Holiday time is approaching, and for many of us that means a road trip. My favorite driving pastime is listening to podcasts. When an audio book is just too much for the whole family, a short podcast can engage everyone in the car and can make the time and miles fly by.

Not familiar with podcasts? These are simply recorded audio, and in some case video, series with new episodes available on a regular basis for downloading. They cover a variety of topics and many are perfect for some family education. Best of all, podcasts can be downloaded for free from either the podcast website or from a media aggregator like iTunes.

If you are looking for some interesting series to download for your next road trip, here are as few of my favorite educational ones. You will generally see the entire series, so pick a few episodes that interest you, or start with the beginning.

Moment of Science is one of many NPR podcasts, all of which are excellent. This one has a new two minute file each day and includes topics such as emotions and the common cold, the oxpecker and the rhino, nodding for self-confidence, and why dogs bark.

From the simple “their, there, they’re” usage decision to things to improve writing for even advanced students, Grammar Girl provides five minute episodes with hooks to help you remember common usage tricks and tips. Others must like this as much as I do because it as been selected as the outstanding educational podcast of the year several times.

Who doesn’t like a good story? This 20 minute podcast series fills in many details you probably don’t know about a variety of historic events. Recenter episodes were The Black Hole of Calcutta, Sir Isaac Newton, and Building Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. There is something for everyone in this one!

Marshall Brain discusses a huge variety of interesting topics in one to five minute episodes. Every wondered how helium works, why 3-D movies cause some people to have headaches, or how olive oil is made? If yes, Brain Stuff is the podcast for you!

If you want a more in depth discussion (almost an hour) about topics similar to those covered in Brain Stuff, turn to Stuff You Should Know. Recent episodes in this series include how passports work, how Grimm’s fairy tales have survived the ages, the history of hula hoops, and how hot air balloons travel. I learned more than I ever wanted to know about mosquitoes while listening during an early morning walk. Guess what was biting as I was listening?

My Daily Phrase Italian, or any other language, might not be a good choice for a long road trip. But if your family is planning vacation to a non-English speaking country, these free language podcasts would be a great choice for carpool times. I see a great family contest brewing to see who can remember the most vocabulary.

Pick most any topic and do a search adding the word podcast, and you are sure to find something that interests you!