Mac: I quit a lot of conversational podcasts early. They get boring for a few minutes, I try hunting for the next good bit with 30-second skips, and I give up and delete the episode.

Hrishikesh Hirway pulls songs apart to learn how they work.

On his podcast Song Exploder, Hirway has interviewed artists such as Solange, Iggy Pop, Norah Jones, Björk and Arcade Fire about their writing, recording and mixing processes. Hirway makes his own music as half of the band Moors with Atlanta’s Lakieth Stanfield, and as a composer for TV and film. He also co-hosts The West Wing Weekly podcast with West Wing actor Joshua Malina.

We talked to him about how this multi-threaded artistic life weaves together. We also got a play-by-play of how Hirway makes each episode of Song Exploder.

iOS: Not everyone has a list of favourite podcasts like the nerds at Lifehacker. If you're new to podcasts, the available apps for managing them can feel needlessly complex - especially if all you want is the latest episode of that one show your friend mentioned. If you don't want to worry about things such as storage cache and playlist generation, check out 'sodes, an easy-to-use podcast app.

Android/iOS: Podcasting should be stupid easy. The underlying technology isn't much more complicated than blogging. But so far, there's no Blogger or Tumblr of podcasting, to make podcast recording accessible to anyone with a phone. Until last week's release of Anchor 3.0 for iOS and Android.

Podcasting was meant to be the great democratisation of the mass media. Suddenly, anyone with a recorder and an internet connection could create their own custom radio show, distribute it to a global audience of millions and reap a massive harvest of advertising and endorsement dollars. But, like many new technologies, there were some early winners who faded away once the initial buzz faded. Today, the most successful podcasts often come from commercial radio networks, with amateurs struggling to carve out a niche.

So, what does it take to create a great podcast? I spoke with Guy Scott-Wilson, the Content Director at Acast Australia to find out.

It's that special time of year again when everyone is looking for a good scary story. And though podcasts more often conjure up the images of gentle interviews with creative types and soothing NPR voices, more shows are moving into the territory of old-school radio plays, producing unsettling (and addictive) stories from true crime to horror. I hope you brought an extra pair of pants, 'cause these podcasts bring the terror.

The last time we checked in for our staff's Weekly Upgrades, our editors were busy noise cancelling, meal prepping, and experimenting with calmer commute options.

Video: NPR's reporters don't all have perfect, radio-smooth voices, but they all sound natural and confident on air. In this video, vocal coach Jessica Hansen gives you three NPR-approved exercises to help you speak into a microphone while sounding more like yourself.

iOS: Up until recently, Pocket Casts was our favourite podcast manager for the iPhone. While it's not our favourite any more, it's still very good, and if you're a regular user, you'll be happy to see a few improvements arrive today.

By any measure Marc Maron has had a banner year. The comedian talked with President Obama on his podcast, his television show on IFC completed it's third season and was renewed for another, and he has a new standup special premiering in just a few days. Must feel good, right?

Starting your own podcast goes beyond having a topic idea and knowing how to use your equipment. Take your podcast or blog to the next level with this in-depth collection of training materials from the team at NPR.

Recording your own podcast is a pretty complicated affair, but Zencastr is a web app currently in beta that allows you to record audio on multiple computers, then upload that all to Dropbox.

Thanks to the success of shows like Serial, TED Radio Hour and The Nerdist, podcasts have become more popular than ever. Here's how to create, record, and publish your own basic podcast -- and get people to listen.

Pop filters are used to avoid sharp "P" and "B" sounds (known as plosives) from overloading the mic level and causing distortion. Most commercial pop filters are $20 or more, but you can build your own for much less with an embroidery hoop, a dowel and panythose.

MetaFilter founder and friend of Lifehacker Matt Haughey has been casually podcasting at MetaFilter for the last four years, and in that time, he's amassed a lot of knowledge handy for anyone looking to learn a little about the art of casting pods.

Mac: doubleTwist, the media manager that syncs all the devices that iTunes doesn't, has thrown its own Android search interface into its Mac client. It's also opened up both its Android and substantial podcast search to the web as a whole.

Windows: doubleTwist makes for a convenient way of syncing your smartphone, camera and other USB-plug-able gadgets, especially if you're not using Apple products. Now doubleTwist does a great job of finding and monitoring podcasts, and sending them where you want to listen.