What Is a Podcast?

What They Are, How to Listen and Subscribe

Podcasts are short, Web-based audio shows you can download as MP3 files.That's the same format used for most music on the Internet. You can even subscribe to podcasts (see below). Once you download a podcast, you can listen to it on your desktop computer or laptop, or transfer it to your iPod or other MP3 music player and take it on the road with you.

Right now there are about 15,000 podcasts available. Most are produced by ordinary folks with just a computer, a microphone and opinions or ideas they want to share. We're using it to share stories about Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

To listen to the Talk for Memories podcast, click on the "Listen Now" graphic link at the end of the text about each episode. After a brief pause, during which the episode is downloading to your computer, the podcast will begin to play. Make sure you have speakers or headphones attached, and that your volume is at a safe level.

Subscribing to a Podcast

You can also subscribe to this podcast series. Subscribing allows your computer to automatically be informed of a new podcast in the series when it becomes available. The podcast is also automatically downloaded to your computer.

Using iTunes

If you use iTunes to listen and subscribe to podcasts -- and we suggest you do (http://www.apple.com/itunes/) -- click on the purple iTunes button at the top right of the Talk for Memories main page, and you'll automatically be taken to the right place in the iTunes Music Store to subscribe to Talk for Memories.

Using a Podcast Aggregator

You can also use software called podcast aggregators or "podcatchers" to subscribe to podcasts.

We like:
http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/index.php

But there are dozens of others:
http://www.podcastingnews.com/topics/Podcast_Software.html

To subscribe using an aggregator, just click on the orange and grey RSS 2.0 button at the top right-hand side of the Talk for Memories main page.

Depending on how you have your podcatcher set up, it may directly import the subscription information. Or, your browser may take you to a Webpage with ugly computer code. This is normal. You now need to paste the URL of that page into your podcatcher (look for the "Add Subscription" or "New Subscription" option).