digital media channels along key dimensions—such as gatekeeping, diffusion speed, and audience interaction—situating podcasts within this evolving ecosystem.

Podcasts should be understood as hybrid media (e.g., Bonini, 2022): they combine attributes of traditional expert authority with the participatory, performative, and algorithmic dynamics of social media. This hybridity is central to understanding their role in the evolving media ecology of management ideas.

This comparison highlights how podcasting occupies a middle ground between traditional media’s authority and social media’s speed and reach. As a hybrid format, it combines elements of expertise, storytelling, and interactivity, positioning podcasts as powerful—but understudied—venues for management fashion diffusion. These differences do not merely reflect shifts in format; they actively reshape how management ideas gain visibility, credibility, and traction. In low-gatekeeping, fast-moving environments like podcasting, legitimacy is often conferred through perceived authenticity or emotional resonance rather than institutional vetting. As a result, fashionable ideas may rise and fade more quickly, with lifecycle dynamics increasingly driven by platform logics and audience attention rather than scholarly consensus or consulting canonization.

While the previous sections focused on broader media dynamics and comparison across channels, the following section turns specifically to podcasting. This transition reflects podcasting’s growing role as a hybrid medium—blending expert authority, audience engagement, and digital flexibility—in the circulation of management fashions.

4. Podcasting as a Medium

4.1. Intimacy, Authenticity, and Parasocial Engagement

Podcasts offer a uniquely intimate and on-demand listening experience. Scholars note that the audio format fosters a “close emotional connection” between host and audience (García de Torres et al., 2025). Unlike text or video, the human voice delivered directly into the listener’s headphones can feel like a private conversation. This intimacy often builds trust: listeners regard favored hosts almost as personal advisors or mentors. Podcasts also foster parasocial relationships (Horton & Wohl, 1956)—emotional bonds between listeners and hosts, which can increase perceived authenticity and credibility.

Recent research in adjacent domains, such as podcasting by stand-up comedians, has shown that these parasocial bonds are strengthened by repeated exposure and the perceived “realness” of hosts (Maloney Yorganci & McMurtry, 2024). In the management context, this means that when a leadership thinker or business expert appears regularly in someone’s earbuds, their message becomes associated with familiarity, trust, and personal resonance. This perceived closeness makes fashionable ideas feel more relevant, memorable, and actionable, fueling their diffusion. In contrast to the detached authority of print media, podcast-based fashion-setters speak from within a relational framework, creating the sense that advice is coming not from a textbook but from someone you know. When combined with algorithmic personalization, this emotional dynamic contributes to more sticky and individualized engagement with management fashions (Levens, 2024).

These platform dynamics enhance the emotional bond between podcasters and listeners and enable a more participatory fashion diffusion. Notably, several of these dynamics—such as influencer engagement, audience interactivity, and algorithmic segmentation—closely mirror phenomena described in the marketing literature. For instance, the concept of brand communities (Muniz & O’Guinn, 2001) and the practice of customer co-creation (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004) offer productive parallels for theorizing how podcast listeners contribute to the shaping and legitimization of fashionable management ideas.

4.2. Convenience and Everyday Integration

Because podcasts fit into everyday life (commutes, exercise, chores), they significantly extend the amount of time audiences spend with the content. Waddingham et al. (2020) emphasize that podcasts solve the perennial “time poverty” problem for managers. They note that podcasts are “easy-to-consume” audio series that keep busy executives informed by delivering “unique perspectives on salient topics” (p. 275) in bite-sized episodes. Typically under an hour long, episodes can be played anywhere, granting access to management ideas during travel or breaks. In sum, podcasts’ convenience and narrative format make them potent carriers of management content in today’s attention economy.

4.3. Platform Interactivity and Gatekeeper Bypass

Unlike static media formats, modern podcast platforms increasingly support interactivity through features like live Q&A sessions, polls, and listener feedback channels. These tools create feedback loops between fashion-setters and their audiences, facilitating rapid testing and iterative refinement of emerging ideas (Watts, 2025).

One of podcasting’s distinctive features is its ability to bypass traditional academic or editorial gatekeepers. Podcast creators can directly address professional or managerial audiences, allowing for the faster and more diverse dissemination of fashionable management ideas (Horn, 2025). In this way, podcasts lower the barriers to entry for fashion-setters: unlike academic publishing or journalistic media, there are few editorial constraints. This democratization allows new voices to emerge, but it also raises concerns about credibility, oversight, and ideological reinforcement. These features suggest that podcasts are not just distribution tools but active arenas within the management fashion system, where actors compete for attention, legitimacy, and influence.

The dynamics explored in this section—spanning platform affordances, algorithmic structures, and host strategies—suggest that podcasting functions not merely as a distribution tool but as a hybridized arena where technological, rhetorical, and social forces intersect to shape the flow of management knowledge.

Table 3. Elements of the podcasting ecosystem and their role in management idea diffusion.

Component	Description	Function in Diffusion
Podcast Affordances	Intimacy (voice proximity), portability, episodic structure, and low production barriers	Enable personalized, flexible consumption of management content; increase exposure
Platform Dynamics	Algorithmic curation, visibility metrics, discoverability via rankings, and social sharing	Shape which ideas and voices gain visibility and perceived legitimacy
Fashion-Setter Roles	Hosts (e.g., entrepreneurs, consultants), guests (e.g., CEOs, thought leaders), and sponsors or firms	Curate, narrate, and amplify fashionable ideas; act as mediators of trend legitimacy
Audience Practices	Listening, following, commenting, and sharing	Reinforce attention dynamics and co-legitimize ideas via parasocial and networked engagement
Amplified Management Ideas	Simplified frameworks, viral slogans, popular leadership styles, and emotionally resonant success narratives	Result of these intersecting forces; often aligned with platform incentives and cultural resonance

outlines key components of this ecosystem, including podcast affordances, platform mechanisms, actor roles, and audience practices. Together, these elements contribute to the amplification, simplification, and selective elevation of popular management ideas.

4.4. Podcasting in the Knowledge Ecosystem

Recent work in scholarly communication has also recognized podcasting as a legitimate venue for research dissemination and knowledge-shaping (Persohn & Branson, 2025). While our focus is on management ideas in practice, such findings underscore the medium’s broader epistemic role.

In the digital attention economy (de la Torre et al., 2025), being noticed is half the battle. Podcasts benefit from being highly shareable and discoverable: platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube surface shows via algorithms and charts. While podcast algorithms are less studied than social media feeds, similar principles apply: content that retains listeners (through engaging storytelling or reputable guests) is promoted. Indeed, AI-driven recommendation systems on social platforms tend to privilege emotionally resonant leadership content (D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2025).

By analogy, podcast platforms often highlight episodes on timely or inspiring themes (e.g., leadership “secret sauce”, startup success, innovation), pushing those concepts to wider audiences. In addition, social media buzz around podcast episodes (tweeted soundbites, LinkedIn posts) can further amplify particular ideas. Thus, algorithmic and network effects in the platform economy (Srnicek, 2016; Van Dijck et al., 2018) serve as new “fashion setters”, determining which management topics break into the mainstream.

Algorithmic amplification does not operate neutrally: it often privileges voices and ideas that are already dominant, sidelining perspectives that challenge the status quo. This dynamic can reinforce existing hierarchies within management discourse and narrow the diversity of ideas reaching listeners.

4.5. Production, Labor, and Authenticity

Podcasting also shifts the labor of knowledge dissemination onto individuals and small teams. Unlike formal publishing, anyone with a microphone can start a show, edit episodes, and distribute them, often on a shoestring budget. Producing a podcast involves balancing “inform and entertain”—essentially, edutainment (cf., e.g., Hoff & Harnett, 2025). Hosts must craft a persona and narrative to engage listeners, which often means performing a version of “authentic” expertise. In practice, this can be quite labor-intensive: content is researched, interviews prepared, audio carefully edited, and personality curated. Podcast interviews are constructed in a way that blurs journalism and marketing. For management podcasts, hosts (often managers or entrepreneurs themselves) may present informal banter and personal anecdotes to seem relatable, even though much of the episode is scripted or planned. This performative authenticity can reinforce prevailing narratives: leadership gurus on social media tailor their content with emotionally charged stories and catchy slogans to fit platform algorithms (D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2025). Podcast hosts do the same, using accessible anecdotes and simplified frameworks to keep listeners hooked, which may oversimplify complex management issues.

These dynamics raise the question of whether podcast “authenticity” is a genuine departure from traditional management discourse or simply a new packaging of the same ideas. Hosts often craft personal brands that emphasize relatability and emotion, but in doing so they may reinforce dominant ideologies under the guise of vulnerability. The performance of authenticity thus becomes a rhetorical strategy aligned with algorithmic reward systems, favoring emotional storytelling over critical engagement or theoretical rigor.

5. Podcasts and Management Discourse

5.1. Popular Management Themes on Podcasts

In practice, business podcasts tend to amplify certain trendy ideas while largely ignoring others. A scan of leading shows reveals recurring themes: leadership, entrepreneurship, scaling growth, innovation, and organizational culture dominate. For instance, Masters of Scale (hosted by Reid Hoffman) explicitly targets startup growth lessons: its tagline reads “iconic business leaders share lessons and strategies that have helped them grow the world’s most fascinating companies”. Episodes have featured founders on topics from raising funds to building strong teams. Similarly, HBR IdeaCast positions itself around “leading thinkers in business and management”, often summarizing recent Harvard Business Review research for executives. The Knowledge Project (Farnam Street) goes broader but still focuses on productivity, leadership, and decision-making “wisdom”. These examples illustrate that management podcasts mostly recycle and repurpose mainstream ideas: agile leadership, data-driven strategy, culture enhancement, personal productivity tips, etc. Outliers do exist (e.g., podcasts on social enterprise or critical management), but they are rarer.

A review of leading business podcasts reveals recurring themes and predictable rhetorical patterns.

Table 4. Illustrative management podcasts and the ideas that they amplify.

Podcast Title	Host(s)	Recurring Themes	Dominant Fashion Ideas	Positioning
Masters of Scale	Reid Hoffman (primary)	Startup growth, scale, tech leadership	Agile, visionary, growth hacking	Inspirational, Silicon Valley playbook
HBR IdeaCast	HBR editors	Leadership, management science	Evidence-based leadership, emotional intelligence	Research-driven authority
The Knowledge Project	Shane Parrish	Decision-making, productivity, wisdom	Mental models, stoicism, “deep work”	Intellectual performance
The Diary of a CEO	Steven Bartlett	Vulnerability, resilience, personal branding	Authentic leadership, hustle culture	Self-help meets leadership
Coaching for Leaders	Dave Stachowiak	Coaching, influence, communication	Servant leadership, trust-building, team dynamics	Relational leadership development

provides an overview of some of the most prominent management podcasts, outlining the ideas that they tend to amplify and how they position themselves in the broader discourse. These examples were selected not to represent an exhaustive or statistically balanced sample, but rather to illustrate the dominant styles, voices, and narratives that recur across widely consumed shows. We focused on English-language podcasts that appeared on the Apple or Spotify “Top Business” charts as of May 2025 and that regularly feature management- or leadership-related content. The sample includes both institutionally backed and independent productions, and its limitations—particularly with regard to cultural and linguistic diversity—are discussed briefly in Section 6.

5.2. Illustrative Episodes and Voices

These shows often feature celebrated figures who double as fashion-setters. Waddingham et al. (2020, p. 275) note that many episodes are “profile interviews of top executives.” For example, Masters of Scale interviews Silicon Valley luminaries. One episode highlights Simon Sinek discussing how to identify leaders and “find your why” (Hoffman, 2025); another has Reed Hastings on Netflix culture (Hoffman, 2023). HBR IdeaCast similarly brings on professors and CEOs; one episode has a Thunderbird professor teaching “concrete advice” for developing a leadership style (HBR IdeaCast, 2020). The Knowledge Project often hosts intellectuals and thought leaders, like Peter Thiel or Daniel Kahneman, on strategic thinking and innovation. In all cases, the podcast format frames these voices as accessible experts. Hosts typically draw out narratives of career success, practical tips, and inspiring philosophy, reinforcing the guests’ status as gurus.

The dominance of high-profile Western voices is notable. Many podcasts are produced by U.S. or U.K. media, and most guests are male tech or finance leaders. Women and non-Western perspectives appear, but less frequently. This reflects both the industry bias and the networked nature of management fashion communities (consulting, Silicon Valley, elite academia). It suggests that podcasts amplify a particular ideological mix—generally pro-growth, entrepreneurial, and centered on personal leadership as the key to organizational success—which aligns with neoliberal managerial discourse (Bromley & Meyer, 2021).

5.3. Differences from Older Media

Compared to print, podcasts change the texture of management discourse. Where a book or article allows for slow reflection, a podcast episode relies on storytelling momentum. The audio format emphasizes tone, charisma, and personal narrative over detailed argumentation (García de Torres et al., 2025). D. Ø. Madsen and Slåtten (2015) explicitly question whether print media will remain dominant in diffusing ideas. They urge us to consider whether managers will still rely on airport books as ideas or switch to mobile content. In practice, many still value written case studies and peer-reviewed books and journal articles, but the allure of “actionable” podcast advice is clear. Importantly, podcasts do not replace print but complement it: a busy executive might skim an HBR article one week and listen to an HBR podcast the next. The gap lies in depth versus accessibility. Podcasts make management ideas seem more immediate and personalized, but sometimes at the cost of nuance.

5.4. Algorithmic and Platform Dynamics

Although podcasts lack the virality of TikTok feeds, platform mechanisms still shape which shows succeed. Apps rank top podcasts, curate recommendations, and allow listeners to rate episodes. In effect, a podcast’s popularity can grow through algorithmic curation (e.g., Apple’s “Top Business Podcasts” list) and social sharing. The concept of algorithmic amplification on social media is instructive here (D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2025). Algorithms tend to amplify leadership styles (authentic, servant, transformational) that drive engagement. By extension, podcasts that align with these engaging styles—for example, featuring charismatic hosts who tell emotionally resonant stories—will likely gain a larger following. The corporate backing of some shows also matters: a podcast like HBR’s benefits from Harvard’s brand and distribution, while indie shows grow via niche communities. In summary, podcasts are embedded in the platform economy (Srnicek, 2016; Van Dijck et al., 2018): their reach depends partly on digital algorithms and also on subtle marketing by their producers (newsletter plugs, social media promos, ads), all of which can bias which management ideas are amplified.

6. Critical Perspectives and Future Implications

Podcasting’s rise carries both opportunities and risks for management discourse. On the one hand, it democratizes access to ideas—any manager worldwide can hear experts without cost. Niche or contrarian voices could, in principle, find audiences (there are podcasts on social enterprise, critique of capitalism, etc.). On the other hand, the same fashion dynamics apply: ideas that fit the popular narrative will dominate. D. Ø. Madsen and Slåtten (2025) warn that the love of viral content can lead to oversimplification and performative authenticity in leadership discourse. If podcast hosts prioritize engaging storytelling, they may sacrifice critical nuance. For example, a complex study on motivation becomes a 20 min episode of “3 tips” to motivate your team, glossing over important caveats.

Moreover, the labor model of podcasting can reinforce inequalities. Successful podcasters often rely on free labor (guests volunteering time, unpaid audio editors, hosting platform promotions) while gleaning ad revenue. The “authenticity” of conversation is partly a performance shaped by producers, much like reality TV. There is also an ideological dimension: podcasts often function as brand-building for their sponsors (consulting firms, tech companies, personal brands). Listeners may not question the underlying assumptions behind an “expert’s” anecdote. In other words, management podcasts can serve as powerful vehicles for particular managerial ideologies—emphasizing individual agency, market solutions, and self-optimization—while sidelining systemic or critical perspectives.

Looking ahead, podcasts seem poised to remain influential in management knowledge dissemination. They fit the learning habits of digital-native managers. However, the management fashion literature reminds us to remain critical. Every fad eventually fades (to some extent) or mutates—the same may hold for any podcast trend. A decade ago, D. Ø. Madsen and Slåtten (2015) urged research on whether social media and related formats are “game changers” or themselves a passing trend. Today, we might similarly ask, will podcasts permanently reshape the landscape, or will new media (e.g., AI-generated content, virtual reality seminars) take over? What will happen to older forms of knowledge (e.g., textbooks) that have been integral to business school education when audio and ephemeral content dominate attention (Engwall & Wedlin, 2019)? These questions underscore the need to integrate podcasting into management fashion theory (Piazza & Abrahamson, 2020) and a broader discussion of the diffusion of management ideas (Sturdy et al., 2019), as it evolves in the platform age.

7. Conclusions and Future Directions

Podcasting has reshaped how management ideas are circulated, consumed, and performed. With low barriers to entry and a high capacity for emotional engagement, podcasts democratize who can speak—and who is heard—in the management fashion arena (García de Torres et al., 2025; Waddingham et al., 2020). However, this accessibility comes with trade-offs. The very qualities that make podcasts appealing—personality, storytelling, simplicity—also make them vulnerable to hype, oversimplification, and ideological reinforcement (D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2025).

As hosts craft brands and episodes chase virality, podcast content often mirrors the logic of social media algorithms: what is amplified is not necessarily what is most rigorous, but what is most resonant or emotionally engaging (D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2025). In this way, podcasts act as cultural amplifiers of management fashions—elevating leadership mantras, trendy frameworks, and entrepreneurial narratives while sidelining systemic critiques and alternative voices. The risk is that performance replaces substance, and that platform visibility outweighs scholarly credibility.

For management theory, podcasting highlights the need to reconsider how ideas are legitimized in a media-saturated environment. Traditional frameworks based on expert endorsement and slow diffusion may no longer capture how legitimacy is conferred via storytelling, emotional resonance, or algorithmic popularity. For practice, organizations and consultants should be mindful of the biases inherent in podcast content, particularly the tendency to oversimplify complex issues into soundbites. Podcasts can be powerful tools for learning and outreach, but they also require critical media literacy.

Still, podcasts are likely not a passing trend. They align with the time constraints and media habits of digital-native managers, offering real opportunities for learning and engagement (Waddingham et al., 2020). But as management knowledge becomes increasingly mediatized and personalized, we must ask, who gets the microphone? Whose expertise is amplified? And what kinds of management thinking are being normalized, packaged, and sold?

We conclude by echoing earlier calls for empirical research on podcast content, production labor, and audience effects. Podcasts are not just passive media—they are active arenas of meaning-making, where management ideas are not only shared but shaped. To understand the evolving future of business knowledge, podcasts must be taken seriously as core components of the platform-era management fashion system. In doing so, podcasting should be seen not as a fringe channel but as a core component of the evolving media ecosystem through which management fashions circulate (D. Ø. Madsen & Slåtten, 2015, 2025; Piazza & Abrahamson, 2020).

This essay has synthesized theoretical perspectives with illustrative examples, but it remains a conceptual exploration rather than an empirical study. As such, our claims are necessarily provisional and grounded in interpretive analysis. The essay format offers breadth and critical framing, but future research should employ empirical methods—including content analysis, audience ethnography, and network mapping—to systematically assess how podcasts shape managerial thinking in practice.

Future research should systematically examine podcast content: for instance, analyzing episode transcripts for prevalent themes, or tracing how ideas from popular episodes permeate managerial conversations. Audience studies would be valuable too: do managers change their beliefs or behavior after listening to certain podcasts? Comparative studies across cultures and industries could reveal whether English-language business podcasts reflect a global trend or a Western-centric fashion. This essay, for example, focuses on a small set of prominent, English-language podcasts primarily drawn from Western contexts. As such, it likely underrepresents alternative perspectives, non-mainstream voices, and culturally specific management discourses. Finally, the role of evolving technology (e.g., AI-personalized podcast channels, interactive audio platforms) in shaping management discourse warrants attention. By combining management fashion theory with media studies, scholars can better understand how podcasts fit into the long sweep of how management knowledge circulates and transforms.