Podcasting 101

What is a podcast?

Don't worry! You're not the first to ask. A podcast is an audio recording stored as an MP3 file that anybody can download.

The word podcast is also used to mean a podcast channel, i.e., a channel that listeners can "subscribe" to and receive future audio posts, or podcast entries, all for FREE. (For technical readers, a podcast channel is an RSS feed, and each audio post is an enclosure embedded in the RSS feed.)

The result is a new way of sharing audio via the Internet.

The term podcasting was originally named after the popular iPod device, and the podcasting trend has been fueled by iPod owners searching for content to fill up their iPods. However, you don't need an iPod to enjoy podcasting!

  iPod users: simply click on , iTunes will open to our podcast directory listing. Simply click the "Subscribe" button.

Feed Burner, Ipodder, and other Podcatchers please use the button for the feed info in xml format

Do I need an iPod or other portable device or mp3 player?

No! Anybody with a computer and proper software can listen to podcasts and subscribe to podcast channels!
Windows: RIGHT-CLICK on , then select "Save Target As..." from the pop-up menu.

Macintosh: CLICK-HOLD on , then select "Save This Target As..." from the pop-up menu.

How do I listen and subscribe to podcasts?

There are many options. Here are just a few:

Many podcast channels are also available as individual MP3 files which you can download to your computer and listen on your media player of choice.

If you have iTunes (version 4.9 or later), you can use it to subscribe to any podcast channel, and all past, present, and future audio files in that channel will be automatically downloaded to your computer (and to your iPod, when you connect it). To do this, simply select the "Subscribe to Podcast" option from the "Advanced" menu in iTunes.
* Subscribe for automatic downloads if you don't have iTunes

If you don't have iTunes, there are plenty of other software products that will work with your media player of choice. Each of these products allows you to subscribe to podcast channels, and audio files will be automatically downloaded and added to your media library. The most popular software seems to be iPodder. Here's a list of other podcasting software. Linl :http://www.podcastalley.com/forum/links.php?id=1

If you have a MyYahoo or MyMSN account, you can easily add any podcast channel to that account. The podcast channel will simply appear as a new module, and each new "post" will appear as a new "headline" on your personalized page.