Podcasts: There are more listening options than you can count
Audio programs can be listened to on your computer or downloaded for later
I was looking at the numerous icons on my iPad and noticed one that I never use, but I should. It’s the purple Podcast icon and tapping on it will open a world of fascinating audio productions from comedy to serious discussions as well as a treasure trove of radio programs, all mostly free and available on demand.
Podcasting is a relatively old internet phenomenon that has grown enormously. The term is an amalgam of Apple’s music player, the iPod, and the word broadcasting.
A podcast is an audio production recorded in the mp3 format by a major entertainment network or any individual with a laptop, and distributed over the Internet. The file can be streamed or downloaded and stored on the device to be enjoyed when there is no internet connection, such as on an airplane or in your car. It’s also possible to burn it to a CD but I imagine that this route is rarely taken these days.
There used to be two challenges to enjoying a podcast. One was finding an interesting podcast and the other was figuring out how to play it. These two issues have been solved by apps which do both of these functions. An iPad or an iPhone has a Podcast icon and tapping on it will open a page which will display featured podcasts and thousands of others grouped by interest or genre, and there is a search function. You can subscribe to a podcast and be notified whenever a new program is released and automatically download it. The choices for doing this are in the settings, where I disabled the choice to delete a download after it has been listened to.
My Android phone did not have a podcast app so I got Google Podcast at the Google Play store (https://tinyurl.com/y8zabjgy). I thought that I should also get a podcast app for my Windows 10 computer and went to the Microsoft store and downloaded the free Grover app (https://tinyurl.com/ybwwywvw). I then realized that I had iTunes installed on my laptop and it will do everything that the Podcast app on my iPad will do.
My big complaint was that none of the podcast apps I downloaded, including iTunes, was as intuitive and as easy to use as the app on my iPad. Both the Google and Grover apps will do everything the Apple one will, including downloading files and subscribing, but be prepared for a certain amount of experimental tapping or clicking to create playlists, download files, and search for podcasts. Luckily the Google Podcast app does have help topics.
If you’re getting nervous about downloading software there is another readily accessible option with no software to download. You can use your internet browser, such as Firefox, Google Chrome, or Windows Edge. Your first step will be to go to an online podcast directory such as Podbean (www.podbean.com) and search or browse the podcasts and then click or tap on the one you want to hear. Click on play and the podcast will play right in the browser window and you will usually see a download button to save the podcast to your computer in MP3 audio format, which can then be moved to any portable device and played anywhere.
I am a big fan of CBC radio and have often lamented that I miss more programs than I hear and since the demise of my tape deck I can’t record them. That has all changed since the CBC developed a huge repository of podcasts of many of its radio shows, such as The Debaters and As It Happens. All of the shows are available in any podcast app or you can go directly to the CBC podcast website (www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts) and play them in a browser. To download in Chrome rightclick on the window and you will see the Save As option and in Firefox or Edge right click right on the audio bar and you’ll see the Save Audio choice.
The only problem with podcasts is that there are just too many interesting ones.