Podcasts are an interesting phenomenon that appeared on the scene shortly after the iPod was first released by Apple. For those who aren’t in the know, podcasts are sort of like radio shows that are usually produced by “amateurs” rather than professional broadcasters. (This isn’t to say that their quality is inferior to a professionally produced broadcast, however.) With the advent of inexpensive software specifically for podcasters, inexpensive solid state recorders and other gadgets anyone can create one, which has resulted in thousands of podcasts on virtually any topic you can think of.

There are a couple of podcasts that I listen to on a semi-regular basis that are worth giving a listen to:

The Podcacher Podcast is a weekly podcast all about geocaching. Produced by Sonny and Sandy, a husband-wife team of geocachers who live in San Diego, this podcast has been around for a couple of years now. They cover all sorts of things related to geocaching and regularly interview other geocachers. From time to time they include audio segments submitted by listeners.

Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase is produced by Betty, a flight attendant with a major airline who collects stories from flight attendants, pilots and even the occasional passenger as well as stories from her travels. She releases new episodes roughly once a month and intersperses the segments with topical music. Most episodes have a theme and the stories are often amusing with the occasional “serious” story. Since starting her podcast, she has appeared on National Public Radio, been interviewed, appeared in magazines and has even been signed a book deal.

I also listen to a couple of CBC programs that are available in podcast form and “sample” other podcasts to see what’s out there.

You can find podcasts in iTunes and there are several websites that aggregate podcasts to make them easy to find. If you have an iPod or MP3 player, you should check them out because you never know what you’ll find.