If you’re interested in listening to or subscribing to Mindful Expat (or any other podcast, for that matter), but you’re confused about what podcasts even are or how to listen to them, then you’ve come to the right place!

What is a podcast?

Podcasts are basically free internet radio shows that are available on-demand.

This means that you can listen to them for free and whenever you want.

Pretty great, right?

You can either listen to them streaming (without downloading anything, just listening over the internet), or you can download them to your computer, phone, or other electronic device and listen to them even when you’re not connected to the internet.

How do I access and listen to podcasts?

If you’re already aware of a podcast that you want to listen to — like Mindful Expat — there are several different ways you can listen.

1. You can listen to Mindful Expat streaming (over the internet) directly from my website here.

2. You can listen to Mindful Expat on iTunes: using iTunes, you can either listen streaming (over the internet without downloading anything) OR you can download episodes to listen later on, whether or not you’re connected to the internet. (Downloading may also create better sound quality, so it’s usually a better idea.)

3. You can listen to Mindful Expat on Stitcher, which is another website a bit like iTunes but designed specifically for podcasts. People who have Android devices or who don’t use iTunes for whatever reason can use this site in much the same way as iTunes (either streaming or by downloading episodes to listen at a later time).

4. You can listen to Mindful Expat through an app that you download to your smartphone or tablet. There are many such podcasting apps for either iOS or Android. Once you’ve downloaded an app, you can search for and subscribe to podcasts (see below for more about subscribing).

If you’re interested in finding podcasts to listen to but don’t have a particular one in mind, you can also search for podcasts by topic in iTunes, Stitcher, or podcasting apps. So, for instance, if you were interested in finding some other podcasts on issues related to living abroad, you might type in “expat,” or “abroad,” into the search function of any of these sites/apps and see what comes up.

Subscribing to podcasts

Subscribing to a podcast means that you sign up to receive new episodes automatically as they come out (again, totally for free).

You can subscribe to a podcast through iTunes or Stitcher or through a podcasting app (all discussed above). Just look for a button that says “subscribe.”

When you subscribe, the most recent episode of the podcast will be automatically downloaded to your device. To download earlier episodes, you will need to go back into the episode list and download them. However, from then on, each new episode will be automatically downloaded so that you don’t have to remember to check back on a regular basis.

(Slightly more advanced tip: There are also ways you can change the settings in your device if you would prefer to save episodes for streaming rather than for download.)

Questions?

If any of this is still unclear or you’re having trouble figuring out how to access the podcast, get in touch with me! I’d be happy to help you!