What are you listening to on your iPod? If you have space to spare on your MP3 player, there is wonderful free, Jewish content that you can download and enjoy anywhere. From practically any flavour of Israeli music to Jewish culture, the podcasts are waiting for you. I’ll tell you where to find them – and then wash down the column with a refreshing shpritz of seltzer.

When Israelis turn on the radio, do you think most of them are listening to Erev shel Shoshanim or Yerushalayim Shel Zahav? Then you’re in for a surprise. Those classics have their appeal, but like music lovers everywhere, Israelis have wide and varied tastes. That’s why the “Kol Cambridge - Music from Israel” podcast is a great find. This weekly, two-hour, student-run show from England airs songs from all the genres including pop, rock, jazz, hip hop, Klezmer and Chassidic – as well as some oldies thrown into the mix. The only thing these songs share in common is that they are all in Hebrew. The show’s hosts are pleasant and knowledgeable and the Kol Cambridge website provides a playlist of songs aired so you can always double-check what you’re listening to. Highly recommended. http://tinyurl.com/ey3h8

You probably won’t find a couple music podcasts more different than the next two. On Sameach Music, hosts  Dov Katz and Sruly Meyer present everything from traditional boys’ choir music to the sounds of the duo Dachs and Dov, and tunes from veterans Avraham Fried and Moshe Yess. This site is a showcase for Sameach Music, a large distributor of Jewish music, video and songbooks. But the podcast is professionally done and never sounds like an extended commercial. http://sameachmusicpodcast.libsyn.com/

As you might gather from the title, don’t expect to hear klezmer tunes on the Rock and Roll Jew show. “The best podsafe rock and roll from Israel and beyond” is hard-hitting and almost entirely in English. Producer David Jacobs features bands from Israel or with Jewish heritage as well as other bands that interest him. http://www.rockandrolljew.com/

The Oy Mendele! podcast does play some music but excels with its varied  - and often provocative - look at Jewish culure. Hear the story of the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda, an interiview with a Jewish filmmaker who is critical of the labour practices of Wal-Mart, and an “unorthodox, unauthorized history of the Jewish people and the Barbie doll.” The podcast is based in Berkeley, California and comes out every month or so. http://www.fixler.com/blojsom/blog/default/Audio/

Nextbook, “A gateway to Jewish literature, culture, and ideas” has created a podcast to complement its impressive website. I listened in on a fascinating interview with award-winning author and clinical professor of surgery at Yale, Sherwin Nuland, on his biography of Maimonides. There is a look at how organs, long associated with churches, became staples of synagogues of 19th century Germany. And Fiona Rosenblum speaks about her young-adult novel, You are SO not Invited to my Bat Mitzvah! – and why the author never actually had a bat mitzvah, herself. http://www.nextbook.org/cultural/podcasts.html

For more on books, check out the inaugural podcast of The Book of Life. That show is produced by Heidi Estrin, chair of the committee at the Association of Jewish Libraries that presents the award for the best in Jewish children's literature. http://www.jewishbooks.blogspot.com/

What is the quintessential Jewish beverage? Many people might answer wine. Or perhaps a shot of shnapps or vodka. But Brooklyn’s Barry Joseph, has no doubts – it’s seltzer. Joseph, the self-proclaimed Effervescent Jew, has created a blog and a podcast titled “Give Me Seltzer.” How much can you say about carbonated water? Plenty if you look at the dozen podcasts Joseph has produced in just half a year. There are interviews about the history of the drink, a look at its current popularity around the world, comedy from Allan Sherman – and a marvelous theme song sung to the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter.” http://www.givemeseltzer.com/ And the Jewish and Israeli content? It’s there – like the video podcast that includes a clip from the 1966 film, Cast a Giant Shadow.  Frank Sinatra, flying on behalf of the fledgling Israeli air force during the 1948 War of Independence, bombards Egyptian troops with his weapon of choice - seltzer bottles. Why? According to the film, the poorly equipped Israeli army used seltzer bottles to scare the enemy because they made a lot of noise as they dropped.

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Mark Mietkiewicz is a Toronto-based Internet producer who writes, lectures and teaches about the Jewish Internet. He can be reached at highway@rogers.com.