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What is a Podcast?
How do I listen to a Podcast?
Where do I find Podcasts?
How do I subscribe to a Podcast?
How do I subscribe to CBB's Podcasts?
A Podcast is the distribution of an audio or video file (like a radio or TV program) over the internet for listening on mobile devices and personal computers. A Podcast is a "web feed" for anyone to subscribe to using a technology called "RSS syndication." Podcasters' websites also may offer direct download of their files, as CBB does, but the automatic delivered of new content via subscription is what distinguishes a podcast from a simple download or real-time streaming.
Subscribing to podcasts allows a user to collect programs from a variety of sources for listening or viewing offline at whatever time and place is convenient. In contrast, traditional broadcasting provides only one source at a time, and at the specific time of the broadcast. Think of it as TIVO for audio (and dinky video).
You can listen here on the CBB website while sitting in front of your computer, or you can use a program generically known as a "podcatcher" or "Podcast aggregator" to collect Podcasts and copy them onto a portable MP3 player (such as an iPod), for listening to "on the go"/away from your computer.
A popular and easy-to-use podcatcher is the free software iTunes for Windows and Macintosh from Apple Computer. Podcatcher software is available from many other sources for Windows, Mac OSX, Linux and Amiga here. Simply download and install the podcatcher software of your choice, then subscribe to the programs you'd like to try.
Well, here at CBB, for one place! There are also sites that gather lists of Podcasters, making them available by category or via a search funtion. You can simply "google" podcast to find a tremendous list of Podcasters. Or you can use iTunes, which has a section devoted to Podcasts within the iTunes Music Store. There you can find free Podcasts from traditional (e.g., NPR, CNBC, USA Today) and non-traditional sources, as well as video Podcasts (such as TV shows and music videos) for sale.
If you want to download programs for listening/viewing at a later time, you can subscribe to a Podcast and have it downloaded whenever there is a new show (and your Podcast aggregator software is running). In your Podcatcher software there will be an option to subscribe. Copy the link provided by the Podcast directory to the "URL" or "feed" field in your software.
In the iTunes software, click on the "Music Store" button on the left-hand side of the screen:
Then click on the Podcast link from "Inside the Music Store" 
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A whole section devoted to Podcasts becomes visible by artist and/or category, where you can subscribe with a single click, then listen to and enjoy thousands of Podcasts, including video Podcasts!
To subscribe to CBB's Podcasts, copy and paste the entire URL below into the "URL" or "feed" field in your software.
In iTunes software, select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the "Advanced" menu, then...
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Copy and paste this URL
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Click on the "OK" button to finalize the subscription, then click on the "Podcasts" button on the left-hand side of the screen: 
(shown here highlighted). The Podcast section of iTunes will now show CBB's list of available Podcasts, and allow you to download any new ones. (Click on the 
button to find out more about the Podcast, and the 
button to play the Podcast.)
