LOCAL PODCAST A STAFF PICK ON NEWLY LAUNCHED YAHOO! PODCASTS

Six months ago, KZSC's "The Sound of Young America" was the first public radio show West of the Mississippi to podcast. Today, it is the first public radio podcast to be selected as a staff pick in Yahoo! Inc.'s new podcasting portal, podcasts.yahoo.com. The program was one of only four podcasts worldwide to be so selected.

Podcasting is the free, subscription-based delivery of audio programs over the internet. The launch of the new portal, called Yahoo! Podcasts and located at podcasts.yahoo.com , has been hailed as a major milestone in the development of the technology. Yahoo! is locked in a features war with rivals like Google, and sees podcasting as a vital part of a media-rich internet experience. Early reports suggest that that Yahoo!'s clean, simple user interface could make great strides in introducing the technology to a less technologically-oriented audience.

The Sound of Young America is a distinctive voice in the world of public broadcasting. The arts and entertainment interview program is syndicated to stations in San Francisco and Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and features an array of topics and guests not typically found on yesterday's public radio. Past guests have included Chuck D of Public Enemy, Pulitzer Prize-Winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman, and comedians David Cross & Bob Odenkirk. Marked by the watchwords, "Maximum Fun," the show has brought the intelligence of public radio to a younger, hipper audience.

The Sound of Young America is hosted and produced by 24-year-old UCSC alumnus Jesse Thorn from KZSC 88.1 FM in Santa Cruz. It is broadcast every Saturday from five to six PM, and is available on the internet at www.maximumfun.org .