Podcasts 101

How to find them. How to listen.

Podcasts — audio shows delivered via the internet to computers and mobile devices — have been around since the early 2000s but recently got a big boost. In 2014, the podcast Serial explored murder and cast doubt on whether a man convicted of the crime was guilty. It became a hit and inspired a slew of new podcasts.

The popularity of them has taken off. Edison Research and Triton Digital, which track the podcasting landscape, said earlier this year that 40 percent of Americans have listened to podcasts at some time, and 24 percent listen to them at least monthly. Podcast listenership has increased 11 percent since 2016, according to the Edison/ Triton survey.

As a practical example of the medium’s growth, there are now more people who listen to public radio’s popular “This American Life” as a podcast (2.5 millions) than on traditional radio (2.2 million), according to the show’s About page.

Subscribing to and listening to them isn’t rocket science. In fact, it’s not even computer science - enjoying podcasts is a lot easier than it used to be.

Here’s a three-step guide to finding and listening to podcasts ...