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Everything about Podcast

Type of audio digital media

A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Podcasts are primarily an audio medium, which is reflected in the term itself, a portmanteau of "iPod" and "broadcast" coined in 2004. The term used to refer to an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device or stream to listen to at a time of their choosing. In the mid-2020s, however, video podcasts, either as primary content included in the feed, or as an external supplement to audio, have been popularized. In 2025, Bloomberg reported that a billion people were watching podcasts on video platform YouTube every month. This can cause issues where the audio-only experience suffers when something is shown to viewers in a manner that is not apparent to audio listeners. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: PodcastA 5-minute orientation
  2. Skim a recent paper: Why people listen: Motivations and outcomes of podcast listeningInfluential work since 2022
  3. Pick up a classic book: Radio SilenceThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  4. Read the landmark paper: The effectiveness of m-learning in the form of podcast revision lectures in higher educationCited 465 times
  5. Go sideways: History of podcastingA closely related topic
  6. Go sideways: List of podcast clientsA closely related topic

📖 Definitions

Noun A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on computers or portable devices such as mobile phones.

Noun An individual episode of such a program.

Verb To deliver (information) in the form of a program, especially an audio program, over the Internet on a regular basis for playback on computers or portable devices such as mobile phones.

Verb To deliver a program, especially an audio program, over the Internet on a regular basis for playback on computers or portable devices such as mobile phones.

🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. Etymology
  2. History
  3. Production and listening
  4. Types of podcasts
  5. Production technology
  6. Global market

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

🆕 Influential since 2022

📚 Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

🔗 Related topics