Podcasts are everywhere these days (I’m jumping on the bandwagon and releasing this tomorrow). But loads of people don’t know what podcasts are, or don’t quite know how they work. So I hope this answers your questions and encourages you to give podcasts a try – they are fantastic.

• A podcast is like a radio programme. It’s often in interview format but it doesn’t have to be.
• Unlike a radio programme, you can listen to a podcast episode anytime, anywhere. You can listen to podcasts from any country in the world.
• You can listen to a podcast on your computer, phone, in the car, or via your Alexa or Google Home smart speaker.
• Podcasts are free to listen to, like the radio. They ask you to ‘subscribe’ but this does not mean you have to pay. It just keeps you updated.
• To listen to a podcast on your computer you just click on the link to an episode, like this.
• To listen to a podcast in the car you’ll need to subscribe to a podcast on your phone (see below), then connect the car to your phone with Bluetooth.
• To listen via your smart speaker say “Alexa/OK Google: play the Living Adventurously podcast by Alastair Humphreys”.
• To listen to a podcast on your phone you need to open the podcast app. Your phone will already have one built in. Swipe through the screens to find it. All the different podcast apps essentially do the same thing and feature the same shows. The only difference really is in design and usability. Any one of these three apps will get you started: Apple Podcasts if you use an iPhone, Google Podcasts if your phone is not an iPhone or Spotify if you already use that frequently.
  
• In your podcast app you can search for content you like, by category (eg News or Sport) or by the name of a show (Living Adventurously).
  
• When you find a show you like, click ‘Subscribe’. It is completely free and non-binding. You can unsubscribe any time you like. Subscribing means that whenever that show releases a new episode (often weekly) it will appear by magic on your phone. Scrolling down you can also listen to all the previous episodes of the show.
  
• And that’s it! If you’d like to try a podcast, how about this beaut?