News/Current affairs podcasts

holy guacamole

Can anyone recommend me a decent news/current affairs podcast?

Would like something that analyses the news in an intelligent, informed manner and offers balance in these troubled times.

Not fussed if it's Irish, British or American, just so long as it doesn't have a direct agenda and doesn't force-feed views on its listeners.

As you can probably tell I, like so many, have become jaded with the same news outlets reporting the same news in the same way and would love to hear some fresh, open-minded debate on world events.

Cheers in advance.

degsie

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Arghus

I find World View from the Irish Times to be a pretty good listen: informative stuff from correspondents on the ground and balanced enough on the whole. It's a pity it's only one half hour show each week. The only downside is Laura Marlowe's voice - it would cut right through you.

I also occasionally listen to On The Media. Which, broadly speaking, looks at how the (American) media covers news stories and tries to look at the stories behind the headlines, that type of thing. It can be fascinating and eye opening depending on what or who they are talking about or to on any given week. Politically, It definitely operates inside a liberal bubble, but to their credit they often acknowledge that the bubble is actually there and, they've been generally more forthright in recent times about the limits of their own analysis since The Donald won and shocked them thoroughly to the core.

The Black Oil

I've listened to the BBC's From Our Own Correspondent for years. It's about 28 minutes, with two episodes per week. It's basically diary entries from journalists, 3-5 minutes apiece. There's no debate, it's generally their observations on life, something they've seen during the week. I like it because, thanks to the wide postings of BBC journalists, you get to hear about less reported on corners of the world. NPR used to have a similar one called Foreign Dispatch, but this dropped off the radar 3 years ago.

WBUR's On Point is a discussion show that's a mixture of a host/panel/guest(s) and phone-in callers. Discussion is generally topical. They go between current affairs and lighter stuff, popular culture. I think they thrash out the issues pretty well - mixture of hacks, activists, experts, policy wonks and that. The phone-in element, rest assured this is not the train wreck that is Liveline.

steve_r

In an Irish context, I find the "Inside Politics" podcast very good. There is some liberal bias, but they are fair enough in presenting annother Point of View.
The New Yorkers Political Scene podcast tends to be liberal in nature, but covers a diverse array of topics.
The Axe Files with David Axlerod is interviews carried out by a former senior advisor to Barrack Obama - again liberal in nature.
Donkey Votes is a very good Irish podcast that has good back and forth debate - it does not air frequently however.
The Last Word with Matt Cooper releases segments as podcasts - hit and miss.
Do you want to be caught up on all the news, or just certain specifc areas? If it's all the news, then I'd probably go with the BBC news coverage.

holy guacamole

Arghus wrote: »

I also occasionally listen to On The Media. Which, broadly speaking, looks at how the (American) media covers news stories and tries to look at the stories behind the headlines, that type of thing. It can be fascinating and eye opening depending on what or who they are talking about or to on any given week. Politically, It definitely operates inside a liberal bubble, but to their credit they often acknowledge that the bubble is actually there and, they've been generally more forthright in recent times about the limits of their own analysis since The Donald won and shocked them thoroughly to the core.

I like the sound of this one, gonna give it a listen.

The Black Oil wrote: »

WBUR's On Point is a discussion show that's a mixture of a host/panel/guest(s) and phone-in callers. Discussion is generally topical. They go between current affairs and lighter stuff, popular culture. I think they thrash out the issues pretty well - mixture of hacks, activists, experts, policy wonks and that. The phone-in element, rest assured this is not the train wreck that is Liveline.

This sounds like exactly what I'm looking for, another to add to the download list.

steve_r wrote: »

The New Yorkers Political Scene podcast tends to be liberal in nature, but covers a diverse array of topics.

Do you want to be caught up on all the news, or just certain specifc areas? If it's all the news, then I'd probably go with the BBC news coverage.

Through reading this thread and these suggestions I've come to the conclusion that I'm seeking a US/British based podcast which covers as much news as possible and occasionally deviates from the stuff which tend to dominate the dailies. The New Yorker's one you've referred to seems to fit that bill.

BoJack Horseman

The john batchelor show.....

The show is split into about a dozen pod-files a day based on topic, 10-20mins long... handy for picking what is of interest.

Fair amount of history and historical/political book reviews and such.