When I was growing up, I was glued to the radio waiting for the drop of every new pop single. I would wait and wait and wait just to dub a song onto a tape so it could be replayed repeatedly at a later date. I was a teen of the Napster generation. I have no shame for the fact that I illegally downloaded and filled my iPod one with all sorts of bad pop music – I’m looking at you Mandy Moore and Juvenile. As I thankfully expanded my music tastes, I expanded my sources of music.
Itunes, Pandora, Soundcloud, Youtube and Spotify dominate my bookmark folder for music. However, now that I am entering my thirties and most I enjoy can’t be listened to in an office setting; I have embraced the podcast. Podcast genres encompass a wide range of topics; everything from physics, politics and crime can be discovered, of course if you know where to look.
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Where should the Podcast rookie start?
I’m glad you asked.
Recently, the podcast Serial swept its listeners into a world of crime, mystery and gave the general public a peek into our judicial system. I, like most women, love crime shows. I gobbled up Law and Order until I could verbatim repeat and predict any story line they could throw out, CSI changed my early 2000’s life, Bones – don’t even get me started. The ID channel has been my biggest and only regret in cutting the cable cord (but I discovered it last night as an add on channel on Amazon prime). Suffice to say, I love crime dramas and true crime stories. After I unabashedly binge listened to Serial in two days, I began searching for more podcasts. I haven’t turned my radio on in months, my Pandora sits woefully untouched; all because of podcasts.
As I said before, I started off with Serial, quickly expanding through the crime genre to Sword and Scale, Criminal, Case file, My Favorite Murder and True Crime Garage. I am now up to date on all of them, and impatiently await their newest episodes. I’m wading my way through Lore, Reply All, Stranglers, Startalk and Last Podcast on the Left. I’m attempting to branch out of the crime genre, but it’s so good. I have an ever expanding queue of newly released and newly discovered podcasts that guarantee that my Pandora, and Spotify accounts will remain ignored. According to Wikipedia (which we all must trust, because it’s on the internet) there are approximately 11,600 podcasts currently available for streaming. That means there are practically endless options for my listening pleasure.
So, how do Podcast listeners actually listen to Podcasts?
Anther great question.
There are several ways to listen to Podcasts. If you are an Apple aficionado – iTunes holds an expansive podcast library for your listening pleasure. Some podcasts are free, others are $1.99, but then you own the podcast and can listen to it offline. If you are like me, attached to the internet and android based, fear not, there are many available options. Most podcasts have their own websites which allow listeners to stream on any device (please note: you must be connected to the internet for the majority of these options to work). Stitcher is my personal favorite site/app for streaming podcasts. They have a huge selection and will suggest you other podcasts you may not know of (yet). Googleplay also is expanding their podcast library daily; if it is a mainstream podcast, it is likely Googleplay will have it.
