You will create your own podcast episode, but you will find an appropriate venue for it first and then craft your work to suit it. So for example, you might select an NPR podcast and then make your episode to suit that context.

No, there isn't a maximum time limit, but your episode should be an appropriate length for the venue you select. Also, a longer piece will probably come with greater challenges, so you should be aware of that aspect as well.

Well, you want to find an appropriate venue for your podcast episode first, so if you can find a podcast that summarizes TV shows, that would probably be workable.

Not at all. In fact, you are encouraged to use audio data that suits your context, audience, and purpose. We will talk about copyright issues in this context, too.

1. You won't have the option to do a video podcast for a few reasons, but the main one is that the point of this project is to work with audio exclusively to see what its capabilities are.
2. You will not be required to create an RSS feed. All that is required is the episode itself (and the corresponding design plan and postmortem, of course).

Yes, you'll find a specific podcast venue and create an episode for it.

You can have interviews, music, etc. These decisions will be guided by your context. You will determine what elements make up the podcast that you select and then craft your episode accordingly.

You are not required to post your podcast episode anywhere for the purposes of this class. All I will need is the podcast episode in .mp3 format on a labled CD (and your final deisgn plan and postmortem, of course).

For this assignment, you should find an existing podcast and craft your own episode to suit it—but there would be nothing to stop you from taking what you've learned and creating a new podcast outside of class.

Well, keep in mind that the first step is identifying an existing context for your podcast episode, not creating one from scratch. There is no class requirement to host the podcast or have it listed with any particular service. All I will need is the podcast episode in .mp3 format on a labled CD (and your final deisgn plan and postmortem, of course).

It can certainly include music and other sound. These decisions will be guided by what is appropriate for the venue that you identify. There is a project stipulation that most of the content has to be original, but this is really just to prevent someone from only playing copyrighted music and not generating material.

That's what you'll tell me. This all completely depends on the venue that you identify for your podcast. An ESPN podcast, for example, would have a different audience than an NPR podcast, most likely. You will find a podcast, analyze it, and then create your episode to suit it.

Do you mean in terms of how it is arranged? No, you will identify an existing podcast, analyze it, and then craft your episode to suit it, so issues such as arrangement will be decided by your context.

Certainly, if that would make sense for the venue that you select.

We will go over how to create podcasts using Garageband, which is only on Macs, and Audacity, which is cross-platform. Those are the only two programs we will cover, but you are free to use any other program that you would like. Podcasts are really just audio recordings, so there are many options.

One of the programs we will cover, Audacity, is free. Garageband, the other program, is installed on all recent Macs, including campus ones. There are many options out there for free podcast creation software.

You will create your episode, but it needn't contain only you speaking. Depending on the venue you select, it may be appropriate to include music, interviews, sound effects, etc. The trick is that you are finding an existing podcast first and then crafting your own episode to suit it.

See above.