‘‘Podcast’’ seem increasingly popular; promoted online without transcripts.* Lexicon Valley* on at *Slate.com *seems a good example. First, have they always been around and I haven’t noticed? Then how do I/others utilize these things? I understand I can click a place or two and listen to it - but right now I am reading. Can I pick it up on my car radio? For me there is a disconnect. I am missing something.
You can download them to your iPod (whence podcasting) or smart phone or similar device and listen to them at your leisure. You can plug your device into your car stereo to listen to them that way if you want.
The term “podcast” was coined in 2004, although I assume the thing it was coined to describe existed for at least a little bit before someone invented a name for it. So it’s a bit more than a decade old. As for how it works, it’s basically like downloading music, only instead of a five minute song, it’s thirty minutes or more of people talking. Find a podcast you like, download it onto a portable device, and listen to it wherever you might use that same device to listen to music.
To see if you’re into them, give This American Life a try. I’m sure that people exist who don’t like TAL, but I haven’t met any.
Note that you don’t need to use any sort of special app for listening to podcasts or subscribe to them. I download programs like Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! as MP3s and listen to them with an MP3 player.
Podcasts are basically radio shows. You can usually download them. Sometimes via iTunes which requires Mac Hardware but often as MP3s which you can play on anything that plays audio files.
What requires Mac hardware? iTunes or the files you download?
iTunes definitely does not require Mac hardware, nor does the files you download (they are in MP3 format).
Sorry, my understanding was iTunes was in Mac’s proprietary sound format. I didn’t know you could buy normal MP3s on iTunes.
Weird that this keeps coming up in my life recently.
While yes you can download npr programs as podcasts, the best radio being made today is being released as podcasts and most of it isn’t available anywhere else.
Hardcore History
Serial
Start Up
Planet Money
Slate’s The Gist
99% invisible
Invisibilia
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Are just a few amazing programs that you cannot find anywhere else but as a podcast. All are amazing. You don’t need an ipod or even iTunes to listen to them, just something that can play mp3s like a smartphone. I use the app pocket casts. It costs a couple bucks, but I think it’s worth it. There are free apps too.
If you like radio, podcasts are where the it’s at. Check em out.
Here is a link to a thread on a different website where this was discussed recently.
Takes you off board, but that thread has a bunch of recommendations for podcasts to try out and ways to listen to podcasts.
iTunes is Mac’s proprietary sound software (I believe .wav is the format, but could be wrong). The question though is why you specified hardware. No - you don’t need Mac hardware to use iTunes. And you don’t need Mac hardware to transfer songs via iTunes to an iPod or iPhone (while technically hardware, I think that’s where the confusion was).
Songs purchased from iTunes are AAC formatted. AAC songs from iTunes will play on just about any digital audio player/smartphone these days. In addition to playing AAC, iTunes will play MP3, WAV, AIFF and Apple Lossless.
Soundcloud has recently became the new go-to place for comedy and interview podcasts. Though they’re often available at multiple locations, Soundcloud being just one of them.
Ironically, the Straight Dope’s own podcast came and went before the OP realized there was such a thing as podcasts.
(I’ll stop calling things like that ironic when someone comes up with a better term.)
No, you don’t need to have a Mac to use iTunes - I’ve got it on my Windows machine.
It’s a convenient way to get my podcasts onto my iPod. If you have another portable device, some other software would work better.
I listen to podcasts for around 8 hours a day. On my iphone I have about 200 podcasts loaded. Thankfully I don’t have to listen to awful terrestrial radio.
Mea Culpa on the iPod stuff. Anyway, in addition to some of the other Podcasts people have mentioned, I would recommend The Cracked Podcast and WTF.
I’d also recommend “Welcome to Night Vale.” They are doing innovative things with the audio drama format. Also, it’s horror comedy, which is a difficult balance to strike, but they do it well. It’s a lot of fun.
If you like Night Vale, keep an eye (ear?) on Limetown. Only one ep so far, but an intriguing cross between that and Serial.