Our 9 Favorite News Podcasts of 2026
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Keep up with the latest or take a deep dive with these picks
Updated on January 19, 2026
News podcasts are a trendy way to keep up with current affairs and markets.
Eva-Katalin / E+
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.
Award-Winning Investigative Reporting: ’60 Minutes’
60 Minutes podcast.
What We Like
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Award-winning journalism in podcast format for free.
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Covers breaking news.
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Investigative journalism and long-form content.
What We Don’t Like
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Confusion possible with non-English audio and no subtitles.
Winner of dozens of Emmys, 60 Minutes is available as a podcast, with each episode containing the complete audio from the TV episodes. New episodes come out each Sunday.
Global Business and Finance News: ‘World Business Report’
BBC
What We Like
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2-3 episodes published daily if major stories break.
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Easily stay updated on global news.
What We Don’t Like
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Episodes about 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.
A News Podcasts That Helps You Understand: ‘Today Explained’
Vox Today Explained news podcast.
Voz
What We Like
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Well-researched.
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Often features solid interviewees.
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Provides further context for complex issues.
What We Don’t Like
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More of a tool for understanding a news story.
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Not a place to get rundown of the day’s top news.
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.
A Brief Look at Today’s Top Stories: ‘Apple News Today’
Apple, Inc
What We Like
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Very easy to digest.
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Offers links to articles/topics discussed.
What We Don’t Like
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Short; doesn’t cover all the news you might care about.
With a Monday through Friday cadence, this short podcast (around 10 minutes) gives you a synopsis of the news in the United States and 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.
Latest Pop Culture News Read to You: ‘IGN’
IGN Spoken Edition news podcast.
IGN
What We Like
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Releases a new episode every weekday.
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Covers TV, movies, comics, anime, and video games.
What We Don’t Like
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Short episodes under five minutes.
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Typically only covers the biggest news story of the day.
The IGN podcast 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.
Breaking Video Game News: ‘Kinda Funny Games Daily’
Kinda Funny Games Daily video game news podcast.
Kinda Funny
What We Like
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A fresh style that’s professional and fun.
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High-quality guests: developers, journalists.
What We Don’t Like
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The hosts can occasionally lose focus.
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.
New episodes drop every weekday.
For Updates Throughout the Day: ‘English News’ from NHK World Japan
English News – NHK World Radio Japan news podcast.
NHK World
What We Like
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Fast summary of breaking news.
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Purely informative with no bias or debate.
What We Don’t Like
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Stores the latest episode only.
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You can’t catch up on past news.
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, which is the audio version of the news articles on their website, can update several times a day with the latest breaking news, which is something very few, if any, podcasts ever attempt to do.
A Global Perspective on Breaking News: ‘The Globalist’
Monocle’s The Globalist.
Monocle
What We Like
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Five episodes weekly; great part of a daily routine.
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The regular hosts come from a variety of countries.
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Diverse insights you wouldn’t usually get.
What We Don’t Like
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Only covers major world news, not local news.
With thousands of episodes under its belt,The Globalist is one of the longest-running news podcasts available 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.
International and Domestic News: PRX’s ‘The World’
PRX
What We Like
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Provides news updates in several categories.
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Stories range from politics to human interest.
What We Don’t Like
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Presentation style may bore younger listeners.
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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 runs for around 50 minutes and covers several breaking news stories, taking time to dive deep into several with analysis and interviews.
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