Using The Clearing as a podcast!

A how-to guide

Hello,

Did you know that you can use your favourite podcast app to listen to any audio I post in The Clearing?

That means that every time I post a new recording of the True Stories Book Club, or an Elissa and Katherine Talk… episode, you can listen wherever you get your usual podcasts, for example in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. This isn’t just true of The Clearing - it’s true for any Substack newsletter using an audio feed.

Here’s a quick how-to guide to help you to listen. Please feel free to share it with anyone who might find it useful!

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Connecting from the Substack website

Substack has a feature that allows you to send the podcast feed directly to the app you use on your phone, for example Apple Podcasts.

From your web browser (e.g. Chrome or Safari), you can either:

• Use Substack to open your podcast app and add the podcast feed directly.

• Email a link to yourself, so that you can do it on a different device or send it to someone else.

I made a short video to show you how it’s done - click through the link below:

(If the embedded video doesn’t work for you, you can watch or share via this link: How to Access Audio Recordings on The Clearing Podcast)

To summarise, you can go to any post with audio in (like this one), and choose an option from the ‘listen on’ menu on the right hand side.

If you’re using a mobile phone, the screen will be smaller so it will look a little different - you’ll need to select ‘more options’ just underneath the audio player:

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What if my favourite podcast app isn’t on this list?

That’s okay - you can add the podcast feed manually by copying the RSS feed (that’s the unique address of your podcast) into your favourite app.

I’m no expert in this, so I’m going to defer to the greater wisdom of transistor.fm, who have written this handy guide for apps such as Pocket Cast and Overcast. Unfortunately, this is not possible in Spotify, but hopefully they’ll change this one day.

You will need to copy in the RSS feed of The Clearing. That’s found in the same ‘listen on’ box (or ‘more options’ if you’re on a mobile) at the side of your page.

For some unfathomable reason, this is different on a desktop computer and a mobile.

On a desktop, click on the RSS Feed button and you should just get a message to say that the address has copied to your clipboard - you can then paste it into your chosen podcast app with command-p (Apple) or control-p (PC).

On a mobile, you need to scroll down a little to find a very pale ‘copy RSS feed’ button instead. The actual ‘RSS Feed’ button bring up a page with the terrifying mass of code that is an RSS feed! Fear not! You just copy the page address at the top, and don’t worry about the code. Paste it into your favourite app, just the same.

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You can also use the Substack app as a podcast player!

Maybe you don’t yet listen to podcasts anyway. The Substack app makes it really easy to start.

Just click on the intray icon at the bottom of your screen (shown here in blue). This brings up all the most recent posts from the newsletters you follow.

Then, still at the bottom of your screen, select ‘audio’.

Then you’ll see all the latest audio recordings listed down the page. Just tap the ‘play’ symbol to listen, and when one podcast finishes, the next one will play.

I hope that’s helpful! I think it’s a bit of a hidden feature of Substack, and I’d love more people to listen to all the great audio I’m putting out there!

In case you missed them, here are some recent favourites:

Elissa and Katherine Talk… bravery and boundaries

True Stories Book Club chats with Sharon Salzberg, Diana Henry and Camille T. Dungy

For paid subscibers, the most recent Creative Questions on stoking creativity, feeling burned out and finding your voice.

You can find all my Substack audio here.

Now, having spent hours putting this together, I have to set a boundary here - please don’t ask me for tech support! I’ve told you all I know and I don’t have the resources to answer queries about this 😅

However, I would love to hear about your listening tips! Do you listen to podcasts in Substack? Please share your favourites in the comments :)

Take care,

Katherine

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If you think a friend or loved one would enjoy The Clearing by Katherine May, gift subscriptions are available here | Website | Buy: Enchantment UK /US | Buy: Wintering UK / US | Buy: The Electricity of Every Living Thing UK / US