How to Subscribe to a Podcast that iTunes doesn't offer

Some friends of mine wanted to subscribe to several podcasts from radio station KPFK. I first tried looking at the podcast directory in the iTunes. All kinds of podcasts, but nothing from KPFK. Perhaps they have a beef with a large American corporation that makes its products in China. Whatever.

Anyway, if you have a podcast you want to subscribe to that you can’t find in the iTunes store, here’s what to do:

First, go to the radio station’s Website. Look for their podcast section. In KPFK’s case, they clearly mark it as “Audio Archives”. Go to that page.

On that page you’ll see a button:

Click on the the podcast to play the podcast. If you want to subscribe to the podcasts, though, right-click on the XML section. That brings up this menu:

KPFK own instructions tell you to right-click on “XML”

Thank you, KPFK, for your clear and concise instructions.

But what if you are bourgeoisie like me and want to use iTunes? Simple, iTunes has provision for adding podcasts not in the iTunes podcast directory.

If you are like my friends, you still use OS X 10.4.11 and iTunes 8, which has its “Subscribe to Podcast” item under the Advanced menu:

If you are like me, the bourgeoisie, you use iTunes 11, which has the “Subscribe to Podcast…” menu item under the File menu:

In either case, a window appears:

Paste the copied link to the podcast into this window and press OK.

You’re all set! Go back to your podcast directory and see if it’s there:

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog