Internet podcasts have a host and are generally pre-recorded. Almost any subject or topic can become material for a podcast. A favorite interest can become a topic of conversation and on some of the web-hosted podcasts, listeners can call in to ask questions or to participate in the discussion. Ideally, the podcast website will allow interested parties to just click a link to connect and participate in a podcast discussion directly from the computer headphones and microphone. However, some podcasts require that listeners call in to a specific number on their own phones to be connected into the podcast conversation. Listeners can also access the podcast anonymously by playing back a pre-recording.

A podcast is any digital media file that is released in episodes or timed increments. The most common digital media file format is the MP3. The .wav file is also popular, and is for video podcasts, often called vidpods or vodpods.

The first podcasts were in 2004, but it was only after the iPod was produced. Podcast is just the combination of the words iPod and broadcast. That same year, many companies, with the root word ‘pod’ in it, attempted to obtain a trademark. None of them were successful, with the exception of Podcast Ready, Inc. Apple Corporation was unable to obtain a trademark for the acronym ‘pod’ simply because it is an acronym.

The good thing about podcasts or vodpods is that you can spend as little or as much money on it as you wish. A web feed, called an RSS, is automatic, free and is downloadable in text format. Rather than an independent website, podcast presenters can host their radio talk show or video show on a podcast-capacity website, such as BlogTalkRadio and TalkShoe. The ready-made podcast is totally connectable to the social websites Facebook and Twitter. If you do have your own blog or website, these podcast hosting websites furnish script to place a widget for the podcast on your own pages. With the embeddable widget script, no other software is required to create an original website around the theme of your own podcast.