LDS General Conference Podcast
Have you ever wanted an easy way to get the LDS General Conference on your iPod? If so, I’ve setup a podcast just for you.
How do I get the podcast?
If you’re using iTunes, you have two options:
- Search the iTunes podcast directory for “lds general
conference” - Or click the menu “Advanced”, then “Subscribe to podcast…”, and paste this in:
http://thesmithfam.org/podcasts/lds-general-conference.xml
If you’re using other podcast software like amaroK, gtkPod, or Juice (formerly iPodder), just use the URL above. If you run into trouble, just leave a comment or email me.
How does it work?
The LDS church makes its general conference sessions available as downloadable MP3s, which is great, because my podcast simply tells iTunes how to download the conference sessions as mp3 files directly from the LDS web site. Then, iTunes puts the mp3 files onto your iPod.
Why a Podcast?
I like to listen to General Conference podcasts for two reasons:
- iTunes automatically puts the newest conference sessions on my iPod every 6 months. I don’t have to do a thing
- If I pause conference on my iPod, and then listen to some other music, when I come back to the conference session, it picks right back up where I left off.
How far back does it go?
The podcast includes conference sessions as far back as April 2004. Prior to that, the Church didn’t make the audio archives of each session available in mp3 format. As the archives become available, I’ll update the podcast to go back even farther.
January 2nd, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Could you set me up a feed for each of the individual General Conference talks instead of each session?
January 2nd, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Sounds like a lot of work.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Do you have any idea how to get other languages of conference onto the iPod- like Samoan for example. You can listen to it online, but it’s a SUPER basic media player that doesn’t give any options to save or download it.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:55 am
You could try using ASFRecorder to download the stream from lds.org, and it will save it to your computer.
You just right-click on the little “16K” audio button on the top-right of the Gagana Samoa page, and choose “Copy shortcut” or “Copy link location”. Then open ASFRecorder, and click File -> Open URL… Then hit Control+V to paste in the shortcut.
It should download and save the conference for you to your computer. I haven’t tested it, though, so good luck!
–Dave
February 15th, 2008 at 7:43 am
Do you create the feeds manually (i.e. typing in each field) or is there software that extracts info from the ID3 tag? Your show description says that the podcast is updated automatically. Does that mean you automatically do it after each conference, or do you have a script/software that does this? Your source code said that the xml file was created in VIM. I’m assuming that this is the updated UNIX VI editor.
Sorry for all the questions. I just like to listen to the sessions as individual talks, but I would like to have it in a podcast format so that I can get the benefit of having it start up where I left off and easier download/cataloging. If there was a way to automate or semi-automate the creation of a “conference talks” podcast, I would like to try and do it, but I don’t know much about podcasting/rss feeds/xml. I’m pretty computer literate, but no very web programming literate.
February 15th, 2008 at 10:20 am
I update the XML file manually after each General Conference. I looked into writing a little program to pull out the conference talks, but the HTML on lds.org is not very computer friendly, so I just opted to do each session manually in my XML file. And yes, I used Vim, the world’s best editor.
February 18th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Thanks for the info. Starting with your XML code, I’ve begun a feed that lets me download the individual talks. I’m currently listening to the April 2006 talks, so this is where I began the feed. Eventually I will expand to make it current.
One question, your XML file has a “length” flag. I’m assuming that this refers to file size. Did you have to download each file to get this data, or is there a way to extract it from the church web site?
February 18th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Matt,
Yes, the length field refers to the size, in bytes, of the MP3 file, and yes, you must download each MP3 file in full before you can know the length. That’s just the way the the Church’s web server is configured apparently.
If you would like me to host your XML file on this web site, I’m happy to do so, if you’ll keep it up to date, and send me revisions as conferences happen. I’ll even get it listed in the iTunes directory for you if you would like. You’ll be famous!
–Dave
March 10th, 2008 at 5:36 am
Thanks for providing this podcast. I am missing Oct 07 Sunday PM, is it missing from the podcast or is it just me?
March 10th, 2008 at 5:43 am
I just answered my own question. I unsubscribed and re-subscribed and the sunday session showed up. Sorry for the bother!
April 14th, 2008 at 4:26 am
Thanks for the info. I’m trying to figure it out in German, but after I downloaded ASFRecorder, I got stuck. It downloads in a zipped file, and when I got to unzip, there are a bunch of files and none of them does anything. Maybe it doesn’t work for MacBooks?
Other suggestions?
April 14th, 2008 at 6:38 am
The German conference sessions are posted as mp3’s so there’s no need to use ASFRecorder. Just go here and click on the little “mp3″ icons to download each session:
http://lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-4-853,00.html
April 15th, 2008 at 1:04 am
That works to bring up conference, but it doesn’t download it to my computer so I can put it on my iPod. I have to be online to hear it.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:47 am
Those are mp3 files, which are exactly the same kinds of file that this podcast uses. All you have to do is right-click on the mp3 link and select “Save as” and choose a place to save it on your hard drive. Then, go into iTunes and select “File” -> “Add File to Library…”. Choose the mp3 file and you’re good to go.
After that, the next time you sync with your iPod, the German conference session will show up right on your iPod, no need to be online. This podcast basically does those steps automatically for you, but you can still do them manually.
Good luck!
June 7th, 2008 at 1:30 am
Thanks muchly Dave!
As a new member of the church I’ve spent the last month collecting all the LDS audio I could to listen to at work
I’ve spent the last 3 days absolutely DREADING having to downloading these files individually!
THANK YOU!
June 7th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
I subscribed to your the LDS conference podcast but the only session that it will download is April 8 Sunday PM session. How do I get all of the April 2008 sessions?
June 8th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Brent,
If you’re using iTunes, there is a setting under Edit, Preferences, Podcasts that lets you tell iTunes to download ALL new episodes of a Podcast, instead of just the newest one. Enable that setting and you should be good to go.
Alternatively, click the little “GET” button next to each conference session and it will download that session.
Good luck!
–Dave
June 9th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Hey Dave,
you seem to be missing April 08 Sunday AM
I unsubbed and resubber but it’s not there
it’s 404ing
check your link maybe?
July 16th, 2008 at 10:05 am
The Church’s i-tunes podcast link is just missing the .xml extension so if you want to use the Church’s podcast that seperates the podcast into INDIVIDUAL talks click here: http://feeds.lds.org/LDSGCComplete_eng.xml
Does anyone have old conference talks setup in individual talks?