To create a podcast, the most important things are not physical … they are ideas, concepts, and value.

However, assuming you DO have the ideas, etc, then you need some tech to create a podcast.

1) Microphone.

This can be as simple as the mic on your smartphone, or the microphone built into your laptop / tablet / PC.

Or, it could be a dedicated microphone.

My personal favourite is the Blue Yeti ($A180) – a specialised microphone that has multiple recording options – Cardioid (records only from front), Bi-directional (front-and-back, excellent for interviews), Omnidirectional (great for meetings where participants are scatted around the table / room) or Stereo (mostly front-and-sides – best for music recording). You can also buy a more expensive version, the  Yeti Pro ($350) which only has both a USB connection to connect to your PC / Laptop / Tablet and a separate connection called an XLR socket – the sort of connection that most professionals prefer.

I’ve also heard really good things about the Rode Podcaster Mk II ($A200)- an Australian designed and built microphone that is the mic of choice by many podcast creators. However, it needs to be mounted on a microphone arm, rather than a desktop – because this needs you to speak into the end of it.

For many users, the newer Rode NT-USB ($A190) is proving to be a favourite. It’s like a cross between the desktop – based Yeti and the swing-mounted Podcaster … it’s only got a cardioid (front) pattern so it’s not so useful for interviews – but it does have a lovely tabletop stand which means you don’t need a studio setup.

Of course, of you don’t want to spend upwards of $200 for a mic, there are cheaper options … a quick search of Amazon finds podcast mics for as little as $20 – but in general terms, you get what you pay for.

Editing software comes in a variety of flavours.

You can spend squillions on software like Adobe Audition at hundreds of dollars a year (you can’t buy it outright – it needs to be purchased on a subscription).

Or, at the other end of the scale, you can use Audacity. It’s cost? Free, unless you wish to donate. Remember I said earlier “in general terms, you get what you pay for”? Well, Audacity is the exception that proves the rule.

While Audacity won’t do all the things that Audition will – or even mid-level software like Apple’s Logic Pro X ($A320) or Windows’ Avid Pro Tools ($800) – quite frankly, for a podcast you don’t need them to.

In fact, I read somewhere recently that there are more podcast creators using Audacity than any other software in the world – because it does everything you need, and it’s incredibly easy to learn.

Finally, in this brief outline, where do you store your podcast audio files?

The problem is that you can’t just host podcasts at you blog site (if you  have one) because the files are quite big, and blog sites aren’t designed to be used for podcasts (the amount of space you get will be limited, and the number of downloads you are allowed will also be restricted.

I personally use Soundcloud – but the free version is limited to 3 hours. There’s also Whooshkaa – an Australian site that hosts your podcasts for free, in return for placing ads around them. I have an account but haven’t used it much.

Quite frankly, you may be better off to do a google search or check out some sites like https://www.podcastinsights.com/best-podcast-hosting/ for advice.