I have really started to get into Podcasts ever since I started listening to No Such Thing As A Fish after reading their Book of the Year 2017.  What I have found in the last few months is that there are a lot of authors either making or appearing on a wide variety of Podcasts and in the case of Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History especially they are close to being as good as his books.  Now my literary hero Michael Lewis has just released his first called "Against The Rules" and its just brilliant. 
Best of all they are all free as long as you can put up with adverts for razers and toothbrushes!!

getting started

It couldn't be easier.  Simply search for podcast players on the play store on your phone.  There are loads of players but I have tried Podcast Player and Castbox as they were Google editors choices.  Of the two I prefer the layout and feel of Castbox and it also has some old audiobooks too.  Once installed you just need to decide what to listen to and hopefully that's where this page can help
WHAT'S SO GOOD ABOUT THEM?
Podcasts have been around since 2004.  I think I ignored them for so long because they just seemed like a way to listen to radio shows anytime and while this is no bad thing and still true to a point there is much more depth than I ever realised.  As Malcolm Gladwell explains far better than I can
"Podcasts are a more personal medium.  They allow the caster to literally whisper in the readers ear.  This means you can do things which you can’t do in a book”. 
This is a theme that is also picked up Sean Carroll who feels that podcasts enable him to explore subjects of interest without the expertise needed to write a book on the subject.  To go full circle Podcasts have even allowed people to become authors in their own right as “No such thing as a fish” published their Book of the Year in 2017 which I was so impressed by it became the first podcast I listened to.

Podcasts have their own genres and structures.  The most common appears to be the one on one interview style and the 3-4 group pub debate.  But casters and authors like Malcolm Gladwell and Jon Ronson have turned theirs into non fiction documentaries.  Malcolm covering a different subject each episode while The Butterfly Affect follows the same story across different the whole series.  The BBC Sounds podcast "13 minutes to the Moon" celebrating and detailing the first lunar landing in 1969 is a perfect example.  Over 10 hours of content with a lot of interviews both current and archived would not of made great TV or reading but as a podcast it was at times mesmerising.
 
Here are my top podcasts

1. No Such Thing As a Fish –  Number 1 because it was so good it made want to explore other podcasts.  Simple concept 4 people spend 45 minutes discussing each of their 1 favourite fact found during research for TV Quiz show QI.  250+ podcasts later and its popularity means they do live on tours of Britain and Australia and a second Book of the Year which was great fun.  A big reason for it being so popular apart from it being clever and funny is the chemistry between the presenters  means that it feels so natural.  Listening to the Penguin Podcast of their first book they explained that thepodcast came about as one of a number of ideas to do more with the QI TV show and after a lot of practice podcasts  settled on the format as it was most like how they discuss the ideas for QI during their normal day to day work.  During the first actual podcast they accidently said it was a weekly podcast and the rest is history. 
2. Revisionist History – Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast looking at events that have been overlooked through history has finished its third series and is so good I savour them, only listening to one a week so I won’t run out.  From the first episode on women in a mens world I thought it was like a having a free Gladwell book in convenient 35-40 minute episodes which I can listen to during my boring commutes.  The finale of season 2 “The Basement Tapes” about looking for scientific truth under the backdrop of the death of his father is beautiful.  I defy anyone not to be impressed. Quite simply this ranks right up there with the best books, films and video games I have ever experienced.  Moneyball class. Update - Nov 2019 - I have not enjoyed season 4 as much as the other 3, it appears to lack the depth of especially the first couple of series.  As he has just released a new book you do wonder whether his workload is just to much right now.
3. Against The Rules - Michael Lewis - I know I am only 3 episodes in but its Michael Lewis doing what he does best in his books.  This is a look about the referees in the world, what is going wrong with them and what this means for society.  Sounds a bit too deep?  His genius is to take make these topics lighter without diminishing their importance in the same way John Oliver does in "Last Week Tonight".  
4. The Bookseller Podcast -  The Bookseller is described as the leading magazine for the UK book industry and also runs The British Book awards in May.  It only started last December and surprisingly for me I have been in on it from the start. It offers a good mix of latest news, author interviews, book readings and my favourite section the "Book Doctors" where two people from Indie book shops recommend books for a couple of readers based on their preferences they have mailed in.  My favourite book podcast at the moment.

Currently Listening To - Nov 19

• The Bookseller Podcast
• Not The Top Twenty
• You're Dead to Me
  

For other ideas visit the British Podcast Awards website