Weekly News Podcasts

October 10, 2009 2:08 PM

"Week in review" news podcasts?

I am a busy student and find that I sometimes have a hard time staying on top of current events. While I do spend a few minutes each day reading NY Times headlines on Twitter, I find that radio is the best way for me to digest news.

I'm looking for the podcast equivalent to the NYT Week In Review page. I currently listen to the 7AM ET News Summary podcast but would like to listen to a slightly more detailed show that comes out every 4-7 days and is in the 20-45 minute range.

I just realized that Weekend Edition is available in podcast form, so I'll check that out. But if I recall correctly, it's a little bit more featury and slightly lighter. Ideally, I'd like something that's more news updates than features [On preview: maybe Weekend Edition Saturday is more what I'm looking for. Still, any other suggestions would be great].

I live in the US but am not opposed to a global news update program. I don't need sports updates of any kind.

[I was inspired to ask this question by this thread, which is great, but I'm not looking for an irreverant show].

posted by rossination to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

Maybe not quite what you're looking for, but The Economist does a podcast titled "The Week Ahead" most weeks. It's included in their main feed, linked to above. The other stuff they put on that feed is pretty good for keeping up with world events as well.
posted by Johnny Assay at 2:31 PM on October 10, 2009

Assuming you're interested in US politics, the PBS show Washington Week with Gwen Ifill makes all of the audio from their show (including the sponsor messages) a podcast.
posted by tss at 3:13 PM on October 10, 2009

The Diane Rehm Show does an hour on Friday about US current events and a separate hour on International events. The downloaded content is about 50 minutes in length but when you factor in the music interludes and the intro/outros, it is only about 40 minutes in length. I will say that a lot of people find her voice to be a bit grating but since you live in Washington, DC so you've already probably been exposed to it.

The Slate Political and Cultural Gabfests might also hit the mark for you. Each comes out weekly and is in the 20-40 minute time frame. These aren't comprehensive since they cover 3 topics and allow time to discuss them.
posted by mmascolino at 4:15 PM on October 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

Off the mark, I'm sure, but I can't help but recommend The Bugle from TimesOnline.co.uk. Sometimes insightful, always funny. More of a Daily Show format.
posted by alight at 9:53 PM on October 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

I just discovered the Voice of America podcast page. They have several podcasts with a weekly update schedule. Keep in mind that VOA is a service of the US Federal Government and that some people view VOA's content as propaganda.
posted by loosemouth at 1:21 PM on October 11, 2009

Seconding the Bugle. It's not so much on the facts, but it is very funny.
posted by X-Himy at 8:18 AM on October 12, 2009