Podcasts

Lately I have been really enjoying listening to podcasts on all sorts of topics - crafting, art business, buddhist teachings. I don't get many opportunities to listen, but when my gorgeous little boy is at day care and I have time to spend creating, often I listen to a podcast or 2 while I work.

If you are new to the whole podcasting thing and are going "pod-whatting???", then at the end I will give you some information on what it is and how to do it.

But first, here is an eclectic selection of podcasts to get you started. Those marked with "#" are ones I listen to regularly and can recommend. All others have been recommended to me, but I haven't listened to them yet. Descriptions generally have been taken from the hosts' web site.

* Craftypod# - a bi-weekly podcast that’s all about "making stuff". Sometimes it’s about project tutorials. Sometimes it’s an interview with someone craftily fascinating. Sometimes it’s the history behind your favorite craft supplies. Always, it’s a big, crafty geekfest. Hosted by Sister Diane.

* Craftcast# - live interviews, reviews of the latest supplies and materials, as well as addressing listeners questions. Hosted by Alison Lee.

* Craftsanity# - discussion about art, craft and all things creative. Hosted by Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood.

* Zencast - discussions on Buddhism covering topics like different methods of meditation, mindfullness.

* Creative Mom Podcast - The goal of the weekly show is to provide a creative talk show filled with good creative discussion and inspiring music for creative moms (and non-moms and artists and creatives of all types) to listen to for a feeling of community, understanding, and inspiration. The format for the show is fairly organic and changes often, but staples of the show include creative projects with kids, artist notes from the week in review, journaling ideas and suggestions, book reviews, blog mentions, weekly prompts, and, sometimes, creative non-fiction essays.

* FrenchPodClass - learn French via podcast. Download as a guest, or become a member and get access to more information.

* Prosperous Artists - designed to support you in building the career, business and creative life you desire. The podcasts offer inverviews and forum participation as support for your goal of living a creative life doing what you love.

* ABC# - Australian radio station that makes many of it's segments available for download. Has regular segments on art, science, religion, spirituality, health, sport, etc.

* Triple J Radio - another Aussie radio station, this time focused on indie music.

* Podcast Directory - huge listing of podcasts, sorted by genre.

* Yahoo Podcast Directory

* Podcast Pickle - another directory.

Ok, now to the nuts and bolts - what is a podcast? From Wikipedia:

A podcast is a collection of digital media files which is distributed over the Internet, often using syndication feeds, for playback on portable media players and personal computers. Though podcasters' web sites may also offer direct download or streaming of their content, a podcast is distinguished from other digital media formats by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically when new content is added, using an aggregator or feed reader capable of reading feed formats such as RSS or Atom.

How do I find them?

You can just visit the web site and manually download the file, you can subscribe in a feed reader like Bloglines or check out the Wikipedia list, or you can subscribe through podcasting software such as Juice Receiver (an Open Source cross platform podcast receiver), Apple's iTunes for Mac and Windows or similar podcasting software.

How do I listen to them?

You can listen straight from your computer, you can download them to your mp3 player, you can even burn them to CD and listen to them on an mp3 enabled player.

I'd love to hear more recommendations - leave me a comment with your suggestions.

Enjoy!