"Podcasting will bring timely news about the music, history and cultural life of North Carolina to students, their parents and cultural travelers," Easley said. "This new, on-demand technology will better serve busy people who enjoy the arts here and around the world."
The debut 30-minute podcast features interviews with the six North Carolinians who recently received the North Carolina Award, the state's highest civilian honor. Gov. Easley and First Lady Mary Easley presented the awards to Bland Simpson for fine arts, Betty Debnam Hunt for public service, Randall Kenan for literature, Joseph M. Bryan for public service, Thomas W. Lambeth for public service and Dr. Mansukh Wani for science. Also included in the first podcast is a history of the North Carolina Awards narrated by University of North Carolina President Emeritus William Friday.
Citizens may access DCR's bi-weekly postcasts by visiting its website at www.ncculture.com. The website provides directions regarding how to retrieve DCR podcasts, which will broadcast interviews, up-to-date events information, plus traveler guides to historic sites and museums. Future podcasts also will offer virtual behind-the-scenes tours of DCR archive collections, museum exhibits, libraries and historic sites.
The word podcast is a combination of "broadcasting" and "iPod," a popular brand of MP3 player. Audio files in a podcast go directly to users' computers, to then transfer to an MP3 or other audio player software.
