Rather than offer a “how-to” on podcasting, I thought I’d give you a “why-to”. After getting attuned to keeping up with RSS or news feeds for a while (see http://www.presencemktg.com/content/view/23/33/ ), I was ready to try my hand at podcasts. A podcast is a collection of audio (and now, video) files, organized and provided in a news feed style. “Subscribe” to a podcast and you’ll be presented with the latest files for listening, either on your PC or MP3 player. That’s the “how-to” in a nutshell.

When I talk to people, though, they want to know the “why”. Why does listening to podcasts make sense? Why seek out podcasts?

My #1 reason is control. I am in complete control of what I listen to and when. I pick the topics, styles and content of what I listen to. I’m also master of the time and space for listening. Podcasts let me listen to features from NPR’s All Things Considered the next day or Indy Racing Weekly later in the week. It’s like TiVO for the ears. (In fact, I’m listening to last week’s Car Talk “Question of the Week”.)

But it’s much deeper than TiVo. When TiVo is limited to programming available on TV, podcasts are limited only by people’s creativity. Almost anyone with a microphone, a PC and a thing or two to say can create a podcast.

By selecting wisely, podcasting can be a better way than old-school radio to use your time. Loaded with NPR and New York Times stories, techie interviews and more, my MP3 player is a great companion while I’m walking or driving to appointments. By the way, I invested $12 for a cassette tape connector to listen in the car, and it works fairly well. I started by trying an FM transmitter. Don’t bother. Many car stereos now have slots for jacking in your MP3 player.

My Favs 

Here’s a list of some of my favorite podcasts. I’ve attached a copy of an OPML file that you can import into a podcast reader. Here are a few reasons I like podcasts and examples of each:

Entertainment: I used to be able to listen to NPR’s Car Talk or Wait, Wait Don’t Tell me on Saturday mornings. If I was in the car. If I was in the car at the time the show were on. If I was in the car at the time the shows were on and no one else was with me. Then, the local Public Radio stations changed their schedules. Now, I can listed to the shows when I want, where I want.

• Car Talk “Question of the Week” link 
• Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me link 

Information: Informational podcasts abound. A recent favorite has been the Traneumentary, a serialised profile of jazz legend John Coltrane, or just “Trane”. The episodes include critiques of his music, reflections from others who sat in with him at various times, and personal histories from those inspired by his work.

• Traneumentary link
  

Career Development: For a guy like me that sells but isn’t a “salesman”, Business Week’s “Savvy Selling” offers some great weekly advice. Once you get past the host’s sickeningly enthusiastic attitude, there are some great shows with experts from all over the world.

• “Savvy Selling” link
  

Humor: Lore Sojberg’s column for Wired offers a dry, sardonic look at the world around us. The column comes to life when Sojberg reads his column on the Wired podcast.

• Wired AltTex Podcast link  (careful, may includes links to less-savory articles)

Enlightenment: In case you haven’t figured it out, I’ve been an NPR fan for years. In recent years, I’ve found it difficult to keep up on shows as I did in the past. Now, with NPR’s Story of the Day, I get a daily dose of the finest stories “hand-picked by NPR’s editors.”

• NPR Story of the Day link
  

Humanity: A group called Hearing Voices produces items used on NPR, as well as other outlets. Now, I can get the stories directly from the source. Among my favs: a real-life Indiana Jones finds a church in Africa that is rumored to house the Ark of the Covenant, and a man who takes his aging mother on a trip to the beach discovers new things about her.

• Hearing Voices link
  

Shifting Time and Space: Indy Racing Weekly lets me keep up on my favorite race car series when and where I want.

• Indy Racing Weekly link
  

Extended Media: The technology department of the New York Times offers several podcasts that go beyond their published works, such as David Pogue’s reading of hit columns, and the “TechTalk” folks covering various topics.

• New York Times podcast link
  

Want a view into my life? Here’s a copy of the file used to manage my list of podcasts, as well as my text news feeds. Import it into your feed reader or iTunes, and enjoy. Right click here, then select "Download target as...".