Writer, Artist, Ignored
Something in the middle where they have their topics of discussion but they're relaxed about how they go about it and while I prefer fr them t o stay on topic, I find it would be unreasonable if they were all right and proper all the time. Besides, screw time limits, the longer the better because it means more discussions is being squeezed in there.
The Blog The Art
If there's only one host I prefer them to be more professional, which they usually are if there's only one. For shows with multiple hosts, semi-casual is good. Shifting away from the original topic is fine, some joking around is fine, but if it's unprofessional to the point where the hosts are trying to yell over each other to be heard I just have to turn it off. For example, I was listening to a podcast where they were discussing whether they'd rather have constrution of a space elevator begin or a successful manned mission to Mars happen in the next ten years, and they were having an okay if disjointed discussion, but then they started yelling in order to be heard and I had no clue why or what they were saying. It's like they forgot they were recording a podcast.
What do your tastes lie on the casual/professional scale of podcasts? Do you prefer casual, where the host(s) keep it loose, veer off-topic (usually about their daily lives or pop culture) and have wildly varying cast length (if not scheduling as a whole)? Or do you perhaps want more organized podcasts, keep to the bullet points, starting and stopping on a more precise time, kept by more professional hosts? Maybe you even prefer something in the middle, who knows, there are no wrong answers here!