[noir_lord]

One thing I do is use VLC and it's ability to speed up content without altering pitch.

I wish there was a more fluent way to control the playback speed (Fn Key and Mouse Scroll) but otherwise it works well.

Really handy for podcasts that while interesting tend to be a bit slow.

EDIT: Just checked new version, you can display the speed bar by showing status bar, clicking it and then hovering cursor and using scroll wheel, missed that before.