Podcasts

SlowBurn

Leon Neyfakh excavates the strange subplots and forgotten characters of recent political history—and finds surprising parallels to the present. Season 1 of Slow Burn captured what it felt like to live through Watergate; Season 2 does the same with the saga of Bill Clinton’s impeachment.

Arab Tyrant Manual

By Arab Tyrant Manual

We are an independent online publishing platform focused on freedom, human rights and the fight against all forms of authoritarianism – social, political or religious. We aim to provide a hub for analysts, researchers, writers and activists to share ideas on the Arab experience, as well as relate it to the rest of the world.

Worldly

By VOX

We’re living in a confusing and scary time, bombarded everyday with stories from around the world and here at home that are hard to even follow, let alone fully understand. Worldly will be your guide to the story behind the stories and to the one thing you need to understand each week to make sense of the world around you.

Talking Politics

By Talking Politics

We record every week in David Runciman’s office in the Cambridge politics department with a regular panel of experts and invited guests. David and friends talk to novelists, historians, scientists, philosophers, comedians – anyone and everyone who has something interesting to say about the state we’re in.

The Guardian Books

By the Guardian

The Guardian Books podcast is our weekly look at the world of books, poetry and great writing presented by Claire Armitstead, Richard Lea, & Sian Cain. With in-depth interviews with leading authors and investigations into the thematic trends in contemporary writing, this is the perfect book worm’s companion.

Rough Translation

By NPR

How are the things we’re talking about being talked about somewhere else in the world? From a Ukrainian battlefield to a Somali prison cell, an Indian yoga studio and a Syrian refugee’s first date, host Gregory Warner tells stories that follow familiar conversations into unfamiliar territory. At a time when the world seems small but it’s as hard as ever to escape our echo chambers, Rough Translation takes you places.

Global Politico

By POLITICO

Each Monday, POLITICO’s Susan Glasser will go backstage in a world disrupted, interviewing leaders in Washington — and around the globe — who can help us understand an international scene that can seem like it’s spinning out of control. The podcast will skip the punditry to feature candid, revealing, news-making conversations about global politics with those who are helping shape it.

Lore

By Aaron Mahnke

Lore is a bi-weekly podcast (and upcoming TV show) about the dark historical tales that fuel our modern superstitions. Each episode explores the world of mysterious creatures, tragic events, and unusual places. Because sometimes the truth is more frightening than fiction.

LSE

By London School of Economics and Political Science

LSE is one of the foremost social science universities in the world. In this podcast Dr Brian Klass, author of The Despot’s Accomplice, asks important questions: “Why are the world’s despots thriving, and how can the West start winning the global battle for democracy?”

Revisionist History

By Malcolm Gladwell / Panoply

Each week, over the course of 10 weeks, Revisionist History will go back and reinterpret something from the past. An event. A person. An idea. Something overlooked. Something misunderstood. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance.

SouriaLi Radio

By SouriaLi Radio

Radio SouriaLi is a Syrian-based regional grassroots non-profit online radio station dedicated to working with Syrian people in fostering an advanced level of awareness in civil society, active citizenship, communication, women-empowerment and youth-motivation through high quality music, performance and public affairs programming. We hope to inform and educate active individuals and inspire them to work towards the future of a new Syria.

Kerning Cultures

By Kerning Cultures | Middle East

Middle East culture, philosophy, entrepreneurship, science, and tech stories to paint a more complete narrative of our region. Produced by Alex Atack, Razan Alzayani, Dana Ballout, Ramzi Bashour, Hebah Fisher, Charles Gedeon, Jacqueline Sofia, and Ahmad Zeid.

Embedded

By NPR

Hosted by Kelly McEvers, Embedded takes a story from the news and goes deep. What does it feel like for a father in El Salvador to lie to his daughter about the bodies he saw in the street that day? What does it feel like for a nurse from rural Indiana to shoot up a powerful prescription opioid? Embedded (EMBD) takes you to where they’re happening.

Granta Magazine

Granta

By Granta Magazine

From Nobel laureates to debut novelists, international translations to investigative journalism, each themed issue of Granta turns the attention of the world’s best writers on to one aspect of the way we live now. Granta does not have a political or literary manifesto, but it does have a belief in the power and urgency of the story and its supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real. Our podcasts bring you readings & in depth discussions with highly acclaimed authors & rising stars from the quarterly magazine of new writing.

Reveal

By The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

The official free download of the award-winning radio program “Reveal,” produced by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX. Hidden stories, uncovered – that’s what this show is about. It takes you deep inside stories that impact your world, revealing injustice and holding the powerful accountable. The first-of-its-kind investigative program on public radio, “Reveal” is hosted by Al Letson and updated regularly.

Radio Diaries

Radio Diaries

By Radio Diaries

First-person diaries, sound portraits, and hidden chapters of history from Peabody Award-winning producer Joe Richman and the Radio Diaries team. From teenagers to octogenarians, prisoners to prison guards, bra saleswomen to lighthouse keepers. The extraordinary stories of ordinary life.

Columbia Global Centers

Columbia Global Centers – Middle East

By Columbia Global Centers

Listen to talks from the Speaker Series and other events at the Columbia Global Centers | Middle East featuring Columbia University faculty and other prominent speakers, including Rashid Khalidi, Joseph Stiglitz, Ahdaf Soueif, Thomas Friedman, and Yezid Sayegh.

APM: Marketplace

By American Public Media

Cash, dough, loot, moolah, bread, bank, bucks. Whatever you call it, money is important to us. Very important. For better or for worse, it’s a factor in every major decision we make. American Public Media’s Marketplace looks at major national and international stories that impact the average listener’s wallet. It’s “the money show for the rest of us.”

APM: On Being

By Krista Tippett on Being

On Being is a spacious conversation about meaning, faith, ethics, and ideas — online and on public radio. Join Krista and her guests as they discuss the big questions at the center of human life, from the boldest new science of the human brain to the most ancient traditions of the human spirit. Each week a new discovery about faith, meaning, and the immensity of our lives. The Being podcast contains each week’s show — and the unedited interview — in its entirety and is updated every Thursday.

From Our Own Correspondent

by Alan Johnston.

Insight, wit and analysis as the BBC’s foreign correspondents take a closer look at the stories behind the headlines. Presented by Kate Adie. Broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the UK on Thursdays at 1100 (local time) and Saturdays at 1130 (local time) for about 25 weeks of the year. BBC World Service broadcasts on Saturdays and Sundays all year round, presented by Alan Johnston. For more information

iTunes: Meet the Author

By iTunes

iTunes and the Apple Store in New York’s Soho district have teamed up to bring you the hottest authors talking about the season’s biggest books. Subscribe and you’ll hear authors like Stephen Colbert, Chuck Palahniuk, and Portia de Rossi read from and discuss their latest works of fiction and non-fiction. If you like what you hear, you can download the books on the iBookstore and read on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch and get the audiobook if you’d like someone else to do the reading.

On the Media

By Brooke Gladstone & Bob Garfield

The smartest, wittiest, most incisive media analysis show in the universe. The weekly one-hour podcast of On the Media is your guide to how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield examine threats to free speech and government transparency, criticize media coverage of the week’s big stories, explore new technology and unravel hidden political narratives in the media. In an age of information overload, OTM helps you dig your way out. The Peabody Award winning show is produced by WNYC Radio and distributed by NPR.

Real Time with Bill Maher

By HBO Podcasts

Bill Maher and his panelists are back to take on the contenders, and pretenders, all year long! Download complete episodes including Overtime, where Bill and his guests answer fan questions. For more of Real Time, go to hbo.com/real-time-with-bill-maher

TEDTalks

By TEDTalks

a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. On this feed, you’ll find TEDTalks video to inspire, intrigue and stir the imagination from some of the world’s leading thinkers and doers, speaking from the stage at TED conferences, TEDx events and partner events around the world. This podcast is also available in high-def video and audio-only formats.

Slate Magazine Daily Podcast

By Slate Magazine

Slate’s Daily Podcast includes the Political Gabfest, the Culture Gabfest, our sports show Hang Up and Listen, the Double X Gabfest, the Audio Book Club, and Manners for the Digital Age. You’ll also find audio versions of Slate articles and other special features.