I don't have a bone to pick in this debate, but reading vs listening is quite different. I can't really focus on brushing my teeth, taking a shower, taking out the trash, cleaning around the house, etc and reading, but I can listen.And at that point he can be replaced with a decent RSS feed. Well, I guess depends if you're a spastic zoomer or not, the idea of reading text to get your news might be highly unappealing for some, so a funky narrator with soyjak thumbnails is needed.