When I say, spoken word, I am not talking about audio books, although they can be just as fantastic to listen to.
What I am talking about are Podcasts. Something that are really becoming slightly bigger and more accessible for everyone. Apple I suppose decided to make podcasts actually "known" and the iPod made them even more popular. If it was not for apple, then would podcasts have actually become popular. They to begin with did remain popular, but then they dipped in popularity and podcasts became less popular.
However with various new advancements within technology, podcasts have gained a new following and have undergone a major regeneration. It is also easier now, to produce and release a podcast, and even more you can do it on your smartphone with a smartphone app, such as Anchor.
With apps such as Anchor, it means that you can have a potential passive income, with monetisation. Anyway moving on from the passive income element, that is something else I shall cover on here.
But podcasts though are the ideal way to relax with. Music yes is fantastic to listen to, but if you want something calming, podcasts are the ideal way to unwind and relax during these incredibly strange times.
The other thing with podcasts is variety, the sheer amount of variety and issues that are covered within podcasts are as broad as they are wide, and below are a number of various podcasts and topics that are covered within these fantastic audio shows that really can and do open up curious minds both young and old.
- Politics
- Science
- Music
- Technology
- Arts
- Spoken Word, Drama
- Educational and Children's
The list really does go on. Only yesterday I was listening to a Radio 4 Podcast, which is called Open Country, a fascinating podcast about the countryside, life within semi rural areas from celebrity figures, truly relaxing to listen to.
But how exactly do I go about listening to podcasts? Accessing podcasts are incredibly easy. And below are some methods of how to access podcasts.
- Google Podcasts - Perhaps the easiest way of accessing podcasts is through the Google Podcasts application, which can be downloaded for both Android and IOS. Plus even better you can listen to podcasts, via your browser, as long as you are signed into your gmail account. Easy and Simple is the application, and the best thing, Google Podcasts is designed to work alongside your smart speakers. Ideal for that end of work relaxation period.
- BBC Sounds App - Again another free application, the BBC Sounds App, works on Android and IOS plus through any web browser.
- Spotify - Again this is another fantastic piece of software, yes you can pay £9.99 a month or £4.99 a month if you have a .ac.uk email address and are within education. But Spotify has everything. Music and Podcasts, the software for Apple and Windows is fantastic and easy to navigate, plus take advantage of the Android and IOS applications. Pure bliss.
- Pocket Casts - More in depth in terms of a podcast app, but at least there is a free version, although it does come with adverts. Want to avoid adverts then you can pay a small subscription.
- Blinkist - Blinkist is a more hybrid approach. Whilst you could argue that it is a podcast application, it takes the best of both worlds, from Audible (An audio book player), and mixes this with short audio story element with podcasts. Something that could be useful between work, whilst on a break. Best of all each short story fact or fiction is sixteen minutes long. Although it might be worth subscribing. Oh and it works in conjunction with your smart speaker.
Yes there is music, YouTube and other streaming services, but lets not forget the hidden gem of podcasts.... Interesting and thought provoking for escapism during these strange times, and something that we should all be doing, escaping the news, focusing on the positives and listening to podcasts.
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