What’s an aggregator?
Your new best friend! No, really! An aggregator is a neat little program that you run off your computer, or through a website, that will keep track of all the podcasts you listen to.
But I can do that! Why should I use an aggregator?
Yes, you can – but an aggregator will automatically download podcasts for you. All you have to do is subscribe to your favourite podcast. Now, the aggregator will hang out in the background and periodically check to see if there are new episodes to be downloaded – and download them when there are.
Many aggregators are not podcast-specific, and will monitor any RSS/XML feed. This means you can use one program to read local, national and international news, all your favourite blogs, and it will tell you whenever there’s a new podcast available. Anywhere you see one of these orange logos, you can track a feed. 
Okay, okay – but is it hard?
Nope, it’s easy! Choose a program from one of our lists – they’re all fairly user-friendly, and we’ve separated them by operating system – Windows PC, Mac, Linux and Web-Based and Cross-Platform (applications that will run on any computer). Just click on the icon to visit the aggregator’s website.
Aggregators for Windows PC’s
Doppler Radio is a podcast aggregator, allowing you to subscribe to RSS feeds which supply downloadable files.
FeedDemon is a commercial RSS and news feed reader offering direct access to your NewsGator account in addition to other feeds, and unique ways to organize your content.
HappyFish, a free RSS Reader & Podcast Client
iTunes is a really popular, free podcatcher. You can organize and play your music collection and all your podcasts through one program. If you have an iPod, it will sync your podcasts for on-the-go listening.
RSS Radio is a shareware RSS reader with built-in podcast playing functionality and web browser, making viewing show notes or reading blogs a snap. Integrates with iTunes, Windows Media Player and jRiver Media Center.
- iTunes is a really popular, free podcatcher. You can organize and play your music collection and all your podcasts through one program. If you have an iPod, it will sync your podcasts for on-the-go listening.
NetNewsWire A commercial RSS news reader for Mac OS X with a familiar three-paned interface similar to Apple Mail. Many features including integration with many of your favourite programs (Spotlight, Address Book, iCal, iPhoto, Growl, Twitterific and more).
NewsFire “RSS web feeds and podcasting are hot technologies, and NewsFire is even hotter. Packed with features, blindingly simple to use, and ground-breakingly elegant, NewsFire is the ultimate RSS experience for the Mac.”
Newslife “Your news life is all the time you spend surfing the web following up on world events, your favorite blogs, checking sports scores and so on. NewsLife lets you take control of this and streamline your web viewing to save your valuable time and make the whole experience more fun and rewarding.”
gPodder “is a podcast receiver/catcher written in Python utilizing PyGTK for its graphical interface.”
Liferea “A simple and free GTK desktop news aggregator for Unix.”
PenguinTV “is not just another RSS feed reader. It is designed from the ground up to work seamlessly with podcasts and video blogs, allowing you to easily enjoy the audio, music, and video published around the web in RSS format.
Rhythmbox “is an integrated music management application, originally inspired by Apple’s iTunes. It is free software, designed to work well under the GNOME Desktop, and based on the powerful GStreamer media framework.”
Bloglines is a FREE online service for searching, subscribing, creating and sharing news feeds, blogs and rich web content. With Bloglines, there is no software to download or install — simply register as a new user and you can instantly begin accessing your account any time, from any computer or mobile device.”
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Google Reader is a free web-based feed reader that requires no download or installation. The interface is intuitive, and familiar to users of Gmail and Google’s other services.
Juice is another free cross-platform podcatcher, supporting multiple languages and media players.
Users of Mozilla Thunderbird should know that not only can you manage all your email accounts, but you can keep up to date with all your RSS feeds and newsgroups, all through one free program.
PodNova: “Your place to find podcasts, videoblogs and stay informed on your favourite blogs. With PodNova you can subscribe, listen, view, read and maintain your feeds online.”
Don’t like the programs listed here? Want something entirely different, like a command-line interface or a podcatcher for your PSP? Maybe you want a podcatcher written in Perl or PHP? This website has a great list.