Step by step guide to getting a podcast

1. Get some podcast software

You need to install a piece of software which will search the web to find the latest episode and automatically deliver it to your computer.
This software is usually free, and these three are popular with BBC users:

• iTunes (free even if you don't have an ipod)
• Juice

A List of podcast software can be found at podcastingnews.com

2. Subscribe to podcasts

Once you have the software installed you need to subscribe to some podcasts.
How you do this will vary depending on which software you have chosen. Here is a rough guide to how this might work:

If you have iTunes

You can subscribe to our podcast through the iTunes Podcast Directory.
Just click on the Podcast directory and search for 'Dr Pod', we'll come up in the list and from there you can subscribe. Tip: You can convert your Dr Pod Podcast to a MP3 file for use on any MP3 Player by using itunes.

If you have Juice or other podcast software

If you have Juice or another piece of software then this is likely to be the method you will need to follow. This is also the case if you can't find the podcast you want in iTunes.
In all of these cases you need to add the "feed" of the podcast to your software. The feed is really just the address of the podcast, which the software will go to each time it wants to check for a new episode.

The feed address for our podcast is:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/DrPod

Copy and paste the above into the feed address box (sometimes called the URL) when you add it.

Using Linux

Using Linux with our podcast format can be tricky but below is one way to do so. Thanks to Nikopol for posting this on our forum:

OK after a fair amount of research (and quite a few dead ends), I've found a simple way to transform the m4a file into a mp3. I guess if anyone is using Linux they'll know how to do the following - if now, I'll be happy to try to help. Here we go:

you have to have the faad program installed in your sytstem. Then download the podcast then open a terminal and navigate to the directory where it's been downloaded.

Now just run the following:
faad -o - DrPod.m4a | lame -h -b 192 - "podcast.mp3"
Of course, replace the filenames as you wish - you'll now be happy to have a readable version of the podcast so it should play on most devices without the need of Quicktime but withouth the niceties of chapter stops or images.