‘Casting without the ‘Pod

In technological terms, “podcast” is a pretty bad name.

Why? Because podcasts became popular right around the same time as the iPod taking over the world. That relative plethora of pods leads many people to believe that podcasts and the iPod are tied together somehow, and that they need to own one in order to listen to the other. I find this confusion even among some computer-literate people, so don’t feel too bad, okay?

Just to save time, I’ve created a little mnemonic trick to help you remember that that’s not the case. Here it is: YOU DON’T NEED AN IPOD TO LISTEN TO PODCASTS. Okay, that’s not really a fun mnemonic on the order of Roy G. Biv (red-orange-yellow-green-blue-indigo-violet: the colors of white light when it’s broken apart as in a rainbow) or “She made Harry eat onions” (the Great Lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario). Still, it’s just as true, and just so you don’t forget, I’ll run it past you one more time: YOU DON’T NEED AN IPOD TO LISTEN TO PODCASTS.

So what do you need? It’s got to be kind of complicated right? Actually, assuming you have speakers connected to your computer, you have everything you need right in front of you.

First, click this link. Seriously. It won’t bite and I promise you won’t get Rick-rolled or be forced to send any money to Nigeria. Done it? Okay, on the page that came up, you’ll see a list of links. They’ll be labeled something silly like “Episode 10 – The Life of Emile Zola (1937).”

Find a link that piques your interest and click on that. You might hear audio right away, or you might have to click a “play” button, which looks like a little triangle pointing to the right. That’s it. You’re now listening to a podcast!

To answer your unasked question…yes, you can also listen to a podcast on an iPod. You can listen on almost any digital music player ever made. The iPod is just one option, but almost anything will work, including that bulky computer on which you’re reading this.

What’s the difference between a podcast and a plain ol’ audio file on a website? Not much, really. The podcast comes with a little code that lets some web browsers and other software programs look around on the Internet to let you know when there’s a new episode. That’s it! That’s what we mean when we say you can subscribe. You don’t have to. It’s just a way of making things more convenient. Like a Tivo for audio.

So my advice is, don’t get too hung up on the word “podcast.” Especially the “pod” part. It’s just a word, like “table” or “femur” or “aglet.” The important thing is that you can hear it. Now go out and see if you can find a few more! There are some good ones out there. But don’t forget to come back and listen to ours. Or better yet, subscribe!