No matter what your budget, for 99% of podcasters, these USB microphones will be your best option. Tip: Blue Microphones tend to go on sale quite often from websites like Woot, so I'd recommend holding out for a good deal. If you're looking for more affordable options, however, you really can't go wrong with most Blue Microphones, the most popular being the Yeti and the Snowball. While it's more expensive than most other USB microphones, it's the best sounding "out of the box" solution. The best USB microphone for podcasting is the Rode Podcaster. Those prosumer models usually run from about $80-300 and require little to no setup or prior audio knowledge if you choose one that interfaces with your computer via USB. That being said, while you can easily spend thousands of dollars on a radio-grade studio, most people will be more than happy with the quality of what are considered "prosumer" microphones. The hardware you choose to record your podcast with will play the largest role in the quality of your finished product. In this tutorial I'll show you my method for producing and publishing audio podcasts - from the hardware that's required to the best places to host your finished product - you'll be podcasting in no time. Moreover, podcasters now possess the newfound possibility to produce a near-radio quality show for a relatively small initial investment. While publishing and creating a podcast isn't yet anywhere near as simple as posting a blog post or publishing a Youtube video, it has become increasingly easy over the years.