We all know how hard it is to find time to watch TV, listen to music, or read books due to the plethora of other responsibilities we have in our lives. Podcasts are a great way for people who are unwilling or unable to devote large amounts of time (roughly an hour each week) for other forms of media consumption.
I’ll teach you two ways you can listen podcasts on your computer: one through iTunes and the other by downloading them through Firefox’s Podcast Add-on.
Table of Contents
Listening Podcasts on Computer:
1. iTunes:
Open up your iTunes and click on “Podcasts”. Enter the title of the podcast you want and click on “GET”. You don’t need to subscribe, but if you like it then go ahead and subscribe (it’s free).
After the download is complete, iTunes will open up a window with a link to the podcast’s website. Copy the URL and go to it. Paste the URL in your browser’s address bar, press enter, and you’ll be taken straight to your podcast’s website!
Pros:
- You can download them straight to iTunes
- iTunes already has all the podcasts you could possibly want
- You can copy-paste the URL of your podcast into Firefox’s Podcast Add-on for listening later on
- You can browse all of your podcasts and download more without having to individually search for each podcast.
- You can get your podcasts on any device (computer, phone, etc.) with the same username/password (that’s right: one login per podcast!). This makes it really easy to listen to your podcasts on different devices.
- With the use of a computer and iTunes you will need no computers or other sound systems: “everything I want to hear is here. I can hear it in one sitting, and it’s all together.”
Cons:
- Can be cumbersome if you want to listen to a lot of podcasts – you have to individually open each podcast’s webpage and click “play” for each one.
- You have to manually find podcasts
- Can be slow if the podcast website is slow to download – this can be remedied if you use Firefox’s Podcast Add-on.
2. Firefox:
This method involves simple, no-cost software called Firefox add-on called Podcast Addon for Firefox .
Open up Firefox, click on “Tools”, then “Add-ons”. Select “Search for Add-ons”, then type in “Podcatcher” or just “Podcast”. You will see a bunch of different podcast add-ons that you can install. Go ahead and click on “Install” to begin downloading!
After downloading, open up your Firefox. Under the menu on the left, click on your name or username., then select “Podcasts”. At this point you’ll be able to listen to any podcasts that you have downloaded with Firefox’s Add-on.
One EXTREMELY useful feature is being able to select all of the episodes of a podcast, and choose “Play All” instead of dragging each episode individually. Because there are many episodes for most podcasts, this can save a lot of time.
Pros:
- Easy to find podcasts
- You can download them straight to Firefox’s Add-on and listen later, as long as you’re on the computer that has the add-on.
- Free, easy to use, and very user-friendly.
- You can subscribe to a podcast to download it, or download a specific episode for free, or both.
- You have the convenience of being able to listen to your podcast on any device you have with the same username/password.
- Very simple to use. I tried listening to a couple of podcasts on my iPod, and they were already downloaded in Firefox through the add-on!
- You can get all your podcasts on any device with the same username/password! This means you can listen to them on your iPod, iPhone, tablet, TV, computer, etc.
Cons:
- Can be slow if the podcast website is slow to download – this can be remedied if you use Firefox’s Add-on.
- If you only want one episode of each podcast, this method is not very efficient. It would be excellent if it allowed for multiple episodes for each time slot (hour, half hour, etc.).
- You have to individually search for podcasts using your browser.
Benefits of Listening to Podcasts on Computer:
1. Convenience:
In your car, at the gym, while mowing the lawn, or doing laundry, you can listen to your podcasts. You can listen to podcasts while you’re at a store and don’t have a TV. If you’re on a computer and want some background noise while browsing the internet or working on a project, you can listen to your podcasts.
2. Control:
There are tons of podcasts out there – some of them are more interesting than others. If you find one of the podcasts more interesting than another, you can listen to it. Or, you can skip over an episode (I stopped listening to a podcast I didn’t like once and it felt like I was cheating on that one).
3. Variety:
If you don’t like one podcast, then there’s probably at least one other one out there that will be more enjoyable for you.
Conclusion:
These two methods of listening to podcasts have their pros and cons, but I have found the best way to listen to podcasts is going to depend on the person. If you can devote time each week to actually sitting down and watching a TV show or listening to music, then iTunes is probably better because it’s quick and easy.
FAQ:
Q: How do I start listening to podcasts?
A: – Download a podcast app from your AppStore. – There’ll be an “add podcast” function somewhere in the app where you’ll be able to look through the current most popular podcasts. … – Listen whenever you want. It’s a form of entertainment. I find myself listening on my commutes, in the mornings before work, and anywhere else in feeling it over music.
Q: How to start listening to podcasts?
A: Start living right. For all its many (many … with Forbes reporting that an estimated 125 million people are expected to listen to a podcast each month in 2024, up from the estimated 100 million in 2024. Podcast host Michael Wagenknecht has advice …
Q: What is the best way to listen to podcasts?
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