Facebook could have chosen many moments over the last ten years to launch podcasts, say in 2018 when Google rolled out its own podcast app, or a year later, when Spotify bought popular producer Gimlet Media. Facebook’s decision to try podcasts now says a lot about how the medium has emerged as a part of a must-have toolset for creators—as well as Facebook’s new embrace of social audio. 

While CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s interest in audio is not hard to fathom after Clubhouse’s spectacular rise, why Facebook may need podcasts to attract creators is probably less clear. That’s except if you’re one of the 23 million people subscribing to Logan Paul on YouTube who also tunes into his podcast. (It’s called “Impaulsive.”)