Questionable ethics in this burgeoning medium is a bad foundation to build on.
For a media platform that has exploded as quickly as podcasts, we expect growing pains. Like when you were in high school and didn’t totally understand citing. You got a D and a “See Me” on a paper. Today, there are at least two podcasts with worldwide audiences using words that aren’t theirs, and making bank while pretending they are doing all of research. The responses of Crime Junkie and The Dollop to allegations of podcast plagiarism is distressing. They are extremely popular and influential shows setting a bad standard. Not only for the medium’s legitimacy, but for our own ethical consumption.