1) What is Podcasting?

"Podcasting" is a term combining two words: "iPod" and "broadcasting." Neither podcasting nor listening to podcasts requires an iPod or other portable player, and no over-the-air broadcasting is required. It is the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos, over the Internet using either the RSS or Atom syndication formats, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers.

After entering the feed URL into a podcast software, the software program will retrieve and process data from the feed URI. The downloaded episodes can then be played anytime, or archived as with any other computer file on mobile devices or computers.

Reference: Wikipedia – Podcasting