The podcast revolution
As Harvard celebrates its 375th anniversary, the Gazette is examining key moments and developments over the University’s broad and compelling history. Podcast. There’s something for everyone, from foodies and fencers to fashionistas and fantasy football fans. With a click of the mouse, users can connect to a world of possibility. And they can deepen that world just as easily. The podcasters of today owe a debt of gratitude to a group of Harvard scholars who revolutionized how people create and consume digital information. These scholars streamlined a method of both uploading audio files to the Internet and downloading them to a computer or mobile device. The origin of the podcast can be traced to two people, in large part: Dave Winer, a software developer and blog evangelist who landed at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society in 2003 determined to put the University on the blogging map, and Christopher Lydon, a journalist and radio...