As a proper millennial I go through my fair share of podcasts and Youtube shows (I'm currently going through the back catalog of The Joe Rogan Experience). Once thing I discovered recently is the speed-up function, and I found 1.5x to be the perfect pace for me to still understand the conversation yet allow me to go through more of it. I guess at normal speeds people talk too slowly for my taste.
For work a few years back I had to do some tutorials on Lynda.com (work pays for a subscription and it's fantastic) and the ability to listen at 2X speed was a godsend in getting through the material as quickly as possible. As long as I wasn't multitasking or distracted the extra speed did not adversely affect my retention of the material.
Not sure why it took me so long to do the same with wordy Youtube videos and audio podcasts. The speed manipulation feature has been available for the longest time, ever since Internet media switched away from Flash. I guess back then I wasn't in the mindset of constantly craving for more content to consume.
These days I want to maximize learning as time permits, and speeding up a podcasts and videos usually allows me to cram in two in the normal timeframe of one. And if I ever miss anything or want more clarity I can always rewind or slow it back down. The freedom to control speed is one of the best things about consuming media digitally.
Having said that you will never get me out of physical books. The tactile interaction between my fingers and the pages that makes it special and no amount of efficiency can displace that.
Grado SR80e: the best bang for the buck headphones for private listening.