NotebookLM podcast generation on my Medium articles
Hopping on the notebook LLM wave in this post! I’ve loved seeing it get traction recently. I was initially using it at work to summarize multiple doc types (PDF, docs, slides), and on the personal front, to get an understanding of longer form text (research journals, deep dive essays).
Of course I had to try the new notebookLM podcast function, and so tested it this month on two medium articles I’ve written a while ago (1) Superapps (2) Being a great Customer Engineer.
1/ Superapps
Here’s the notebookLM overview!
The article is 4 minutes, but the audio is 12 mins, which in my opinion is too long for a 4 minute article! So there were more “invented flourishes ”, sometimes helpful, but sometimes inaccurate.
Flourishes invented
- Used an invented analogy of buying pizza in one superapp, which was a decent example but not mentioned in the article.
- Mentioned points of convenience and control, data and privacy, which weren’t in the article. To be fair, these are valid and related points to superapps, and I’m guessing what others have written about before online.
Nit pick
- Mentioned Spotify, which I did not use as an example. I do not classify Spotify as a superapp, as its function is very focused on audio streaming and media versus being an all in one superapp.
- Used an analogy of an orchestra doesn’t quite work for me in explaining super apps.
Added value
I dare say, some humor? And a more encouraging rallying call at the end to the listener.
2/ Customer Engineer
Here’s the notebook LM overview
I was glad this one was 6 minutes, and not as dragged out as the Superapp audio overview. A longer podcast risks more flourishes, and this one was mostly free of these extra flourishes.
Nit pick
Some parts are exaggerated, like “You got to map it O-U-T”, throwing platitudes like “don’s miss forest for the trees”, having a “compass”. I guess it doesn’t hurt, but feels like some wasted words.
Added value
Since the article was a Q&A format, then it is nice to have a podcast to reflect it and pick out the important points (e.g., framework, mental models). Moreover, the audio overview added a point on knowing when to pushback on a client, which was something that my article didn’t cover. I agree with that “addition”, because I think a large customer B2B sales process will have that dialogue of back and forth to figure out the right technical solution.
That’s my quick analysis of these two podcasts generated for now. I have to test the latest feature of customising podcasts next.
