Podcasts get their name from combining iPods with radio broadcasting. It all started when a few folks started recording indie talk radio programs and releasing them online, intending them to be uploaded to iPods and listened to on the road. Of course, Apple, knowing what was happening, decided to push the technology into the mainstream with its release of iTunes 4.9, which offered podcast subscriptions. They made an entire department of their wildly successful iTunes Music Store just for the podcasts, and featured many of the more commercial releases, as well as the indie ones that started it all. It seems like almost every talk radio DJ now has a podcast of their radio show, including Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Inside Mac Radio, and more. Podcasting is quickly becoming a louder companion to the blog.

But how does podcasting work? —Mike Rubino —WTF is a Podcast? (Tranquility Lost)

A good informal overview of the latest thing these crazy internet kids are doing. Mike is a junior at Seton Hill, and though he’s somehow managed to avoid taking any of my classes so far (was it something I said blogged?), he’s a core member of the SHU blogging community.