The 12 Best News Podcasts of 2024

Whether you want long, deep-diving podcasts or short ones to stay on top of the news, we found the best around

News podcasts are a great way to stay up-to-date on current events. Listen to episodes at home, on your way to work, in the gym, or while traveling. Here are the top news podcasts to subscribe to.

01
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A Global Perspective on Breaking News: 'The Globalist'

Monocle's The Globalist news podcast

Monocle

What We Like
  • Five episodes are recorded per week, making this podcast a great one to add to your daily routine.

  • The regular hosts come from a variety of countries, allowing diverse insights into news stories you wouldn't usually get.

What We Don't Like
  • A great podcast for hearing about major world news that really matters, but it also means you'll need to consume smaller, local news elsewhere.

With over 1,700 episodes recorded, "The Globalist" is one of the longest-running news podcasts available to listen to for free online. The show is hosted by a mix of Monocle Magazine's editors who are frequently joined by respectable experts who can offer insight into the day's breaking news.

02
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Apple News Today

The logo for the Apple News Today podcast.

Apple, Inc

What We Like
  • Very easy to digest

  • Offers links to articles/topics discussed

What We Don't Like
  • While it seems like a plus that it's short, sometimes doesn't cover all the news you might want to know about

With a Monday-Friday cadence, this short podcast (around 10 minutes) gives you a synopsis of the news in the United States as well as around the world. While Apple News Today typically relies on the news outlets that are part of Apple News, you don't need to subscribe to Apple News to get a short, daily overview of the state of the world.

03
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A News Podcasts That Helps You Understand: 'Today Explained'

Vox Today Explained news podcast

Voz

What We Like
  • A well-researched and often features solid interviewees and sound bites to provide further context for complex issues.

What We Don't Like
  • This podcast provides great value to the listener but is more of a tool for understanding a news story rather than hearing a rundown of the day's top stories.

Each episode of "Today Explained" focuses on a specific topic relating to a current news story and breaks it down so the average person can understand all aspects of it.

04
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Global Business and Finance News: 'World Business Report'

BBC's World Business Report news podcast

BBC

What We Like
  • Two to three episodes can be published per day if major news stories break, meaning you'll be up-to-date on what's happening around the world.

What We Don't Like
  • With a global focus, there may be entire episodes about certain countries or regions you're not interested in.

"World Business Report" is an official BBC podcast that covers breaking news from around the world relating to politics, finance, business, and relationships between different countries. One episode may cover a breaking news story about immigration, while another may dive into trade relationships between countries.

05
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High-Quality Factual News Stories: TIME's 'The Brief'

TIME Spoken Edition news podcast

Time

What We Like
  • A fantastic way to consume written TIME news stories.

What We Don't Like
  • The narration is clear and easy to understand, but it's also a bit monotonous.

Similar to the "IGN Spoken Edition" podcast, this version offers podcast listeners a way to catch up on news stories published on the TIME website and magazine without having to read a single word.

Episodes of "The Brief" range from 10 to 50 minutes long and contain a number of the newly published articles read aloud by a professional voice talent.

06
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The Podcast for Daily American News: 'The Takeaway'

The Takeaway news podcast

WNYC Studios

What We Like
  • Controversial topics discussed in a calm, respectful manner.

What We Don't Like
  • Those looking for news from outside the U.S. will need to look elsewhere.

"The Takeaway" is a podcast about domestic news made by Americans for Americans. Each episode of "The Takeaway" runs for around half an hour and new episodes go online every weekday.

07
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Quick Daily Business News: 'Business Story of the Day'

Business Story of the Day : NPR business news podcast

NPR

What We Like
  • Short episode length means this podcast won't be one that ends up in your unlistened pile.

  • Good variety of business news from different industries.

What We Don't Like
  • With only one topic covered per episode per day, it's hard to ignore the feeling you're missing out on other business news.

Only have five minutes in your schedule to catch up on the latest business news? NPR's "Business Story of the Day" podcast is the podcast for you, with its short runtime and an impressive knack for fitting a summary of a breaking news story and a related interview all within a four-minute episode.

08
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For Updates Throughout the Day: 'English News' from NHK World Radio Japan

English News - NHK World Radio Japan news podcast

NHK World

What We Like
  • Fast summary of breaking news.

  • Purely informative with no bias or debate.

What We Don't Like
  • The podcast feed only contains the latest episode so there's no way to catch up on news you missed.

The "English News" podcast from NHK World begins each episode with a quick breakdown of the latest stories before elaborating with more detail and nuance. The podcast feed can update several times a day with the latest breaking news which is something very few, if any, podcasts ever attempt to do.

09
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Award-Winning Investigative Reporting: '60 Minutes'

60 Minutes podcast
What We Like
  • Award-winning journalism in podcast format for free.

  • A combination of breaking news, investigative journalism, and long-form content.

What We Don't Like
  • It's great to have 60 Minutes episodes in podcast format, but audio-only does lead to some confusion when a non-English language is spoken and no subtitles are available.

Winner of more than 80 Emmys, 60 Minutes is now available as a podcast, with each episode containing the complete audio from the TV episodes.

10
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International and Domestic News: PRI's 'The World'

PRI's The World global news podcast

PRI

What We Like
  • Provides news updates in several categories, from politics and business to art and human stories.

What We Don't Like
  • The presentation style may bore listeners in their teens or early 20s. This is a news podcast for those 30 and above.

"The World" is an American news podcast that covers domestic issues and news from around the globe. Each episode of "The World" runs for around 45 minutes and covers several breaking news stories, taking time to deep dive into several with analysis and interviews.

11
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Breaking Video Game News: 'Kinda Funny Games Daily'

Kinda Funny Games Daily video game news podcast

Kinda Funny

What We Like
  • A fresh style that's professional and fun.

  • High-quality guests ranging from video game developers and voice actors to journalists from rival geek culture publications.

What We Don't Like
  • The hosts can occasionally lose focus and go off on a tangent. However, they always find their way back to the news.

Hosted by a group of experienced video game journalists who know how to separate speculation from fact, "Kinda Funny Games" offers a reliable and entertaining source of video game news that covers Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and the industry as a whole.

12
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Latest Pop Culture News Read to You: 'IGN Spoken Edition'

IGN Spoken Edition news podcast

IGN

What We Like
  • Releases a new episode every weekday.

  • Covers TV, movies, comics, anime, and video games.

What We Don't Like
  • Each episode is one to five minutes long. 

  • Typically only covers the biggest news story of the day.

"IGN Spoken Edition" makes keeping up with breaking pop culture news easy. Each episode consists of the professional narration of that day's trending news story with subjects ranging from the reveal of a cool new anime series to a release date announcement for a major video game title or movie.

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