... There is an app by Apple called "Podcasts"... Launch it and search for the podcasts you want. You can "Follow" the podcasts that you listen to regularly, and they'll update when new episodes are available.

I don't know for Windows or Android... Sorry.

You may a!ready have an app installed on your phone if it's an iPhone. Install an app if needed.

Search by category or a specific podcast name.

Choose a podcast and enjoy!

I love the Crooked Media podcasts, which include Pod Save America and Pod Save the World

I also enjoy true crime podcasts.

You can subscribe to podcasts and add them to your library. You can download podcasts to listen to when you're offline.

and then I listen. Many are free, MANY so there is no need to pay unless you can or want to. Some podcasts come out one day on a paid site then a few days later on a free site.

Look up podcasts with Google and there will be many under different categories. Download and you are there.

It depends on your phone’s capacity, of course.

I just stream podcasts via WiFi or my data plan.

I download (and later delete) if I’m going to be offline.

I should have said something about that. I download mine at home on our WiFi then listen and then discard.

Write in podcast a bunch will come up you can also do a search for the podcast name your looking for. Click on subscribe. It should download into your apple iTunes account. From there you can download into your iPhone, iPod or iPad. Let me know if this helps

Al Franken's podcast is intelligent and funny. My favorite.
Michael Cohen's Mea Culpa is also good (I didn't think it would be, but was wrong).
All the MSNBC shows have podcasts that drop a couple hours after the shows air. (I listen to them at bedtime on my iPhone)
Andy Slavitt's In the Bubble is good.

but am always looking for more. I added Mea Culpa for a try. If nothing else there have to be little interesting tidbits that may someday help?

... Michael Cohen's hatred for Donald Trump is in the stratosphere... And, I enjoy hearing him tear him apart. He recently had Mary Trump on... That was fun... They talked about Republican extremism in general.

I did read his book. The podcast is cued up now. Do you listen to Mary Trumps podcast? Well it is plural now, she is doing 2 a week. I like her a lot, was not sure I would but her guests and the issues are well covered and interesting always.

Mea Culpa is one of my faves.

Also:

The Mary Trump Show
Pod Save The World
The Daily
The New Abnormal
Lex Fridman
Making Sense w/ Sam Harris
The Ezra Klein Show
Some More News

General interest/fun:

Stuff To Blow Your Mind
Stuff You Should Know
Strange & Unexplained w/ Daisy Eagan
Unexplained
99% Invisible
Decoder Ring
Endless Thread
Science Vs.
Reply All
Darknet Diaries

to name just a few...

Either to register at one of the "stores" that act as hubs for the audio files, or by subscribing directly from a podcast website.

Increasingly, there is no way to access online content anonymously, unless you are wiling to go to the trouble of establishing an anonymized identity profile and going through a VPN or TOR or another anonymized router.

Your personal information, starting with your email address, is now currency, and it will be collected and capitalized, grouped, analyzed, sold and re-sold. Your attention is a commodity and those who own the access points (this is not always the content provider - many of them are perfectly happy to have an anonymous audience and get by with Patreon supporters or other donation engines) will have their profit from you without regard to your privacy.

wearily,
Bright

One misconception I think many have, is about *what*, exactly, defines a podcast. On the most basic level, it is just an audio file, and can usually be listened to via a web browser.

The concept of "subscribing" and getting automatic delivery upon release of a new episode is the function of the podcasting apps, and is the feature that actually differentiates a "podcast" from just a basic audio file.

However, one can (usually--because some podcasts only go through, eg, the Spotify app) listen to individual episodes of most podcasts via web browser.

For example:

https://podcasts.google.com

But yes, all the cautions you posted apply, especially to those who use the special apps.

Thanks everybody for your excellent suggestions!