Podcasts?

[winterversion]

What exactly is it? Do you recommend any good ones?

[maroonwalrus]

Well, I'm not too good with explaining technical stuff, but I have done the podcast thing before.

Here's a definition of "podcasting" from iPodder.org:

"Think how a desktop aggregator works. You subscribe to a set of feeds, and then can easily view the new stuff from all of the feeds together, or each feed separately.

Podcasting works the same way, with one exception. Instead of reading the new content on a computer screen, you listen to the new content on an iPod or iPod-like device.

Think of your iPod as having a set of subscriptions that are checked regularly for updates. Today there are a limited number of programs available this way. The format used is RSS 2.0 with enclosures.

In the future, radio shows like All Things Considered and Rush Limbaugh will be available in this manner, and perhaps other syndication formats will support enclosures."

You can download a client for subscribing to podcast RSS feeds from www.ipodder.org or www.podcast.net (the latter of these two links was not working when I tried, but supposedly they have programs you can use normally). When you successfully subscribe to a feed, the podcast client automatically checks for new streams from that feed, and anything new that turns up is downloaded and placed into your MP3 player playlist. In iTunes, for instance, it usually creates a playlist for individual podcasts from a single feed.

One podcast in particular that I very much enjoy is the weekly hour-long program put out by brainwashed.com, the "Brainwashed Podcast," whose site can be found at http://brainwashed.com/podcast/