What are DAWs? Digital audio workstations
A DAW is the software you use to record, edit, and produce audio. Most are built for music, but they work beautifully for podcasts if you know what you're doing.
Three letters that scare a lot of beginners off — for no good reason.
Audacity is the famous free one. It does everything you need to record and produce a podcast, but the interface looks dated and clunky. Adobe Audition, Reaper, and Hindenburg are three popular paid DAWs — all a definite step up from Audacity.
Hindenburg is worth a look if you want the simplest spoken-word-focused DAW. The trade-off across all DAWs is the same: they're powerful and flexible, which means they take time to learn — even at a basic level.
Most DAWs don't double as remote call recorders, either — unless you have a lot of extra equipment.