What is a Podcast and How Can You Subscribe to One?
By Mark Frauenfelder April 02, 2008
Podcasts are like radio programs you can subscribe to on your computer. There are thousands of podcasts being produced, covering hundreds of subjects. For example:
Are you interested in learning a language? There are podcasts to help you get started in Chinese, Spanish, French, and other languages. Do you enjoy comedy? There are podcasts with everything from stand-up routines to The Onion's parody newscasts. You can subscribe to podcasts that focus on health, old radio plays, technology news, music of all styles, kids' programs, and more.
Some podcasts are produced by major media companies like PBS, NPR, and Disney, while others are made by teenagers in their bedrooms. The quality of podcasts varies widely, but no matter. Podcasts are free, and if you subscribe to one that doesn't tickle your fancy, it's easy to scratch it off your list.
The best application for downloading, organizing, and listening to podcasts is iTunes*, the free program from Apple. You can get a copy (for Mac* or Windows*) at www.apple.com/itunes/download.
Select: After you open it, click the iTunes Store link on the left side of the application window, and then click the Podcast link. From there, you can browse all the podcasts by category, or choose from a list of most popular podcasts.
Download: After you click the name of a podcast you're interested in, iTunes will display a page with information about the podcast, listener reviews, links to related podcasts and individual episodes, and a Subscribe button. As soon as you click Subscribe, iTunes will begin downloading the most recent episode.
Listen: Click the purple Podcast icon in iTunes, and then double-click the episode title. You can also copy the episode to your MP3 player for listening on the go. (It's easier to use iTunes with an iPod*, but you can manually copy the MP3 file to any MP3 player).
