The Daily

The Daily pretty much invented the modern daily news podcast format back in 2017, and it still sets the standard almost a decade later. Hosted by Michael Barbaro along with Rachel Abrams and Natalie Kitroeff, each episode runs about twenty minutes and drops by 6 a.m. six days a week. The format is straightforward but effective: one big story per episode, reported by New York Times journalists who are actually working the beat. What makes this show stand apart from the flood of imitators is the reporting depth. You are not getting someone reading headlines at you. Instead, a Times reporter walks through what they found, often with tape from interviews they conducted in the field. The pacing is deliberate, sometimes frustratingly so if you just want the facts fast, but it pays off when you realize you actually understand a complicated policy fight or international crisis by the end. Barbaro has a distinctive interviewing style. He pauses. He repeats things back. Some people find it soothing, others find it maddening. With over 2,600 episodes and 104,000 ratings on Apple Podcasts (averaging 4.3 stars), the audience clearly leans toward the former. The show does skew toward American politics and policy, but it covers international stories regularly too. If you only have time for one news podcast in your morning routine, this is the safe bet that rarely disappoints.