Section 11.6. Podcasts | iPhone: The Missing Manual, 4th Edition

11.6. Podcasts

Just as Web logs, or blogs (Section 5.4), have given anybody with a computer the power to publish their thoughts on the Web, podcasting lets you speak those thoughts out loudand lets others download and listen to them on their computers or portable music players.

Note: The culturally savvy neologists out there who make up names for things are obviously iPod fans; podcast is a pun on "broadcast," but includes an obvious reference to the iPod. But, in fact, podcasts work on just about any digital music player. After all, they're just MP3 files.

Podcasts are basically homemade radio shows. They're usually saved as MP3 files and are free to download from the Web. Anyone can make onefrom media pros like former MTV VJ Adam Curry to bloggers who find speaking more fun than typing. And because they're MP3 files, you can play them through audio programs like iTunes or Windows Media Player.

You can find podcasts on a huge variety of topics from agriculture to politics to daily life in Hawaii, all there for your listening pleasure .

Most podcasts are updated regularly, just like daily radio talk shows. Going back to the podcast's home page to look for new installments is a drag, so most people use software designed to snag and download podcasts automatically. This way, you always have the most recent episode. Setting up such a system is called subscribing to a podcast.

11.6.1. Podcasts on iTunes

If you've got iTunes 4.9 or later on your PC or Mac, you can use iTunes as your podcast wrangler. The iTunes Music Store lists 35,000 different podcasts, all free. To see them, click the Podcasts icon on the iTunes main page (it's on the left-side Source list), and then click the Podcast Directory link at the bottom of the window.

You're immediately transported into the Podcast section of the Music Store, where you can browse or search by title, topic, or category. Podcasts with talkshow style commentary from all the major news organizations are here, plus shows covering recent developments in computing, entertainment, travel, business, and more.

If you see one you want to hear, click the Subscribe button next to it; iTunes signs you up while downloading the first episode to your computer.

Tip: There's also such a thing as a video podcast. It's the same idea, except instead of being an amateur radio show, it's an amateur video. Video podcasts, too, are listed at the iTunes Music Store. You can watch them on your computer, or play them on the small screen of, for example, your video iPod or Sony PSP.

As you can see in Figure 11-6, the Podcasts list is the place to go to find the podcasts you've subscribed to. (Just click the Get button next to a grayed-out past episode to go fetch yourself a copy.)

A blue dot denotes an episode that you haven't listened to yet. If you decide you don't like a podcast, stop future downloads by selecting it in the iTunes window and clicking the Unsubscribe button, also shown in Figure 11-6.

Figure 11-6. Let iTunes be your window to the world of podcasting. By clicking the Podcasts icon in the iTunes Source list, you can see all the shows you've subscribed to. Along the bottom of the screen, you can cancel your subscription to shows you don't want anymore (click the Unsubscribe button) and gain easy access to your podcast management preferences with the Settings button.

Once you sign up for a podcast or six in iTunes, you can tell the program how you want to handle your shows. Click the Settings button (bottom-right corner) to specify how iTunes should handle your podcasts, like how often to check for new shows and how many episodes to keep around. There's also a button in the box to open the iPod's Podcast preferences. In the resulting box, you can tell iTunes which podcasts you want to regularly copy over to the iPod for your portable listening pleasure.

Tip: If a podcast's page doesn't have a Subscribe button, but gives you an odd-looking URL and a screen full of gibberish instead, you can subscribe to the program by choosing the Add New Feed option in your podcast program and pasting that URL into the box. To add feeds for shows not in the iTunes podcast directory, for example, choose Advanced

Subscribe to Podcast, and paste the subscription URL from the podcasts own Web page in the resulting box to add its feed to your subscription list. Your podcast receiver now knows where to look for new episodes.

11.6.2. Yahoo Podcasts

Well of course Yahoo has its own Podcasts directory. (It probably has its own military and a United Nations representative, too.) Point your browser to http://podcasts.yahoo.com to see the collection.

If you just aim to do a little listening at your desk, you don't need anything more than a compatible Web browser on your PC or Mac. Find a show you want to hear and then click the Listen button. A pop-up player opens (Figure 11-7) and streams the show through your speakers .

Figure 11-7. Yahoo has a full slate of podcasts and a Web-based player to pipe them through your computer. You can find all sorts of things in the Podcasts area of the site, including free Mandarin Chinese lessons.

A button next to each podcast lets you to subscribe to the show, too, as long as you have a Yahoo ID. (You can sign up for one on the spot.) And you need an audio program to play the MP3 filelike iTunes or the Yahoo Music Engine for Windows, mentioned previously in this chapter.

11.6.3. Odeo Podcast Sharing

This audio-sharing site (www.odeo.com ) does more than let you listen to pod-castsit helps you make your own. You can record your audio using the site's free tools and then upload your efforts to the Odeo podcast directory.

To listen to podcasts, browse Odeo's directory and listen in your browser with the built-in player software. Each podcast has its own "channel" page with links to previous episodes, information about the show's creator, and so on. If you really like a podcast, use the E-Mail button on the right side of the page to spread the word.

With a free Odeo registration, you can subscribe to podcasts and find them waiting in your Inbox page when you log in. Your page has controls that help you Create, Manage, and Browse podcasts. You can also download podcasts and play them in iTunes or any program mentioned in the previous section.

11.6.3.1. Recording an Odeo podcast

To record your own podcast, you need a microphone connected or built into your computer. To get started, click the Record Audio button in the Create box. Odeo ushers you into its own Web-based recording studio. Use the controlsjust like a tape playerto start and stop recording as you speak into the microphone. Once you're satisfied with your recording, a few more clicks add it to your Odeo channel.

11.6.3.2. Recording a podcast by phone

If you don't have a microphone, don't despair; Odeo even lets you record a podcast over the telephone . You can maintain your podcast empire on the road, or simply use Odeo's phone service to post audio messages for friends and loved ones.

To use the Phone Record feature, click its link on your Inbox page. Once you're set up, dial the Odeo Phone Record number anytime : (415) 856-0205. (Yes, this is a long-distance call if you don't live in the Bay Area.)

If you've ever left a message on somebody's voicemail, you'll have no trouble with Odeo's phone-recording feature. Just let the audio menus and voice prompts guide you along. Once you finish recording, Odeo saves your message as an MP3 file. Then you just need to tell your friends and family where to go to hear your dulcet tones echoing out of their Web browsers.

Note: Odeo's great for quick-and-dirty podcasts. But for a more polished effectwith sound effects, music, and other audio bitscheck out Chapter 19 for coverage of other podcast creating tools, including GarageBand.

11.6.4. NPR Podcasts

If you're a National Public Radio listener, you can find podcasts of most of the organization's showslike Morning Edition or World Cafe (Figure 11-8)at www.npr.org . NPR.org offers podcasts of member station programming, too, like WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show . Click the orange NPR Podcasts button to get started. You can browse hundreds of shows by title and topic.

You can listen to the podcasts with your Web browser right on the program's home page. Or, you can take the shows with you on your laptop or iPod by clicking the Subscribe button on each podcast's page. If you subscribe, you can play the podcast in iTunes (Section 11.3), Yahoo's Music Engine (Section 11.4.3), or your podcast receiver software (paste the podcast feed's URL into the program's "Add a Feed" area).

Figure 11-8. Listen to your favorite NPR shows on your own timeand have them come to you. Just visit the organization's Podcasts page to subscribe.

POWER USERS' CLINIC
Podcast Directories

Using iTunes to find and manage your podcast life is the easy way out. It's all built-in, beautifully organized, and easy to transfer to an iPod.

You can also do the whole podcast thing manually, though, bypassing the Apple editors who compile the iTunes podcast list.

For example, you can find hundreds of podcasts listed on podcast directory Web pages. For example, check out Podcast Alley (www.podcastalley.com) and Indiepodder (www. ipodder .org), Adam Curry's great big podcast site.

When it comes to subscribing to podcasts, the alternative to iTunes is to use a podcast receiver or aggregator program. It keeps tabs on your subscriptions and automatically downloads new shows when they become available.

The two podcast sites mentioned here list receiver programs. For example, a program like Juice Receiver (free; http://juicereceiver. sourceforge .net) handles podcast subscriptions for both Mac and Windows.

(P.S. Because podcasters often submit their work to several distribution sites, you'll see some of the same shows in multiple directories. But don't get complacent: Browsing different podcast sites may still reveal ones you missed on another site.)