How to Discover Podcasts You Like Using the iTunes Music Store

So you listen to your NPR podcasts once in a while, you've already gone through Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's ramblings, and you're wondering what other podcasts you'd be interested in. The iTunes store seems to have an overwhelming amount of podcasts to offer. Where to start?

Things You'll Need

• a computer
• iTunes
• internet connection

Instructions

1. 

   Open up your iTunes and click on the iTunes Store link on the left side bar to enter the store.

2. On the left top corner, there is a list under the general label iTunes STORE. Click on Podcasts (under Audiobooks, above iPod Games.

3. 

   First, you can look through the Highlights they've provided for you. It is separated into New Releases, What's Hot, and Staff Favorites. Staff Favorites include featured podcasts selected by topic by the editors.

4. If you have a certain topic in mind, the left hand side has a list of topics (Arts, News & Politics, Technology). Each topic leads to more subtopics, so you can focus in on your interests.

5. You can also look through news providers (Comedy Central, New York Times, KCRW). Many of these news providers have lots of different categories, shows, and topics that have been created through their stations/outlets.

6. 

   Popularity, while not always indicating quality, can be a factor to take into consideration when finding podcasts to listen to. On the right column, there is a TOP PODCASTS section which lists the top 20 podcasts of the day. If you click on TOP PODCASTS, it'll give you the top 100. (iTunes also provides these lists by subject--for example, you can see the top 25 and top 100 podcasts focusing on Religion & Spirituality as well).

7. If after comprehensive browsing, you don't find something you like and/or find a podcast that's not in the iTunes store--you can still upload it through iTunes. Either drag the URL into the podcast playlist or find "Subscribe to Podcast" under the Advanced menu on your toolbar and copy/paste the URL in.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have a specific title or author of a podcast that you like, try searching for other podcasts by the same author. You can always just type it directly into the Search box.

• To keep track of the podcasts you like, you can Customize your options through iTunes. On the toolbar, go to Edit/Preferences. Click on the Podcast tab, and there you can decide 1) how often to check for new episodes (hourly, daily, weekly); 2) whether to automatically download when new episodes are available; and 3) how many you want to keep in your Podcast library at a time.

• Don't just stick to one thing. Be open and inquisitive. Discover new music, learn new languages, explore new trends. With so much information out there, take advantage.