It seems like everyone is talking about this whole podcasting thing. It also seems like everyone has a favorite podcast that they like to listen to, but how do you find podcasts to listen to?

Here are the top 5 ways to find podcasts to listen to:

1. Someone’s website. Many website publishers link to their podcasts directly on the website. Comedians are great at linking to your podcast directly from their web pages.
2. Twitter. Many podcast publishers tweet when there is a new episode of their podcast. You can simply do a Twitter search for the word “podcast” and you will likely find something you would like to hear.
3. Google. Well yes, Google. Do a search for any topic that interests you followed by the word podcast and enclose the search string in quotation marks. For example: “aviation podcast”. By searching with the string in quotes, you tell Google that you are looking for something with those 2 words on the page. If you can’t find a podcast on something you’re looking for, why not start one yourself?
4. Your friends. Ask your friends what podcasts they like to listen to. They may not know what a podcast is or they may subscribe to several different podcasts. If you like something that a friend of yours likes too, that’s an instant conversation starter.
5. itunes music store. If you don’t already have it installed, install the free iTunes player and go to the podcasts section of the iTunes music store. They have a very comprehensive and categorized list of different podcasts in almost every imaginable genre listed. You can subscribe from iTunes and receive podcasts automatically on your computer every time a new episode comes out.

Bonus # 6: Go to libsyn.com and do a podcast search there. Liberated Syndication is a podcast distribution network. You can search for podcasts on their website to listen to and subscribe to your favorite podcast right there.

The iTunes music store is probably the cleanest and easiest to navigate.

I should also mention that you don’t need an iPod to listen to podcasts, nor do you need an iPod to install and use iTunes. If you have an iPod, you need iTunes to use iPod, but you don’t need iPod to use iTunes.

You will need to create an account on the iTunes music store to subscribe to podcasts from there, but the account is free, and the vast majority of podcasts listed on the store are also free to subscribe and listen to.

There you go. They are 6 different methods you can use to find podcasts to listen to.