The wonderful world of podcasting

I have been listening to ‘catch up’ radio for a long time and have found it really useful, although sometimes I don’t get a chance to listen before it disappears from the BBC website! But I now see that one of the advantages of a podcast is the fact that you can download it and of course, if I had one, I could listen on an iPod. Many of the ‘podcasts’ available on the BBC simply increase availability of their programmes whereas discussion groups, universities and so on often make special podcasts to provide extra information, promote their organisation or simply to spark debate. Although I am a fan of discussion forums and enjoy listening to those who are not experts in a field express their own thoughts and views on topics, some podcasts lack any structure and remind me of conversations I’ve had with friends over coffee… and yes, these conversations were fun and worthwhile and interesting but does anyone else really want to hear them?