For a generation that are saddled with student debt and that are too skint to buy a house, personal finance can be confusing and stressful. In a marketing move that taps into Gen Y’s love of the podcast, Umpqua Bank is starting some valuable conversations about cash.

Office chat platform Slack has become a Silicon Valley phenomenon, and in April 2015 was valued at more than $2.8 billion. With a number of its client businesses creating their own branded content, Slack's following suit with its own podcast, intended to promote its human side.

In an effort to engage with core customers, online fashion retailer ASOS is set to launch a weekly podcast focusing on female business owners. Having already rolled out a monthly print magazine, the brand hopes its newest venture can reach an even wider range of its Gen Y and Z audience.

Averaging 2.2 million listeners per episode, NPR’sSerialpodcast is not just a cultural phenomenon, but a game-changer for a formally underappreciated medium. But why has the story of a 1999 murder in Baltimore struck such a chord? And what is it about the lure of audio that’s driving a talk radio revival?