A. Price (AAVSO), P. Gay (Harvard University), T. Searle (AAVSO)
The Slacker Astronomy podcast is a weekly audio show about astronomy. Available in MP3 format, it is syndicated using RSS and XML feeds that make downloading snap. Each show presents a recent astronomical news item in an entertaining, humorous, and easy-to-understand manner that informs yet respects the intelligence of the listener.
First launched on 05 Feb 14, the show has grown to over 5,000 weekly subscribers as of 05 April 01 without any formal publicity. Response has been over overwhelmingly positive, with strong reviews coming from other popular podcasts and coverage on the front page of the MSNBC.com science section. Our only consistent negative feedback is that the show is too short and too infrequent. This demonstrates a strong need to add content.
We believe podcasting provides a unique mechanism to extend astronomical outreach to the younger generations and to those who lead busy lifestyles. Our formula is proving successful and we are looking for ways to quantify our impact and measure our demographic so that we can serve them better.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #2
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.