Learn Russian: Слушая подкаст, старайся не отвлекаться. - While listening to the podcast, try not to get distracted.

Слушая is an imperfective verbal adverb meaning "while listening". To form it, you take the "they" form of the verb (слушают), drop the ending (-ют), and add -я. It is used to show a background action happening at the exact same time as the main verb (старайся).

Who is the one doing the "listening" here?

It has to be the person you are talking to. A strict rule for verbal adverbs in Russian is that they must share the exact same subject as the main verb. Since the main verb here is a command telling "you" to try (старайся), "you" must also be the one listening to the podcast.

Why is there a comma after подкаст?

In Russian, a verbal adverb and the words attached to it (like слушая подкаст) form a special phrase that must always be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas, no matter where it appears.

Why use the imperfective отвлекаться instead of the perfective отвлечься?

When you advise someone not to do something, or to try not to do something (старайся не...), Russian almost always uses the imperfective aspect for the infinitive verb. It focuses on the continuous, general state of avoiding the action.

How does the -ся change the meaning of ?