Podcasting services are growing in popularity at an astonishing rate. In fact, there are currently about 86 million active monthly podcast listeners That number is estimated to reach 132 million monthly listeners by 2022!
A good way to think of a podcast is a sort of internet radio on demand. Unlike radio, podcasts are not primarily focused on delivering music. Most podcast content is primarily spoken word.
There are many diverse genres of podcasts but they all share the same goal – to expound upon a particular topic. Many podcasts are educational and aim to teach listeners to better their lives in some way.
The primary podcast library for iPhones comes preinstalled on the phone. It’s a purple colored icon called “podcasts”.
Google Podcasts is the primary podcast library for Android devices.
Pocket Casts is another popular podcast library that is available on both Apple and Android devices.
The podcast libraries listed above each have a built-in player. So, once you have chosen a podcast to listen to, you can do it straight from the library app.
Just like in a car radio, you can save different “stations” in a podcast library app by subscribing to multiple podcasts.
Once subscribed, you will then get a notification on your phone whenever a new episode is uploaded – so you won’t have to worry about falling behind.
Podcasts can be played on websites that embed episodes on their pages, such as the Shopify podcast episode below:
Spotify is also another popular podcast library.
The third way to play a podcast is via an RSS feed reader.
A feed reader subscribes to the RSS feed of podcasts you are interested in and sends you a notification whenever new content is published.
They can be downloaded or streamed directly from the feed reader.
An example would be Feedly.
There are different motivations for starting a podcast – and these motivations shape the content of the podcast.
Some podcast creators aim to share the joys of their hobby, such as story-telling, with the world.
One such podcast example is Radiolab.
Other podcasts discuss trending topics. Although some episodes may be educational and thought-provoking, subscribers of these types of podcasts tune in primarily for entertainment reasons.
A well-known example of an entertainment podcast is the Joe Rogan Experience.
Some podcast hosts are very knowledgeable in a particular area and aim to educate their listeners.
Some relevant podcast examples are:
To summarize, subscribing to a podcast service is a great form of education and entertainment you can enjoy while going for a walk or even doing the house chores.
And the best part? They’re absolutely free!
