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Some popular options from the app stores: Overcast for Apple devices (free), Podcast Addict for Androids (free), Downcast for Apple devices ($2.99), Pocket Casts for both platforms (free to

$9.99 a month). Some music streaming apps, such as Spotify (free with premium options starting at $2.99 a month), also stream podcasts. 2. GO TO THE APP’S SEARCH FIELD and type in the

subject that interests you. For example: Type in “Abraham Lincoln,” and you’ll find an episode of _History That Doesn’t Suck!_ with Professor Greg Jackson. 3. TAP ON THAT EPISODE to listen.

If you like the show, you can tap “follow” or “subscribe” to get more episodes. A LOT OF PODCASTS, BUT NOT AS MANY AS YOU THINK Not surprisingly, podcasts got another boost in 2020 when the

number of new podcasts rose past 1 million as lots of people stayed home to avoid COVID-19 infections, according to Listen Notes, a podcast search engine and database. The number created

just about tripled from the previous year. A low-budget podcast can be built with just a smartphone or laptop, which both have microphones to record your voice and storage for the audio

files, according to Spotify, which says it has more than 6 million podcast titles just on its streaming platform. NEARLY 100 MILLION EPISODES. As of July 2024, Apple Podcasts hosted 2.7

million downloadable shows with nearly 98 million episodes, according to Daniel J. Lewis’ Podcast Industry Insights. Almost 43 percent have had more than 10 episodes. But not all podcasts

stick around. Some are designed to be complete in a few episodes, like AARP’s _Closing the Savings Gap__ _, a seven-episode podcast hosted by personal finance columnist Jean Chatzky. MORE

LIKE 440,000 RECENT EPISODES. Other shows just fade away. Podcast Industry Insights estimates that only about 16 percent of the podcasts on Apple’s platform have had an episode in the past

90 days. About a quarter of the podcasts posted have had only one episode, close to 10 percent had two episodes and 6 percent had three episodes. Including other downloadable platforms

outside of Apple’s orbit, the analyst estimates only 10 percent of almost 4.3 million podcasts with 123 million downloadable episodes have had a new episode in the past 90 days. Still, you

won’t find a dearth of new content. More than 45,000 episodes on Apple Podcasts and nearly 440,000 downloadable episodes total are 90 days old or newer.