Podcasting explained

Let's keep this simple.

• We produce a radio show and post it on our server as an MP3 file.
• You download a free program that remembers the address of our podcast and periodically checks for new shows.
• The program downloads the latest show to your computer where you can listen to it OR you can tranfer the file to your portable MP3 player and listen to the show wherever you go.

That's it.

What do you need to receive podcasts?

If you're reading this on the web, chanecs are you already have almost everything you need to receive podcasts. Of course, access to the Internet is vital and a fast connection won't hurt.

The only other item you'll need is an appropriate program (sometimes called an RSS newsreader). We use a free program called iPodder which seems to work extremely well. However, I recently found an extremely convenient (but certainly no-frills) program called Podcatcher on a Stick which is loaded onto your mp3 player (but not iPods, though). The advantage here is that you can use multiple computers and not end up with duplicate content.

So, once you have Internet access and a podcatcher program, you need to find podcasts that interest you and then "subscribe" to them through your podcatcher program.

As of June 2005, there are approximately 7 to 10,000 free podcasts and the number is growing daily. Through trial and error you can find the ones that most interest you by searching a few websites that collect and distribute podcasts:

Idiot Vox - Only the best - mostly independently-produced content

Podcast Alley - An impressive collection of podcasts

iPodderX - The largest collection of podcasts I've found

Podcast.de - German podcasts and German-language tutorials

The websites above also offer links to software pages where you will be able to find newsreaders, audio editing software and other podcast related files.

"Subscribing"

To add a podcast to your automatic downloads, you will need to give your newsreader program an .xml file that directs it to the specific place where the podcasts are stored. These .xml files are usually quite easy to find, since they are often attached to a standard graphic ( ). By right-clicking on these graphics and choosing "copy link", you can then paste the .xml file into your newsreader. Thereafter, the program will find the latest episodes of your favorite podcasts automatically.