We have Applescript to thank, in part, for podcasting. Adding media enclosures to RSS happened in 2001, but it was in 2003 that iTunes Applescript capabilities were used to transfer audio files automatically from an RSS reader into an iTunes library. I know I personally listened to my first "Podcasts" in 2004, on an original iPod. It wasn't until 2005 that Apple added native podcatching capabilities to iTunes.

Is there something equivalent on Windows or Linux?

As far as MacOS goes, has there been any official word on the future of AppleScript? I remember a few years ago they got rid of the team that did most of the work on AppleScript and related thing and it looked like it may have become one of those "we aren't actively killing it but no one cares so will probably die naturally over the next few OS releases" things.

But then they introduced the Shortcuts app for MacOS Monterey earlier this year, and AppleScript is a prominent part of that, which suggests that they still do care about keeping it alive and kicking.

I have a small AppleScript in production use at work at this very moment. As a designer-turned-developer, AppleScript was the first tool that let me feel like I could be in greater control over my computer and inspired me to learn Objective-C (this was pre-iOS days).