Podcast Help

A podcast is an audio program consisting of mp3 files, which is made available for convenient downloading with a free subscription to an automatic "feed." New episodes are added to the feed as they become available. These new episodes or programs will be automatically downloaded for you to listen to at your convenience on your computer or portable mp3 device.

How do I subscribe to a podcast?

The first thing you'll need is a "podcatcher", which is software that automatically checks for new content and downloads it to your computer. With a podcatcher, you can subscribe to your favorite podcasts and then sync them to your iPod or other portable player.

You can download a free podcatcher, or subscribe to any number of Web-based podcatchers. With the Web-based podcatchers, you don't have to download anything. Simply subscribe to a free online service. With the desktop podcatchers, you'll need to download and install free software to your computer. The links to some popular podcatchers are listed below.

Some Popular Free Web-Based Podcatchers
(listen online):

Some Popular Free Desktop Podcatchers
(requires download to your computer):

iTunes / Yahoo! Music Engine

What is RSS?

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an easy way to be made aware of changes to a website's content. A website producer creates an RSS "feed" that lists new headlines, articles, or audio programs and includes links back to the full information on the site. When you subscribe to the RSS feed, every time a new article or audio program is posted to the web site, a link to the new material is added to your reader.

How do I use RSS?

RSS feeds are usually identified by a small button: which says RSS or XML. However, if you click an RSS link, you will likely see a page of garbled information in your web browser. To properly use an RSS feed, you need an RSS reader, also called a "news aggregator."

Some readers are stand-alone applications that must be downloaded and installed on your computer. Others are free web-based applications which you can subscribe to online (like Bloglines, My MSN or My Yahoo!). All allow you to find and subscribe to RSS feeds that cover subjects you're interested in. Each offers different features.

After you have subscribed to one or more RSS feeds, headlines will begin to "flow" to your reader. When you see a headline that interests you, just click on the link to see the full article or listen to the podcast.