Do you think one's tendency to speak faster originates from listening to podcasts at 2.x+ speed?

The problem with speaking fast predates 2x speed by decades. From what I've seen it's usually the result of not rehearsing beforehand - beginners tend to panic and speak fast as a result while experienced speakers overestimate how much information an audience can retain and/or how short a minute is. Experienced speakers can tune it in real time, though, and rehearsal time is expensive so they simply don't.

People have been speaking too fast in public since the beginning of public speaking. It's just nerves making us press forward too quickly, and sometimes people are worried it will be too boring if they speak slowly. I was taught to speak far slower than is comfortable - and it will come out just right.

That might be the case for some people, but I've been speaking super fast since I was at least nine years old, well before I had ever listened to a podcast (and I'm not sure that the term even existed in ~2000). Not just public speaking, but in general.

I'm kind of unique in my family, the rest of my family speaks at a more or less normal rate, so it could be some neuroligical or spectrum thing specific to me.

You know, I think that might certainly have something to do with it, but I've also noticed that anytime I'm using tech (video call/voice call) the conversation is at a much faster pace.

It's as though the natural state of the machines and tech is so fast, that we're trying to keep the information transmission as dense as possible so we can end the call.

Side note, I was watching an interview with Cory Doctorow and because of the tv segment style, both he and the interviewer were BLASTING through their talking points.

I wonder how much of our speech is being affected by the "say as much as you can before commercial break" model.

Which is something I have zero interest in doing. If it's a good/interesting podcast, it's not about getting fed information "efficiently" for me.

That said, I have recorded some podcasts with people where I felt I really needed to go into Audacity and have it automatically cut out a bunch of pauses because there were just too many of them.

I've also found that having both video and audio of yourself is a great way to uncover both visual and audio quirks.

Not for me. I listen at 1-1.25x, and not an avid listener. I just speak fast, especially in english