I just reached up to remove the earbuds from my ears only to find that they weren’t there. The ears were where they should be, but not the earbuds. Strange, it FEELS like I’ve got earbuds on. That’s probably because over the past two weeks, I’ve been listening to podcasts on my iPod several hours every day. I get about 12 hours of power per charge on my iPod, and last Sunday I used it all in one day.

This week I started contributing to the show notes of my current favorite podcast (they’ve set up a wiki for this), I blogged about it twice, and I joined its community on FriendFeed. Today, I checked some of the resources I noted while listening over the past several months (I always keep a spiral notebook handy for such things) and came across another podcast on the same subject. So, I went to iTunes and subscribed to it, and downloaded about six episodes. I couldn’t resist listening to three of them right away. I’d still be listening except that my iPod’s charge is gone.

So what’s with the podcasts? I had to stop and think about it, but then I remembered that on a business trip last August, I had some time to kill before my flight home. I wandered past a library (ironically enough) and decided to go inside. Partly to enjoy the air conditioning, as I was in North Caroline in mid-August; partly because I’ve always loved libraries and no matter where this digital age takes us, I’ll always love libraries.

Anyway, there was a cart sitting near the entrance that featured recommended reading, and on it was a book about podcasting. It was dated by a few years, but it didn’t hurt to look. My learning curve on social media had exposed me to podcasting insofar as I knew it was part of the landscape, but didn’t know much beyond that. I found a comfortable armchair, opened the book and enjoyed the cool air. Within a few minutes I wished I was a local and could check the book out. Instead, I wrote down the title so that I could get it from my own library. Over the next hour or so I filled three pages in my notebook with references and ideas I wanted to capture.

As soon as I got home, I found the book and checked it out from my library, and spent the next three weeks studying it. I learned how to find podcasts on subjects that interested me. I learned how to subscribe to them for easy download to my computer and iPod. I discovered there are hundreds and hundreds of podcasts available for free; some of them good, some not so good. I downloaded recording software, just to see what’s involved. I read about how others organize and record their podcasts.

I don’t know if I’ll ever make my own podcast, but I do know that podcasts are a format that suits me for getting information I need and want. I find the best time for me to listen is while I’m cooking or doing house chores. If I hear something that needs to be written down, my notebook is always handy. I can always stop what I’m doing if I want to focus my full attention on what is being said. Some podcasts also post show notes containing links to sources and resources – very handy.

I’ve listened almost exclusively to one podcast “station” during the last four months. But, I’m going to start adding to that. I’ll share my favorites in the podcast bookmark of delicious.