[eddieroger]

The concept of "relationship with the listener" is older than podcasts, and stem from the radio days. It's absolutely a real thing. Early media studies found people liked the companionship of a radio announcer, and would sometimes have it on just to listen and feel like someone is there with them. This is exaggerated even more on podcasts where you get to control when and where you listen, making it even more personal, and in some cases, shows record live and you can dialog with the podcasters during. If getting an on-air reply to something isn't a relationship, I don't know what is.

You're probably thinking of relationship in the term of something like a parent or significant other. Of course you don't have that. The podcasters I listen to wouldn't know who I am from Adam, despite a few Twitter replies from them. But again, that's not what the term means, and it's a much older industry term.