I frequently have conversations with people who do not dig the techno-chat as much as I do. Lately when I speak of podcasting projects I am working on, someone will ask "What the hell is podcasting?" Podcasting is simply a publishing method that allows the equivalent of a "link" to a file. It doesn't sound like a big deal at first but read on...
Podcast are predominately broadcasted via RSS or Really Simple Syndication. RSS is just a "dialect" of XML. RSS IS simple. Basically it allows for the publisher (aka "channel") to include a feed title, link, description about the publisher. It also allows for "channel" details like language, editor, copyright, category, publication date, and other technical details. Last but not least, RSS can have 1 to many "items". Each "item" (aka Article/News/Podcast) can specify a title, link, description, author, category, publish date, source, and most importantly an "enclosure". Think of the enclosure being kinda like an attachment in an email. An enclosure (aka podcast) will usually be an audio or video file format (MP3, MPEG, WMV, etc.). It is possible to download these audio and video files directly to your portable entertainment device.
If you start looking at some of the news agencies, they are already catching on. See ABC News for example, providing news via audio or video directly to your computer or MP3 player. However, the term podcasting becomes nanocasting when referring to commercial applications.
As I mentioned before, a podcast is not limited to AV files. You could use RSS to syndicate any type of file. So many possibilities!
Podcasting Links
Podcasting News
Wired Article on Podcasting
Primetime Podcast Receiver