TOP TEN PULSE-RACING PODCASTS — AND HOW TO DOWNLOAD THEM

FIRST the good news — all podcasts are free to download.

ON AN ANDROID TABLET OR SMARTPHONE

Visit Play Store. Search for ‘podcasts’. Download and install ‘Google Podcasts’. (Other podcast apps are available.) Open ‘Google Podcasts’. Search for the podcast you want. When you find it, tap on it, and then tap on ‘subscribe’. You will now receive every new episode of that podcast. To listen to earlier episodes, scroll down the list and select.

ON AN IPHONE OR IPAD

Open the Podcasts app. Search for the podcast you want.

When you find it, tap on it, and then tap on ‘subscribe’. You will now receive every new episode of the podcast. Tap on the Library tab in the Podcasts app, and the podcast you just downloaded will appear. To download earlier episodes, tap on the podcast in your Library, then tap ‘Available Episodes’. Then, tap on the small purple plus button to the right of the podcast episode you want to download to your iPhone or iPad.

ON A WEBSITE

Thousands of websites and radio stations offer podcasts. Try visiting bbc.co.uk/

podcasts or soundcloud.com. Search for a podcast you like, or browse the directories. Click on the episode you wish to listen to and it will start playing.

THE TEN THRILLING PODCASTS YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO PAUSE

Serial: Now into its third season, the first season was downloaded more than 200 million times. West Cork: About the murder in 1996 of a TV producer. Podcast site Audible’s most downloaded podcast of 2018 to date. Death In Ice Valley: The BBC’s most popular podcast. About the mysterious ‘Isdal woman’ found dead in Bergen, Norway. A Very Fatal Murder: Comic antidote to the plethora of missing women podcasts — from the satirical website The Onion.

Slow Burn: Produced by U.S. current affairs website Slate, season one covered Watergate. Season two examines the saga of President Bill Clinton’s impeachment.

In The Dark: First season features the case of Jacob Wetterling, 11, whose abduction remained a mystery for nearly 30 years. Season two covers a man in Mississippi tried six times for the same murders.

The Habitat: True story of a NASA experiment in which six volunteers were sent to live on a fake planet Mars in Hawaii.

American Fiasco: Tells the highly amusing tale of the hapless U.S. soccer team’s bid to qualify for the 1998 World Cup.

The Walk: A Scottish-based thriller in which you, the listener, are the hero.

Disgraceland: Mixes true-crime stories with musical stars. Dark and very funny.