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The full episode, in writing.
The word “podcast” was coined in early February 2004 by Ben Hammersley, a columnist for The Guardian and a BBC journalist. He used it in an article to describe the growing phenomenon of downloadable audio programs. The term is a portmanteau, combining “iPod,” Apple’s portable music player, and “broadcast,” referring to the distribution of audio content. Although the name references the iPod, podcasts can be played on any device capable of handling digital audio files.
The earliest use of “podcasting” within the audioblogging community dates to September 2004, when Danny Gregoire introduced it in a message to the iPodder-dev mailing list, which was then adopted by Adam Curry, one of the early driving forces behind the format. In October 2000, prior to the naming of the medium, software developer Dave Winer implemented the concept of attaching sound files to RSS feeds, after Tristan Louis proposed the idea in a draft.
In September 2000, i2Go, an MP3 player manufacturer, launched MyAudio2Go.com, a service that allowed users to download news stories for listening on portable devices or computers. The service ran for about a year, ceasing with i2Go’s demise in 2001. These developments laid the foundation for podcasting as a method of distributing audio content over the internet.
In August 2004, Adam Curry launched his podcast “Daily Source Code.” The show focused on his daily life, news, and technical discussions about the development of podcasting. Curry’s work was crucial in building the early podcasting community, as he promoted new internet audio shows and inspired other developers to create and produce their own projects. The first graphical podcast application, iPodderX, was released in September 2004 by August Trometer and based on work by Ray Slakinski.
In June 2005, Apple released iTunes 4.9, incorporating formal support for podcasts and allowing users to subscribe, download, and sync episodes directly to their iPods. This eliminated the need for separate downloader applications and accelerated mainstream adoption. Around this time, Apple began sending cease-and-desist letters to companies using “Pod” or “iPod” in product names, including Podcast Ready, Inc., which marketed the “myPodder” application.
On September 26, 2004, reports emerged that Apple was actively protecting its trademarks, warning businesses not to use “Pod” in ways that might infringe on their branding. By November 16, 2006, the Apple Trademark Department clarified that Apple did not object to third-party use of the generic term “podcast” for podcasting services, but did not comment on broader rights to the term.
In February 2006, London radio station LBC launched LBC Plus, which became the first premium podcasting platform. Soon after, UK comedian Ricky Gervais released “The Ricky Gervais Show,” which became the world’s most successful podcast for several years, with more than 300 million unique downloads by March 2011. Its first series was distributed freely and marketed through The Guardian’s website. The second series was sold on audible.co.uk for 95 pence per half-hour episode, making it the first major podcast to charge consumers for downloads.
The Adam Carolla Show claimed a Guinness World Record for podcast downloads, approaching 60 million. However, this was far less than the 300 million downloads of “The Ricky Gervais Show” at the time.
Podcasting has faced legal and intellectual property challenges. Between February and March 2005, Shae Spencer Management, LLC, applied to trademark “podcast” for an online radio program, but the United States Patent and Trademark Office rejected the application, citing Wikipedia’s entry on the term’s widespread use. In 2009, Personal Audio, a company labeled a “patent troll” by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), filed a patent for a claimed invention from 1996 describing podcasting. In February 2013, Personal Audio began suing podcasters, including The Adam Carolla Show, for royalties. The EFF filed a petition to invalidate the patent, and in April 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invalidated five provisions of Personal Audio’s podcasting patent.
Podcasting is based on syndication through RSS feeds, which are XML files containing information about the podcast series and its episodes. A podcast generator maintains a list of files on a server, which listeners access through podcast client applications. These apps can automatically check for updates and download new episodes to the user’s device, enabling on-demand playback. Files are often stored locally but can also be streamed.
By 2024, there were more than three million podcasts, totaling nearly 200 million episodes. In 2025, Bloomberg reported that one billion people were watching podcasts on YouTube every month, highlighting the rise of video podcasts as a supplement or alternative to audio-only formats. This video boom has created challenges, sometimes leading to content that does not translate well for audio-only listeners.
Podcast production requires minimal equipment: a microphone, a computer or mobile device, and associated editing software. USB microphones are common, and if multiple hosts are involved, a USB audio interface is needed. For video podcasts, a webcam and lighting are required. Some podcasts are recorded before a live audience, with ticket sales providing an additional revenue stream.
Podcasts are distributed via hosting companies such as SoundCloud and Libsyn, which send media files to directories and platforms like Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Many podcasts are free to download, with monetization coming from advertising, paid subscriptions, crowdfunding on sites like Patreon, or exclusive bonus content.
Podcast genres include audio podcasts, video podcasts, enhanced podcasts with graphics and chapters, fiction podcasts, podcast novels, and live podcasts. Fiction podcasts like “Welcome to Night Vale” and “The Bright Sessions” have demonstrated the creative potential of the medium, while “Homecoming,” starring Catherine Keener, Oscar Isaac, and David Schwimmer, was nominated for a Peabody Award and adapted into a Golden Globe-nominated TV series. Fiction podcast downloads increased by 19 percent early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Podcast consumption is global. In 2023, China had over 220 million podcast listeners, and India was the third-largest market with over 57.6 million listeners. In 2021, India was projected to reach 95 million monthly active podcast users, a 34 percent increase from the previous year. Edison Research estimated that 90 million people in the United States had listened to a podcast by January 2019. In 2020, 58 percent of South Korea’s population and 40 percent of Spain’s population had listened to a podcast in the last month; 12.5 percent of the UK population had listened in the previous week; and 22 percent of people in the United States listened to at least one podcast weekly.
“We Didn’t Start the Fire,” a history podcast produced by Crowd Network, ran from January 2021 to June 2023, hosted by Katie Puckrik and Tom Fordyce. The show examined topics from Billy Joel’s 1989 song, with expert guests discussing 118 significant events between 1949 and 1989. Billy Joel appeared as a special guest on an episode first broadcast on October 25, 2021.
NPR’s “Up First” is a daily news podcast launched on April 5, 2017, hosted by Steve Inskeep, A Martínez, Leila Fadel, and Michel Martin on weekdays, and Scott Simon and Ayesha Rascoe on weekends. The show is released every weekday at 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and on Saturdays and Sundays by 8 a.m. Each episode provides a concise summary of major news stories, running 10 to 15 minutes on weekdays and up to 25 minutes on Sundays. “Up First” was nominated for Best Podcast at the 2026 Golden Globe Awards.