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GUIDE 01 OF 17What is a podcast?
A plain-English definition: episodes, the RSS feed, subscriptions and how a podcast differs from a video or a radio show.
A podcast is a series of audio (or video) episodes that you can subscribe to. New episodes arrive in your podcast app automatically, and you can listen whenever you like: on a commute, at the gym or while you cook.
That is the whole idea. What makes a podcast a podcast, rather than just an audio file on a website, is the subscription.
The three parts of a podcast
- Episodes. Each episode is a media file, usually an MP3. It might be a ten-minute news update or a three-hour conversation.
- The feed. An RSS feed is a small, public text file that lists the show’s title, artwork and description, and every episode with a link to its audio file. Your podcast host writes and updates it for you.
- Podcast apps. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Overcast and dozens of other apps read the feed. When a listener follows a show, the app checks the feed regularly and fetches new episodes.
Because the feed is an open format, one show can be listed in every app at once. You publish once, and every app picks it up. The RSS format itself is documented in the RSS 2.0 specification; the part that matters for podcasting is the <enclosure> tag, which attaches a media file to each item.
Where the name came from
“Podcast” blends iPod and broadcast. The word appeared in 2004, when Apple’s iPod was the portable player most people owned. Today you don’t need an iPod, or anything from Apple, to listen. The history of podcasting covers how the format grew.
How podcasts differ from…
| Format | How it differs from a podcast |
|---|---|
| Radio | Radio is live and scheduled. A podcast is on demand, and episodes stay available. |
| Audiobooks | An audiobook is one finished work. A podcast is an ongoing series with new episodes. |
| YouTube videos | Many shows now publish video too, but a podcast feed lets listeners download episodes and play them in any app, with the screen off. |
| Audio on a web page | A single file on a page has no subscription. Listeners have to remember to come back. |
Common podcast formats
- Solo: one host teaching, reflecting or reviewing. The easiest to schedule.
- Co-hosted: two or three regular voices with a running conversation.
- Interview: a host and a new guest each episode.
- Narrative or documentary: scripted, edited storytelling. The most work per minute.
- Panel or roundtable: several voices discussing news or a theme.
What you need to make one
Less than you might think: something to say, a quiet room, a microphone, free editing software such as Audacity, and a podcast host to create the feed. The rest of this tutorial walks through each step, starting with the four Ps of podcasting.