It feels like everywhere we turn lately someone is launching a podcast, and we're not mad about it. With stats showing that 51% of the US population has listened to one, podcasting has gone mainstream. They are an integral way to get news, spread brand awareness and, let's be honest, seriously binge on the latest true crime drama. For marketers, podcasts offer an intimate brand experience that provides a high share of voice, an engaged audience and uncluttered ad space. “Big things are happening in the podcast space,” Bruce Supovitz, Senior Vice President of national audio services at Nielsen Audio, said. “Revenues in the US are expected to hit over half a billion this year—a strong start for a medium that’s only a decade or so old and big companies are taking note.” Here are 5 things to know about podcasts right now:

Between last week’s announcement that Facebook’s Q1 earnings made a jump thanks largely to Instagram, Beyonce posting her first ever Instagram story, and Taylor Swift debuting an Instagram filter to tease her new album, it just feels timely to send our first ever newsletter—The Short Story—debuting with social media’s most photogenic platform. Each month we will send you five things you need to know about one trending topic. So let’s dive in, #nofilter.