The Dummies* Guide to Podcasting

If you are looking to get all of your Podcasts in some kind of order, you are going to need a good iPodder type of software to do this. For Linux users, the best choice at this point is jPodder. While I have yet to try it myself. I am going to be looking into it very soon.

After being constantly harassed to explain podcasting to friends and others I’d figured I could write a post explaining the concept and include instructions and links to everything to get started. Therefore, here is my Dummies Guide To Podcasting.

A Podcast or Blogcast is an audio file which is most likely in talk show format and has a RSS Feed that you can subscribe to with a podcast-aware new aggregator.
“Podcasts differ from traditional internet audio in two important ways. In the past, listeners have had to either tune in to web radio on a schedule, or they have had to actively download individual files from webpages. Podcasts are more flexible and much easier to get. They can be listened to at any time because a copy is on the listener’s computer or portable music player, and they are automatically delivered to subscribers, so no active downloading is required.” - Wikipedia.

You don’t necessarily have to subscribe to Podcasts to listen to them as most podcasters make it easy for you to download the podcasts from their web sites. However subscribing does make it easier as you’ll always get the latest edition delivered right to your computer and your Portable Digital Music Player.

Yes, I said, “Portable Digital Music Player” and not “iPod.” Despite Podcast’s name you don’t specifically need an iPod as any MP3 player will work. Apple, Creative, iRiver, RCA,Rio, Samsung, and others offer models in almost every price range.

To subscribe to Podcasts you will need to have a podcast-aware news aggregator that can read RSS 2.0 feeds with enclosures. The aggregator will automatically deliver the audio files from your subscribed feeds to your music library and your Portable Digital Music Player. There are many aggregators that can do this.

For Windows, I personally recommend Doppler Radio. On OS X, you can try any one of these, and for Linux, jPodder.