What is a podcast?
A podcast is an online audio or video file, organized by release date, available for download, streaming, and subscribing.
Most podcasts are released as mp3 files – audio files that you can download to your computer.
How do I listen to a podcast?
First, you can simply stream the podcast, straight from the podcast web page, to your computer. Just click on the podcast file, and it should open in your browser or your media player. Some podcasts, like mine, have a handy built-in player. Simply click the “play” button and you can listen.
Second, you can download the podcast, straight to your computer, so that you can listen to it at a later date. Just “right-click” on the podcast file and select “save link as” or “save file as”. The file will download to your computer’s hard drive. Once the download is complete, click the file and you can listen to the podcast.
Third, you can subscribe to the podcast “feed”. This way, whenever a new podcast episode is released, it will automatically be downloaded to your computer.
How do I subscribe to a podcast?
You will need a program like iTunes. (Edit – My favorite app for downloading and organizing podcasts is DoggCatcher for Android.)
[Edit – When this article was written, finding podcasts was somewhat confusing. Now, iTunes and DoggCatcher have made it pretty simple. Search for the podcast or podcast category, from withing iTunes or DoggCatcher, and hit “subscribe”. It’s that simple. Below is the original “manual” guide, still useful if you find a podcast online and want to manually add it.]
Download and install Itunes.
Navigate to a podcast page and look around for a “feed button” –
The “feed button” will look something like one of these –
If you click on the iTunes “feed button”, iTunes should open and begin to download the latest episode of the podcast.
If you right-click on the RSS “feed button”, you can copy the “feed url” – (The feed url will usually have the word “feed” in it.)
Open iTunes, click the Advanced tab, and click Subscribe to podcast –
Paste the feed url into the Subscribe to podcast field and click OK.
Your download will begin.
Do I Need An iPod To Listen To The Podcast?
NO! You can play the file from your computer – and if it’s a standard mp3 file, you can transfer it to ANY portable mp3 player or mp3-capable smart phone.
I Am Still Confused!?!
If you are still confused, feel free to leave a comment or a question. Don’t be afraid of this “new” technology. My dad, who is a total tech-newbie, loves podcasts.
I want to thank you for explaining how Podcast’s work. I admit to (formally) being a bit scared of them – new technology and all that. But you made it all very easy for me to understand and yesterday your Podcast became the first I have ever listened to. You have a very nice and soothing voice!
I listened to you yesterday at work. Now I can be productive AND learn about personal finance.. how cool is that? 🙂
Nice job, I really enjoyed it.
I am looking forward to future podcasts!!!
Hey there,
I have a podcast that is in itunes. I have my URl address for my podcast. Can i email the address to friends so they can listen to the podcast or do my friends have to have itunes loaded on their computers to be able to listen to the podcast?
I would hate it, that they all would have to download itunes to their computers before they could listen to my podcast …. shouldn’t they just be able to click on the URL that i send them and open up my podcast site in itunes and then click on the play episode?
Thanks,
Jerry