Pod-what? Podcast!

When I bring a podcast in conversation, I usually get one of two responses:
"What's a podcast?"
or
"I've heard of podcasts, but I really don't listen to them."

There are lots of ways to describe podcasts: they are stand-alone radio shows, recordings you can listen to whenever you want, wherever you are, they are Portable-On-Demand (POD) broadcasts, etc... And they are all accurate. Here is a video from the "In Plain English" series (which I love! Check out more of their explanations on a huge variety of topics here.) that answers the question, "What is a Podcast?" in plain English (of course!):

I started listening to Podcasts when I started running. I couldn't stand listening to music because every time a song ended, I'd think, "Holy cow, that was only 4 minutes?!" But with Podcasts, for me the time just flies by. Now, I listen to them on my drive in to work, while I'm making dinner, when I'm filing music at school, really anywhere I have my computer or iPhone.

There is so much potential for using podcasts not just for your own professional development but also to introduce your students to a wide range of topics, to help them become more knowledgeable on topics that interest them, and to bring experts from around the world into your classroom. (I know that sounds cheesy, but isn't that a big part of using digital tools in the classroom?")

Let's take a look at using the Podcast app from Apple on my iPad - the app is what you call a "Podcast Catcher" or a "Pod-catcher." Its an app that lets you subscribe to a podcast you like or you can just download individual episodes on topics that interest you.

CORRECTION: I intended to find the MENSA podcast and mistakenly showed the Free Libre Open Source Software podcast. The MENSA podcast can be found here.) 

Want some ideas to get you started? Here are some of my favorite podcasts, some are professional (music ed, ed tech) and some are just for fun! You can listen to them online or search for them by name in the Podcast app.

The Google Educast (Google Apps for Education) (on EdReach, a huge source of podcasts in the field of education)
Dr. Frankel's Podcast Page (Music Education)
NPR: Pop Culture Happy Hour (Music, Books, Movies, TV)
The Alton Browncast (Food, Lifestyle) *On hiatus, but worth downloading past episodes*
Go Fork Yourself with Andrew Zimmern & Molly Mogren (Food, Restaurants, Foodie Culture)
Ask Me Another (Trivia, Riddles, Brainteasers)

Please share your favorite podcasts in the comments - I'm always looking for new ideas and new podcasts to listen to!