It'd be cool if there was something like Q&A mixed with mini-podcasts.
You could be listening, then have a question, ask the computer, have it start up a mini-podcast at the segment that answers, then say "go back" and keep running the original.
This still relies on content curation rather than on-demand generation, which means you will encounter the same issues as if you were Googling about it. Principally, you won't find what you're looking for if no one has mentioned it or someone used a different concept to describe it.
But it does sound promising as an exploratory tool if you understand that the Qs will be basic and the As straightforward.
The exception is stuff I have no idea about. Then all that coverage is useful. But for (I assume) some on HN, who are naturally curious and have a surface-level understanding of most topics, that 5-10 minutes of time out of a 25-minute podcast (with 2 minutes of ads each at the front and back) means you only get to scratch at the next level deeper without actually getting into any details, which doesn't seem worth the time when there are still Wikipedia articles about it.