Best Daily News Podcasts to Start Your Morning in 2026

The morning news ritual has fundamentally changed. Cable news feels increasingly like performance art, newspaper subscriptions keep climbing in price, and social media algorithms serve you whatever generates the most engagement rather than what you actually need to know.

Daily news podcasts have emerged as the solution: curated, expert-driven briefings you can consume during your commute, workout, or morning coffee.

Quick Reference: Daily News Podcasts at a Glance

The best daily news podcasts in 2026 range from quick 10-minute briefings to deeper 30-minute explorations, spanning the political spectrum from progressive to conservative to deliberately centrist. Here are the shows worth building into your morning routine.

The Daily (The New York Times)

The Daily remains the benchmark against which all other daily news podcasts are measured. Hosted by Michael Barbaro, Rachel Abrams, and Natalie Kitroeff, the show takes a single story each day and explores it with the depth and reporting resources only the Times can provide.

What separates The Daily from quick-hit briefings is its commitment to narrative journalism. Rather than rattling off headlines, each episode brings you inside a story through interviews with Times reporters who have firsthand knowledge of the events they’re covering. The production quality is exceptional, with sound design that makes complex stories genuinely engaging.

Episodes run approximately 25 minutes and drop by 6 a.m. ET on weekdays. The show occasionally draws criticism for its dramatic presentation style, but there’s a reason it consistently tops podcast charts. If you only have time for one daily news podcast, The Daily delivers the most comprehensive single-story coverage available.

Up First (NPR)

For listeners who want the essential headlines without the deep dive, NPR’s Up First delivers the three biggest stories of the day in roughly 10 minutes. Hosts Leila Fadel, Steve Inskeep, Michel Martin, and A Martinez rotate through weekday duties, with Ayesha Rascoe and Scott Simon handling weekends.

Up First functions like a condensed version of NPR’s Morning Edition, giving you enough context to understand the day’s major developments without requiring a significant time investment. The format is traditional broadcast journalism: clear, efficient, and deliberately non-partisan in presentation.

Episodes drop at 6:30 a.m. ET on weekdays, with weekend editions at 9 a.m. ET Saturday and 8 a.m. ET Sunday. The Sunday edition, “The Sunday Story,” runs longer and goes deeper on a single topic. If you need to be informed but don’t have time for a 30-minute show, Up First is the gold standard for efficient news delivery.

What A Day (Crooked Media)

Crooked Media’s daily news show offers a progressive perspective on the morning’s headlines with host Jane Coaston, formerly of The New York Times’ The Argument podcast. The show promises to be your guide to what truly matters each morning in just 20 minutes, with in-depth reporting and substantive analysis.

What A Day distinguishes itself through Coaston’s willingness to engage with complexity rather than defaulting to partisan talking points. Her background hosting a debate-focused show means she’s comfortable exploring disagreements and acknowledging when stories don’t fit neat narratives. The show includes rotating contributors from across the Crooked Media network.

New episodes drop at 5 a.m. ET, Monday through Friday. The show ranks in Apple’s top 20 news podcasts and appeals to listeners who want progressive analysis without groupthink or manufactured outrage.

Morning Wire (The Daily Wire)

Morning Wire represents the conservative alternative to mainstream daily news podcasts. Hosted by Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley and Georgia Howe, the show delivers coverage of the day’s top stories in politics, culture, education, and sports from a right-leaning perspective.

The Daily Wire launched Morning Wire in 2021 specifically to compete with The Daily and Up First, recognizing that conservatives lacked a morning news podcast that set the agenda for early risers. Episodes run approximately 15 to 20 minutes and emphasize fact-based reporting while being transparent about the show’s conservative editorial stance.

Morning Wire drops at 5 a.m. ET on weekdays, with an Evening Wire edition covering late-breaking developments. For listeners who find mainstream news coverage frustrating or biased, Morning Wire provides an alternative that doesn’t pretend to be neutral while still delivering substantive news coverage.

Today, Explained (Vox)

Vox’s daily news explainer podcast takes a single story each day and breaks it down for listeners who want to understand the context behind headlines. Co-hosted by Sean Rameswaram and Noel King, the show brings together reporters from across the Vox network to offer insightful coverage of stories that matter.

Today, Explained releases in the evening rather than morning, making it ideal for listeners who want to process the day’s events during their commute home or while making dinner. The production quality rivals The Daily, with carefully crafted sound design and a style clearly influenced by NPR’s best work.

Episodes are concise but on-point, typically running 20 to 25 minutes. The show excels at bringing clarity to complex stories without dumbing them down. If you’re tired of clickbait and want substantive explanations of why stories matter, Today, Explained delivers reliably.

Post Reports (The Washington Post)

The Washington Post’s daily podcast brings the newspaper’s investigative journalism to audio with hosts Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi. Each episode commits to top-tier reporting on the day’s most pressing story, casting a wide net that covers everything from geopolitics to local narratives.

Post Reports distinguishes itself through the depth of the Post’s reporting resources. When major stories break, the show can draw on correspondents and experts from one of America’s most respected newsrooms. The format resembles traditional news broadcasts but with the analytical depth that podcast listeners expect.

Episodes publish weekdays around 5 p.m. ET, running approximately 23 minutes. For enthusiasts of classic journalism who want their news in audio form, Post Reports delivers the Washington Post experience for your ears.

BBC Global News Podcast

American news coverage can feel claustrophobic, with every story filtered through a domestic political lens. The BBC Global News Podcast offers a genuinely international perspective, covering breaking news from around the world with the depth and expertise of the BBC’s global newsroom.

The show releases twice daily on weekdays and once on weekends, with episodes running approximately 30 minutes. Coverage spans politics, economics, climate, business, technology, and health from every region. When major international stories break, the BBC typically has correspondents on the ground who can provide firsthand reporting.

For American listeners, the BBC’s outside perspective can illuminate aspects of stories that domestic coverage misses. The show has been running since 2006 with over 2,400 episodes, making it one of the most established daily news podcasts in existence.

The News Agents

Few daily news podcasts have gained popularity as quickly as The News Agents. Hosted by veteran BBC journalists Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel, and Lewis Goodall, the show delivers news with a mix of sarcasm and rigorous analysis that will be familiar to regular listeners of British radio.

Each episode covers the daily headlines with guests from across the media industry weighing in on developments in British and American politics. The hosts bring decades of broadcasting experience and genuine journalistic expertise, resulting in analysis that goes beyond surface-level punditry.

The News Agents offers the insightful moments and journalistic prowess that other British political podcasts lack. If you’re a fan of BBC-style broadcasting but want more opinionated analysis than traditional news programs provide, this show fills that gap.

Start Here (ABC News)

ABC News’ Start Here provides a quick yet comprehensive overview of the most significant news events around the world each day. Host Brad Mielke guides listeners through the morning’s top stories in a format designed for those looking to get up to speed quickly.

The show draws on ABC News’ reporting resources, including correspondents and experts who can provide context on breaking developments. Episodes run approximately 20 minutes, striking a balance between brevity and depth.

Start Here works well for listeners who want mainstream network news coverage in podcast form. The straightforward presentation and familiar ABC News brand make it an accessible entry point for people transitioning from television news to podcasts.

Consider This (NPR)

NPR’s Consider This fills a different niche than Up First, offering a single-story deep dive that runs approximately 15 minutes. The hosts of NPR’s All Things Considered help listeners make sense of a major news story and understand what it means for them.

The show releases in the evening, making it a complement to morning briefings rather than a replacement. Episodes focus on providing context and analysis rather than breaking news, helping listeners understand why stories matter beyond the immediate headlines.

For NPR listeners who want more depth than Up First but don’t need 25 minutes, Consider This offers a middle ground that delivers substance efficiently.

What Next (Slate)

Slate’s daily news podcast dives deep into one major news story each day with host Mary Harris. The show offers insightful analysis and interviews with experts and individuals closely connected to the issues at hand, providing listeners with comprehensive understanding of the context and implications.

What Next distinguishes itself through Slate’s distinctive editorial voice, which tends toward analysis and argument rather than straight news delivery. The show works well for listeners who want to understand the intricacies of stories that shape our world, not just know that they happened.

Episodes run 20 to 30 minutes and help listeners get beyond the headlines to grasp what’s really happening and why it matters.

The Monocle Globalist

For listeners who want news coverage that feels genuinely sophisticated rather than dumbed-down, The Monocle Globalist delivers sharp reporting on current affairs with a European sensibility. The show kicks off weekdays at 7:00 GMT with insight and opinion on the big stories and a review of European front pages.

Anchored from London and Zürich, the show was nominated for Best Daily Podcast in the British Podcast Awards. Episodes run approximately 49 minutes, making it the longest show on this list but also one of the most comprehensive.

The Monocle Globalist appeals to listeners who want their news delivered with style and substance, covering business and current affairs from a cosmopolitan perspective that American shows rarely match.

FT News Briefing (Financial Times)

For listeners who need financial and business news, the FT News Briefing delivers global market updates in under 10 minutes. The show makes IPOs, worker strikes, and economic developments digestible for your morning routine.

Coming straight from the Financial Times newsroom, the briefing provides the quality of FT journalism in an efficient format. Episodes are brief by design, giving you key updates without demanding significant time.

The show works well as a complement to general news podcasts for listeners who need to track markets and business developments. If you want deeper financial coverage, the FT offers additional podcasts and print content.

Building Your Daily News Rotation

No single podcast covers everything, and consuming only one perspective creates blind spots. The most informed listeners typically combine shows that offer different strengths: a quick morning briefing, a deeper daily dive, and perhaps an international or specialized show.

A practical rotation might include Up First for morning headlines (10 minutes), The Daily or Today, Explained for depth on a single story (25 minutes), and the BBC Global News Podcast for international perspective (30 minutes). Adjust based on your time and interests.

Most podcast apps let you subscribe to shows without automatically downloading every episode. Use that feature to keep shows in your library and select episodes based on topics that matter to you. The goal is staying informed without letting news consumption become a second job.

Daily news podcasts have matured into a genuine alternative to cable news and social media feeds. In 2026, the infrastructure exists to stay well-informed through audio alone, whether you have 10 minutes or an hour to spare.