Podcasts - Radio At Your Leisure

Podcasts have only been around for the past four years or so but they've revolutionized the way radio, among other media, are delivered to you for your listening (and viewing) pleasure. If you don't already know what podcasts are, check out this helpful video below, "Podcasting in Plain English"



Podcasts have created an environment where radio stations, newspapers, television stations, etc. can put their products online for people to listen to or view at their leisure. It has also created a cheap and easy way for anyone else to create their own radio show for the world to enjoy. The range of offerings is diverse, from NPR's classical music broadcasts, to authors discussing their latest book, to high school students' news productions.

If you're interested in podcasts, you might start by downloading a podcast player such as iTunes or Juice. After you've installed these programs you can start hunting for your favorite topics or radio broadcasts. iTunes already has a directory of podcasts within the program but if you're interested in looking for something new or different, you might try a few of these sites:

NPR Podcast Directory - The site that gives you access to all of the podcasts produced by NPR, in an easily searchable format.
PublicRadioFan.com's Podcast Directory - An exhaustive listing of all locally-produced NPR stations' podcasts.

New York Times Podcasts - The highlights from the Times, delivered straight to you.
The Washington Post Podcasts - Highlights from the paper, in addition to video podcasts.

Podcast Alley - Over 55,000 podcasts are collected in this exhaustive directory. The range is mind-boggling, from Harry Potter to Vegan cooking techniques.

Enjoy the wild world of podcasting, and maybe even try your hand at making one!

MW