an explanation about what a podcast is and how to subscribe to them

Sorry about the verbose explanation for anyone who already knows what a pod cast is. This is specifically for anyone who might be a newbie. I know how it feels to be one, so I’m hoping this will answer all their questions. Email me if you have anymore questions. I’ll answer them if I can. I’m still fairly new to pod casts myself. Anyone who knows all this can skip to the next heading.

A pod cast is a broadcast that can be subscribed to so new episodes can be automatically downloaded by your pod catcher. My pod catcher is called juice and can be found here. After the files are downloaded they can be transferred to an mp3 player or IPod. I don’t have either, so I can’t tell you how to transfer them.

Once you download Juice, or whatever pod catcher you choose to use, go to the web site where the pod cast is that you want to subscribe to and copy the feed address into your clipboard. Juice is an rss feed, so if there is a link that says “subscribe to rss feed and you have Juice or another program that uses rss feeds, on the web site you’re on, click that link, then copy the address to your clipboard, click add new feed (or control N in the juice pod catcher) and paste the address, then click OK. Juice is the only pod catcher I have experience with, so that’s the example I’m using.

my favorite pod casts

The web sites below are not the actual pod cast feeds; the links take you to the pod caster’s web site and you can look at it and then click the subscribe link if you want to subscribe.

I have to put this one at the top of my list because it’s the best sci-fi story I’ve ever read! The rest of the pod casts are not in any particular order, but this is my favorite. This book buries anything I’ve read in any genre in the past twelve years! The last book I read that was this great was a fantasy/horror novel called The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub.

I’ve called Jc Hutchins on his clone line voice mail and I’ve sent him an email. He acknowledged me by playing my voice mail in his pod cast and putting me on the list of people he thanked at the end of the farewell episode for book2. Book3 was pod cast in July and ended in October. he answered my email, and he even took the time to look at my web site! I know he looked at the site because he said Tiger was beautiful and told me to give her a belly rub. He's a nice guy.

I even bought three T-shirts from Geek Label to support him and try to promote the pod cast. That's not something I would normally do, but I felt like I had to support JC and the Beta Clones somehow.

Jc succeeded in getting the first book in the trilogy, Descent, in print. It will be released in 2009. I’m sure the trilogy will be a classic.

This was the first pod cast I ever listened to and I love it, especially the Stargate Café. Some of the situations in that one remind me of Three’s Company, one of my favorite shows growing up.

Scott’s novel Infection was the first pod cast novel I listened to. It fascinated me and I couldn’t put it down. Since then I’ve read Earth Core and Ancestor and they’re both good books. He’s currently Pod casting his novel Nocternal, which is very different, but in a good way. His third pod cast novel was called The Rooky, but I really couldn’t get into it because I don’t understand football and the game seems to be a significant part of the novel. If you can’t find Earth Core, Infection or Ancestor on Scott Sigler’s web site, try this site and do a search for the title you want.

This web site has several audio dramas and a“ behind the scenes” show that you can subscribe to. Some are original and some are fan works.

This is an audio drama set in another world. Almost the entire first season takes place in a world of magic; the second season begins in Boston in our world. There are thirteen episodes in the first season and the second season isn't finished yet.

This is a pod cast magazine that broadcasts a sci-fi story every week. The host, Steve Eley, warns you at the beginning of the story about whether or not the story is suitable for children. Their sister pod cast is called pseudopod and is a horror magazine. Another sister pod cast, pod castle, will focus on fantasy stories. The site is up, but nothing has been released yet; the pod cast is still in progress.

This is another podiobook and is a fantasy novel having to do with magic and corrupted dukes and overlords and the rebels who want to overthrow them. The chapters are short and suspenseful.

I like the story for this one, but it’s not updated periodically like most of the others. There are six chapters so far and they left us on a cliffhanger. “We’ve been cliffhangered!” as one of the listeners to the 7thSon pod cast would say.

This pod cast is for people who want to be writers. Mur Lafferty and the authors she interviews gives advice and suggestions, as well as other useful information.

Let me know if you like them.

If you subscribe, or are already subscribed, to any of these pod casts, please send me an email. I’d like to discuss them.

I'm also subscribed to the Guiding Light pod cast at CBS.com becaus that's one of the soaps I watch and this way I can catch up on it if I miss an episode or two; I've ever missed a whole week. Email me also if you watch that. I don't know anyone else who does and would love to discuss it.