It’s still March, right? Which means it’s still #trypod month!
What’s #trypod month? It’s a newly made-up thing where people are encouraging others to listen to podcasts. Strangely, there are a wholotta people who have no idea what a podcast is, and definitely have no idea how to listen to one.
And it’s not even an age thing. My niece, who is 29, and infinitely cooler than me, had no clue what they were until I explained them to her.
And then a few months later, she asked me to re-explain.
Which made me decide that to do my part in #trypod month, I’m going to explain, in detail, how to listen to a podcast.
First, what is a podcast?
It’s like a radio show, but it’s not the radio. You listen to it, like talk radio, but whenever and wherever you want. You can listen on your computer, or on a smart phone or tablet, and you can download it so you can listen when you’re offline.
Honestly, podcasts pair perfectly with cleaning and decluttering! You can listen while you work, and the time flies by.
How to find a podcast:
Go to the podcast app that’s already on your iPhone, or download the Stitcher app if you’re not using an iPhone.
You can watch the video above (or click here if you don’t see it) or check out the steps below:
Find the purple podcast app on your iPhone or iPad, or download the Stitcher app on your phone-that’s-not-an-iPhone. To be clear, these instructions are for the Podcast App on an iPhone, but I assume the experience is similar on other podcast apps.
Once you open the app, click on the search icon in the bottom right corner. Type in the name of a specific podcast you’d like to find, or search for a subject that interests you.
On the next screen, you’ll see quite a few podcast episodes, with the option to download them from that screen. These are a mixture of most recent and most popular episodes, so they’re random. At the bottom of this screen, you’ll see a larger icon of the podcast you’re looking for (if you searched for a specific podcast name). Click on that to see ALL of the episodes of that podcast. The others you see next to that larger icon of the podcast you’re looking for are probably shows where the podcaster has appeared as a guest.
This next image has A LOT of info. But it’s not complicated, I promise!
The info lower on the image is what you need first. To try out a podcast episode with zero commitment, just touch the episode that sounds interesting to you. It will start playing without downloading first. Of course, playing without downloading requires the internet, either wifi or data.
If you’d like to listen offline, click the cloud-with-a-downward-arrow next to the episode you want to try. That will download the episode to your phone. Once it’s downloaded, you’ll see the PLAY next to the episode. Click that to start playing the episode wherever you are, with or without internet access. (Internet access is needed while downloading, though.)
Once you decide you love a certain podcast and don’t want to ever miss an episode, click “subscribe” and new episodes will automatically be downloaded to your phone. (The photo shows the word “unsubscribe” because I’m subscribed to my own podcast!)
If you decide you love, love, love the podcast and want to share it with friends, click the square-with-an-upward-pointing-arrow and you’ll be able to text or email the episode, or grab the link to share however you want.
Once you’ve subscribed to a podcast (or several podcasts) click on “My Podcasts” in the bar at the bottom of the app to see all the podcasts you’ve subscribed to that have automatically downloaded new episodes.
Once you click on the podcast you want to listen to, episodes that have already been downloaded will not have a cloud symbol next to the length of the episode. Just tap and it will start playing, even if you do not have internet access. If there is a cloud symbol, it isn’t yet downloaded. Tap on the three dots to the right of the episode, and you will be given the option to download the episode.
If you’d like to see all the episodes of the podcast, click on “feed” in the bar across the top.
This is the screen (with lots of options for downloading, seeing full description, sharing, and more) that you’ll see if you click those three dots next to an episode:
But alas, if you don’t have a smartphone or tablet, or just want to listen from your computer, that’s fine, too! To listen to my podcasts, just click on one that sounds interesting to you from this page. Once you get to the podcast, just click the play button on the gray bar under the main photo, and my voice will start coming out of your computer speakers! Most podcasts have a website where you can listen, so just search “whatever-subject podcast” and you’ll find them.
So WHY would you listen to a podcast? Well, I love that I can listen while I do other things. I always have a podcast going while I’m folding laundry or cleaning bathrooms. I’m told again and again that people clean and declutter while they listen to me talk about cleaning and decluttering!
I love that I can find something I’m specifically interested in learning about. Radio shows play when they play, so if you’re doing laundry at a time other than when your favorite show is on, oh well. I also love that I can pause a podcast when my kid needs me.
I really love listening to podcasts in the car. My afternoon pickup rounds (which sometimes last well over an hour) are made so much more fun when I have a podcast going. I use the bluetooth feature in my new car to listen over the sound system, but when we didn’t have a car with bluetooth, we used this cassette adapter to play podcasts through our tapedeck! (<- That’s an affiliate link, and there’s about to be another.) Just don’t mess with your phone while you’re driving. A bluetooth speaker is also a great idea for around the house, especially if you’re cleaning and want to be able to hear from room to room without carrying your phone with you.
Do you listen to podcasts? If you give them a try, tell me what you think! Please feel free to share this How to Listen to a Podcast Tutorial with friends who don’t understand what a podcast is or how to listen to one!
Here’s the page on my site with all of my podcasts listed, and here’s the direct link to iTunes that you can click if you’re on your phone!
--Nony
Dana, thanks so much for this very thorough, and easy to understand tute. I’ve been very intimidated by the very idea of podcasts. I didn’t want to exposure more of my ignorance to my daughters, so I’ve suffered in no-podcast silence.
Yay! Dana to the rescue!!
PS, I still think of you as Nony!
Thanks for such a great post! I started listening to podcasts recently (I never started because I thought it would require me to sit in front of my computer to listen to them and thought “who in the world has time for that?!) Thankfully I realized this is not the case and LOVE podcasts! I’ve been training for my first 1/2 marathon and always make sure I have enough episodes ready to play “up next” for each run. I have also tried listening while doing dishes, but find I can’t hear too well with the water running (I wash a lot of dishes by hand and spend a lot of time rinsing the ones that go in the dishwasher). My husband let me wear his wireless headphones once and that was awesome. Thinking I may need to get myself some. How do you listen while doing dishes? Do you have headphones?
Headphones work well, or the bluetooth speaker to get it louder.
I use a bluetooth (wireless) speaker.
Thank you! I kept saying I was going to look into podcasts and how to access them but thought it would be a lot harder than it is. I also thought I could only listen to them on my computer. I’m so happy to discover I can use my phone or tablet so I can listen on the go too!
My podcast app (iPad) was just kinda sittin’ there all this time. You have converted me to actually using it. I would only wish for ONE new feature, and that is the ability to mark a podcast as “listened to” (or some such terminology) so we can tell which podcasts we have already heard. Maybe a little star or checkmark next to the podcast would be a huge help so we can keep track and not keep downloading podcasts we have already listened to. With SO MANY podcasts available, it is impossible to keep track “mentally”.
I am a pretty well organized person already but not without a continuing battle between the two warring factions in my head, the clean and simple Shaker mentality, like my mother, and the hoarder mentality, like my father. I love your web site (I feel like you are a friend!) but, honestly, Dana, when I see all those BEFORE and AFTER photos of your house, my first thought is always “That girl just has TOO MUCH STUFF!” THAT seems to me to be your major obstacle, lol! Having much less of everything makes daily life so much simpler, easier, lighter. Over the past year, I have gotten rid of and donated probably 50% of what was in my house, which wasn’t easy with the hoarder in me, but I am committed to a simpler way of life. And, oh my, does it ever feel GOOD! My defining moment was when I finally tossed my (35 year old) daughter’s baby teeth that I’d kept in a little box all these years. I thought, “What will she do with these when I am gone and she finds them?” Answer: She will say “GROSS!” and throw them out! And when I recently told her that I had saved them, her reply was indeed “GROSS!” So I got rid of them. And when I told her I’d gotten rid of them, her reply was “GOOD!” And every decision about parting with an item after that became so much easier. And with so much “stuff” gone, keeping the house clean and organized is incredibly EASIER!
But, as you always say, we have to discover what works for each of us! Thank you for the info on the podcasts and have a LOVELY day! 🙂
Podcasts are great while driving too! I have this one, two Star Trek podcasts, and the Nerdist all on my phone. Of course, if you have kids, make sure what you’re listening to fits your definition of family friendly.
I love your podcast. I didn’t realize that you have two, though, so just subscribed to the other one. You sound like home to me as I’m from Texas, but now in New Jersey.
I usually listen in the car. I seem to be in my car a lot. In fact, I listened to you on my way to see you last night. That was so much fun!
Oh so fun!!! But so you know, I’m not keeping up with the Daily Deslobification one, but hope to get back to it!
Hi Dana – I love your blog and your podcasts! Thanks for this great tutorial – I do listen to podcasts, yet you provided info that was new and helpful!
I listen via your website however sometimes it doesn’t work smoothly but choosing the ‘Play in new window’ option helps with that enormously.