Podcast Help

I'm starting a podcast, and to that end I've been making preparations for it.

I've got things set up on the podcast-creation end of things, but I have yet to decide which service I'm going to use to host the podcast, by which I mean: Where the files will be stored online, how they will be uploaded, and what service will send out the RSS feed.

I have researched some podcast services on my own, but I thought I'd ask if anyone with podcasting experience had suggestions of good services to use OR bad ones to stay away from.

Here are a few of things I'm looking for in particular:

1) I want the service to produce an embedable player with start/pause functionality as well as scrubbing (that's where it's got a slider bar so you can drag the little doo-dad to the point in the podcast you want to listen to, like on videos for YouTube).

2) I want to embed this player here on my blog, which is hosted by TypePad. Ideally, I'd like it to automatically publish each episode to TypePad, but manually embedding the html might be a possibility. 

3) I'm going to be doing this podcast from a Mac, so software or services that work only with Windows aren't an option. (Mac can run Windows stuff if you set it up to do that, but I don't want to do that right now. I'm still learning the Mac OS.)

4) I'm planning on making the podcast available through iTunes, so anything that would make it incompatible with iTunes won't work.

Also, I'd be particularly interested to know if anyone has used the service Hipcast (hipcast.com) and, if so, what their experience with it was.

Any thoughts?

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

11 thoughts on “Podcast Help”

  1. My podcast is hosted through Podbean — very easy service to use, and they have specific instructions for iTunes. There are varying levels of service depending on size of files. I am paying for the midrange hosting level.
    HTH.
    ‘thann

  2. You can just use an embeddable mp3 player (there are several options) and then post the mp3 file to your iTunes podcast later. iTunes podcasting is more complicated than I expected (you have to create an RSS feed) but you should be good on that.
    Here’s the embed code for the Google player (which works pretty well):
    <embed type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” flashvars=”audioUrl=MP3_FILE_URL” src=”http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf” width=”400″ height=”27″ quality=”best”>Here is more info on embeddable players, and here is more on iTunes podcasting.
    Hope this helps!

  3. Have you chatted with the SQPN folks or Rosary Army? They have a long track record with Podcasting.

  5. Great…like I need my favorite Apologist as Podcast competition. (humor)
    I use all free stuff and have my feed registered with a few aggregators (itunes, Godcast, Podbean, Podcast Alley, etc).
    Archive.org is (free and unlimited storage) where I upload/host my audio, the result is an embedable player and multiple stream options. I post the resulting 64kbps mp3 file link in a blog post and itunes and the rest pick up the cast from the feed mp3 tag. Really simple. What I like about this as a host is Archive produces 3 stream types not just mp3 so linux can grab the content as well. I have found that I can upload a fairly high quality 128kbps file and Archive produces a stream and player of choice for 128 and 64kbps (both). This helps keep the feed size down for bots to find me.
    Jimmy, here is a link (example) to the result of one podcast upload in Archive so you can see the output and content given a producer after upload.
    http://www.archive.org/details/DaveWadeCatholicJourneymanPodcast002
    You’re in Radio so I wont bore you with the production backend (recording, mixdown, master, etc.) I am confident you have resources for that.
    Hope I helped….let me know and thank you for all your work for us Jimmy.

  6. Hey, Jimmy. As Michael posted above, we at SQPN (sqpn.com) have been podcasting since 2005, and have a wealth of knowledge and experience (and awards!) in podcasting.
    I would be doing a major disservice to you by trying to explain everything in a combox, so, I recommend you contact me via email or phone.
    What I CAN say, is that I would HIGHLY recommend using WordPress instead of TypePad. WordPress has all of the tools, plug-ins, etc., that make publishing a podcast nearly glitch-free. The other thing that I would HIGHLY recommend is using Liberated Syndication (libsyn.com) to host your media files. Almost every serious podcaster I know uses the WordPress/Libsyn combination. While it’s true you could use other services that are less expensive or free, eventually, you’ll probably want to move to Libsyn, and then you’ll have a MAJOR headache trying to move all of your files.
    As I said, a dissertation via the combox would be unwieldy. Contact me via email, and we can talk over the phone. Our mission at the Star Quest Production Network is to help Catholics learn about using New Media to evangelize the world. We also host the Catholic New Media Conference (CNMC) every year, which brings in folks from around the globe to learn about podcasting, blogging, etc. And, personally, I’d be HONORED to help you get your podcast launched! Go ahead… Make my day!
    “Capt. Jeff,” Host of Catholic Weekend, Catholic Pilot, and Airline Pilot Guy
    jeff@sqpn.com

  8. I like your technical jargon, Jimmy…doo dad scrubber!

  9. hey excellent approach!!
    I like it!
    the concept that you said of making the podcast available through iTunes if awesome!

  10. Jimmy, I set my pastor up with an account on libsyn.com for $5 a month (unlimited bandwidth) and when he uploads an mp3 at libsyn.com, it automatically updates on iTunes and in the web player at http://presentationparish.org/frleatherby – it’s called JWPlayer and is free to use and implement. Basically, JWPlayer automatically loads the RSS feed from Liberated Syndication (libsyn.com) and plays the files for the web visitor.
    Shoot me an email at carson@catholicboard.com if you’d like for me to show you the ropes.

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