What's a Podcast?

Podcasting is a great new way of distributing audio automatically. When a site offers a podcast feed you can subscribe to the feed using podcasting software and any new items will be automatically downloaded to your computer. As the name implies, if you have a portable audio player, the files can also be copied to the player. Despite the name, and this is a common area of confusion, no iPod or other MP3 player is required. You can listen to the audio on your computer just as you would any MP3. In fact, with my feeds you don't even need podcast software. Just click the feed link and download the show you want directly. If you decide you want to listen to a show every time it comes out, you might consider using a podcasting client. Think of it as Tivo for Internet audio. You subscribe to content you want by visiting the web site and getting the podcast URL. Your podcast software automatically downloads any new shows and copies them to your MP3 player. There's always something new and interesting to listen to and you never have to check the web to see when a new show is available. Visit ipodder.org for more information. You'll find a list of available podcasts and podcasting software there. I recommend iPodderX for Macintosh and Doppler for Windows.

I offer numerous audio RSS feeds here in a variety of formats and from two different content distribution networks but for most people the following 64kbps MP3s are the best choice:

The Laporte Report - miscellaneous stuff including radio interviews, speeches, and deleted scenes.

My KFI Radio show minus news, traffic, and commercials.

this WEEK in TECH with Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, and friends.

If you prefer BitTorrent you can download this WEEK in TECH from my BitTorrent tracker. For more information visit the Wikipedia article on podcasting.