The podcast universe is huge and still expanding. Where to start?

Local enthusiasts who shared their expertise for yesterday's story about podcasts' growing popularity offered some suggestions. For starters, iTunes Podcast and Stitcher, where the most popular podcast rise to the top of the rankings. Many of those shows are very well done, slick productions from public radio.

But there's so much more, and fans and podcasters I talked to said the variety of independent shows is one of the best things about podcasts. It takes a little more digging and patience -- quality varies greatly -- but maybe you'll find a new favorite. Here are some places to start:

TC Podcasts for a compilation of shows produced in the Twin Cities

Podmass from The AV Club for podcast reviews

Infinite Guest network, recently launched by St. Paul-based American Public Media

These are shows on a variety of topics recommended by people I interviewed: Streets.MN, Strong Towns, Gleeman and the Geek, The Kunstler Cast, 99 Percent Invisible, For Immediate Release, Social Pros, The BS Report with Bill Simmons, The Memory Palace, How Was Your Week with Julie Klausner, Death, Sex & Money with Anna Sale, The Flop House, and The Dork Forest with Jackie Kashian.

To spotlight a local podcast, my colleague Lee Svitak Dean wrote yesterday about Dishing Up Nutrition, a weekly radio show that had more than 2.5 million downloads last year in podcast form.

And there's so much more. Want to recommend another podcast? Share it in the comments.

(Photo above by Richard Tsong-Taatarii: Local podcaster Danno Klonowski interviews local cartoonist Zander Cannon for The Wayne Gale Variety Hour.)