Podcasts have been around since 2004 but they still aren’t a very popular medium of entertainment. More people seem to be following then, but we still wouldn’t call them to be mainstream. Not only are podcasts a great way of portable entertainment, but they are also free. 
Podcasts are like downloadable radio shows that you can listen to on your smartphone, tablet or even your computer. However, a podcast can be about anything and everything. There are plenty of podcast channels that you can subscribe to. As we go through the article, we’ll try and recommend a few popular ones. But first, let’s look into why podcasts are worth your time.
Why listen to podcasts?
As stated before, you can literally get a podcast about anything you want. They can range from unravelling the mysteries of space, to something to something as simple as maintaining grooming standards. Besides these, you can find podcasts on current news stories, the finance world, sports, technology, history, arts and literature.
A lot of celebrities also have their own podcasts. You can subscribe to your favourite ones and get a little insight of their day-to-day life. Although these podcasts are educational, most of them turn out to be very entertaining and always carry a pinch of humour. As a result, podcasts are much easier to relate to and fun at the same time.
If you’re looking for just plain entertainment, you’ll find plenty of stand-up comic artists, both Indian and international. If TV series aren’t cutting it for you, then you have story-telling podcasts as well. Podcasts can also help improve vocabulary, especially in kids. There are dedicated vocabulary building podcasts that can help brush up on speech and inculcate new words every day. Not just that, podcasts also prove to be a fun way of learning new languages and improving listening skills.
What makes podcasts great is the convenience of listening. You can enjoy podcasts almost anytime, anywhere. You can listen to them while you are working out, or travelling to work, or cooking or just relaxing. 
Did we also mention that they are free? You can subscribe to your favourite podcasts and get instant access to their latest episodes, without having to pay anything for it. All you need is a smart device and an internet connection.
How to listen to podcasts
On your computer, you need a podcast manager. The most popular one is Apple iTunes on Windows and OS X PCs and laptops. iTunes was one of the first software that had support for podcasts. Fun fact, the term podcast has a lot to do with the actual Apple iPod product, as many users use to listen to podcasts on their iPods and other portable media players in the beginning. 
iTunes comes with a separate section for podcasts. You can find new podcasts to subscribe to by going to the iTunes store page. You can choose to listen to an episode or download all of them for later. You can listen to all your downloaded episodes from iTunes.
Similar to iTunes, there are other podcast mangers that you can download. Some of the popular ones are gPodder, Juice, Podnova and Miro. Podcast mangers are also called Podcatchers. You’ll find these podcast mangers to have plenty of features that will help improve the experience of listening to a podcast. Some of these features let you decrease the playback speed, while some others will set bookmarks, so you can continue from the point where you stopped last. There are other podcast managers also serve as good video players, allowing you to play video podcasts as well.
Another way of listening to podcasts on your computer is by simply going to its official website on the browser. Most popular podcasters have web sites.
If you want to listen to podcasts on your smartphone or tablet, then you can try out a few apps. The apps lets you do everything from finding, subscribing and downloading podcasts on your device. There are plenty of good podcasting apps available for all platforms. A few free ones that cross our mind are, Podcast Addict, Player FM, and Overcast. 
Having the right apps doesn’t cut it. To top it off you even need good speakers. Smartphones like the HTC One M8 or Desire 826 are great if you going to use the phone speakers. We believe even the Samsung E5 should sound good too. However, if your smartphone or tablet doesn’t have a loud output, then portable Bluetooth speakers such as the JBL GO or Clip can work wonders. They are compact, so you can place them on your table, or even when travelling. For home use though, you can look into something like the Bose SoundLink III. For a better experience, we also recommend getting studio headphones. The Sennheiser HD 202 are a great pair of headphones for this purpose. We’ve seen many popular podcasters use them their studios as well. Besides these, there is a wide range of headphones available at our stores. You can check them out yourself.
Some podcasts we recommend
If you’re interested in podcasts, we’re sure you’ll find the right ones to match your taste. However, to get you started, we recommend some of these.
Startalk – This podcast is hosted by the popular astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson. The podcast usually discusses everything scientific and its relation to modern culture. Neil deGrasse Tyson is usually joined by his comic-co-host and a special guest in every episode.
Money Planet – This show puts an interesting spin over economy. The host, also a smart economist talk about recent events and its effects on global economy and predicts the changes happening in the financial world. It’s all put together with humour and witty jokes. Economy has never been this fun.
The TED radio hour – This show is hosted by Guy Raz. On the show, he discusses interesting ideas, new inventions and a different way at looking at old problem while developing your thinking about them. Each episode on the podcast is based on the talk given by well-known speakers on the TED stage.
Stuff You Should Know – If you’re someone who is a bit of know-it-all, then this podcast is definitely for you. This educates people by bring out interesting facts about everything you can possibly think of.
Pop Culture Happy Hour – Everything from books, movies, television series, music, comics are discussed here. The show is hosted by a famous blogger, Linda Holmes and occasionally she has a co-host. It’s a good show if you want more insight on the latest trends.
Podcasts: the underrated source of entertainment
