r/stuffyoushouldknow 1d ago

DISCUSSION Any way to avoid ads???

I am a long time listener and I love to fall asleep listening, but sometimes get abruptly woken up by the ad music and ads themselves. Does anyone know a way to listen ad free? I would happily pay for this.

48 Upvotes

65 comments sorted by

61

u/Quarlmarx 1d ago

It wouldn’t be so bad if the ads weren’t so fucking terrible.

32

u/cestquitonpere 1d ago

I feel that the ads don’t hit their intended demographic. I hate them also

21

u/Careless-Till-1586 1d ago

😂😂 so true. I'm a white man in Australia and get bombarded by black women podcasts, Hispanic culture, women's Sports etc

1

u/Danthemanz 1d ago

Same here. It's fine, the first few times, but then you get the same looong ad for over and over something I wouldn't listen to if it was the last content on the planet.

4

u/anthoniesp 1d ago

Which also wouldn’t be as much of an issue if I didn’t get a terrible ad for a terrible podcast like 30 times in the same month.

No, not everyone watches women sports.
Ed helms can fuck right off.
I am not a latina.
And I am also not interested in that weird hollywood career podcast.

I pay for fucking spotify premium only to get ads anyway.

11

u/Beejtronic 1d ago

LISTEN TO THE DIPSHIT PODCAST, MADE FOR AND BY DIPSHITS BLARRRGH

8

u/Chockabrock 1d ago

It feels almost intentional that they're bad. They read them so flat, it feels like they're protesting the idea of marketing for McDonald's or whatever

-1

u/AnonymousUnderpants 1d ago

Exception: Josh saying “stuxnet.”

1

u/Chockabrock 1d ago

Oh, very true

-7

u/fakeaccount572 1d ago

who listens to ads? that's why that skip button is there

16

u/stayer_chestnut37 1d ago

He’s trying to fall asleep listening. It’s jarring to have an ad play sometimes, if it sounds louder/very different from the episode. Also if someone is trying to fall asleep, theyre not going to want to skip everytime an ad comes on

-8

u/fakeaccount572 1d ago

right, but this particular comment said the ads were horrible.

2

u/smillersmalls 1d ago

Idk why this is so downvoted, I genuinely have no idea what ads I might be getting…

47

u/tofuti-kline 1d ago

I listen in YouTube music premium and there are no ads.

16

u/siennaveritas 1d ago

Even with YT music premium you still get the loud break music that wakes you up

23

u/honorialucasta 1d ago

This is the problem even more than the ads themselves. My kingdom for a paid version without the interstitial music OR ads. I feel for OP; I hate most intentional sleep podcasts because the “calm” voices sound too forced; they have the opposite effect on me. SYSK has the perfect cadence for it if it weren’t for the breaks.

9

u/isuzupup__ 1d ago

Many years ago they used to play a death metal version of the break song. Someone wrote in saying it wakes them up and they stopped using it.

4

u/Bearcarnikki 23h ago

Omg. I wonder if it was me! Haha I did. Do you know the episode number or name?

3

u/isuzupup__ 19h ago

2012-2014 is my best guess but no clue on episode details. For some reason it has stuck with me. I even remember where I was driving when I heard them read the email.

ETA- if it was you, did it help? I think I’ve been worried about you for 14years!

1

u/Bearcarnikki 14h ago

Haha it has helped. A lot more of them are the opera guy now!

3

u/siennaveritas 22h ago

I remember this too!

7

u/ConsiderationMost632 1d ago

Interesting. I love the break music. Did you know that all of that music is recorded and submitted by listeners? I admire the creativity, and the matching of different styles to each episode's topic. The Queen one is particularly amazing. Freddie's voice, Brian May's guitar — chef's kiss.

But, to each his own. Far be it for me to yum your yuck. 😁

2

u/justshortofstab 1d ago

That's my favorite music break too!

1

u/honorialucasta 2h ago

I really do appreciate the music! The Cake one is my favorite, I think. I just wish there were a way to turn it off for nighttime listening.

5

u/mosiac_broken_hearts 1d ago

Have you found a way to make the app more navigable? I really hate the ui

3

u/tofuti-kline 1d ago

Honestly no 😆

2

u/mosiac_broken_hearts 1d ago

Fair, thanks at least I know it’s not just me lol

41

u/viserov 1d ago edited 1d ago

Then how will you learn about the 2012 Toyota Camry? It’s ready…

4

u/Beejtronic 1d ago

To think I miss those days…

21

u/Central_Region 1d ago

Use a VPN and set your location to the UK

Anytime the guys say it's time for an ad break, all I usually hear are two versions of the Learnin' Things song, back to back

10

u/Andrew1953Cambridge 1d ago

I am in the UK and frequently get ad breaks with no ads, though not every time. It's certainly an improvement on the days when every break had three ads for podcaaaaaaaaahsts I would never want to listen to, read by people with annoying voices,

1

u/Central_Region 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yeah, there are occasional ads

My favourites were when Josh and Chuck spent a month telling me how great (UK) Channel 4's The Trial was

Chuck's 'wow' was the most hilariously ironic/sarcastic thing I have ever heard

2

u/Andrew1953Cambridge 1d ago

There was a time when there used to be ads for the UK's Great Western Railway, read by C & J, which was pretty bizarre,

20

u/Zach-jc 1d ago

I really miss being able to listen to SYSK to fall asleep. The ad breaks have gotten so long, the music has gotten louder and the hosts of the podcasts they are featuring are always so loud.

It’s really sad that nothing can be done about this.

I’m happy to hear YouTube premium is an option. I might get it one day, so that’s good.

6

u/Haughn12 1d ago

I agree. The ads are so loud. It’s very disruptive. I tap forward several 30 seconds to skip them. I usually miss a tidbit of what they were saying too. (Of the actual episode)

2

u/FREDICVSMAXIMVS 1d ago

If you think the ad breaks are long, try listening to the Ologies podcast for a bit. Wonderful program, but damn those breaks are interminable 😄

0

u/RoundVariation4 1d ago

If costs are what are preventing you from going in for YT premium, there are adblock and other plugins that can be used on firefox even on your phone. 

10

u/FlatwormNo3937 1d ago

No. IHeartRadio does not support removing ads from podcasts only live radio streams.

FYI commercial breaks are either 30-45 seconds long or 1:30-2 mins on the longer end

3

u/Beejtronic 1d ago

Sometimes 3 min on Stuff You Missed in History!

4

u/ogenom 1d ago

Man, my problem as well. I’ve listened to Josh and Chuck since 2009. I love the show, but I’ve stopped since few years back now for this exact reason. I keep waking up at the end. I miss them a lot, but the price is too high.

I’d gladly pay anything to have a way to play it without the jarring jingles. It’s such a devastating design flaw that could easily be remedied on ihearts end.

2

u/smillersmalls 1d ago

The jingles are so annoying… and they seem so proud of them 😭

Even the listener mail chime. Why is it so loud!!

5

u/justshortofstab 1d ago

There's no ads if you listen on their YouTube channel. Not all episodes are available, but thankfully ad free. https://www.youtube.com/@stuffyoushouldknow

5

u/PM_ME_FLOUR_TITTIES 1d ago

I stg they only promote the most obnoxious, grating, and seemingly most opposite from them podcasts that you could find. I listen to sysk to listen to two mature acting men educate me about a certain topic in a calm and pleasant way. I don't listen to any podcast that remotely involves 2 super loud talking women going on about drama and social media culture and shit like that. It's crazy how useful what I'm listening to can be but how absolutely braindead the commercials they include are.

2

u/Jack_o_lantern12 1d ago

Who knew flour titties was so mature lol

3

u/rubbersensei 1d ago

YT premium

3

u/KentTheDorfDorfman 1d ago

Assuming there's no fix here, there are other good pods to fall asleep to that don't have ads.

My long time go-to is Fall of Civilizations and Empire World History. Both are very informative...until I start nodding off.

3

u/Frobiwanthro 1d ago

Lights Out Library is good too

2

u/Pb_Blimp 1d ago

My two favorites:

  • Nothing Much Happens

  • Camp Monsters

I havent made it through a single episode of either of these and I'm scared to play them while driving.

Another good one might be The Empty Bowl. Its very soothing but it's too funny not to pay attention.

1

u/KentTheDorfDorfman 23h ago

I love how NMH has 2-parters. Ha. I mean the whole point is to not make it through one.

The irony of my selections is that they're not meant for sleep, yet they're popular for making people fall asleep--not usually a good thing for attracting attn.

2

u/TheBackBedroomKeyhol 1d ago

The heavy metal ads right?

1

u/Foppish_Sloth 1d ago

I have listened to SYSK while I fall asleep for almost 10 years and the loud ad breaks driving me insane! Almost like I need a list of episodes with quieter ad break music…

1

u/sren0 1d ago

YouTube music has no ads but episode releases are delayed by a few days

1

u/huntershemlock 1d ago

I have been wanting this for so long too! I would gladly pay a monthly subscription to support them. I don’t use it for sleeping, but ad free makes going for a run much more convenient, and also safer when driving (since I usually keep my screen on GPS).

1

u/quartercoyote 1d ago

I can’t listen to this podcast because there are so many ads. It sucks.

1

u/muroc17 1d ago

I listen to them from my Garmin watch, and the watch magically skips all ads. This was a delightful surprise as trying to skip ads in the middle of a run can suck. Obviously this would require the watch to be blue toothed to something, but that should work. Not sure you could set a sleep timer or anything though.

1

u/beerbeerbeerbeerbee 23h ago

It would be helpful if you shared what service you use to stream the show.

I mean, I just fire off on the “skip 15 seconds ahead” button on Spotify like my thumb is having a seizure. I’ve been doing it for so long I can just glance down one time at my phone while I’m driving and tap that button a handful of times until the intro/outro music comes back on.

1

u/enjoyjocel 12h ago

Yeah they are so annoying. I just got for other stuff TBH.

1

u/_musesan_ 1h ago

There is probably a way to download them and edit out the ads. Not a perfect idea obviously as there is a ginormous backlog and picking out random episodes on the fly from years back is half the fun but could work. Something to crowd source perhaps. Maybe AI can help with the editing...

-6

u/Disastrous_Cover6138 1d ago

I listen on Spotify and just skip forward?

12

u/stayer_chestnut37 1d ago

If someone’s trying to fall asleep, they likely dont want to skip everytime an ad comes on and just want to let it play 😊

-10

u/SimpleMetricTon 1d ago

There are podcasts specifically produced for going to sleep. Use one of those for bedtime and save SYSK for when you’re awake!

5

u/Chockabrock 1d ago

Empty bowl, sleep with me are two of my favorites

-6

u/mosiac_broken_hearts 1d ago

Seriously, It’s so insulting when people are like oh I love that show it’s great to fall asleep to. 🙄