NPR Politics Podcast
“By far, my favorite and the best one is the NPR Politics Podcast. That is the best show around. With how the election has been going, they’ve been putting out a new episode every three days or so. So much happens within the span of a few days,” Klain said.
“The NPR Politics Podcast is my personal favorite. It’s updated so much. I think they cover politics in a very balanced way. It’s primarily election focused right now, but it will broaden out after that. I’m constantly impressed with their reporting,” Epstein said.
Radio Free GOP
Radio Free GOP’s host Mike Murphy “tears into campaign 2016 with topical rants, informed and merciless analysis and key player interviews,” according to the podcast.
“Occasionally I listen to Radio Free GOP to hear a non-Trump Republican try to make sense of the implosion of the Republican Party,” DePaul Democrats President Jack McNeil said.
Radiolab Presents: More Perfect
“The thing that this show set out to do was make a thing of the Supreme Court, which we hear about, but don’t really understand what actually goes on with it or the nuance of it. That’s something podcasts in general have done well with, finding something that isn’t as well understood and finding a way to break it down,” one of Radio DePaul’s news directors and podcast producers Doug Klain said.
Political science professor and pre-law adviser Joe Mello said, “I listen to More Perfect and Life of the Law which are both about courts. I like them because they take an interdisciplinary approach and do a good job mixing in interviews with real people and commentary from academics.”
Louder with Crowder
“My favorite political podcast to (listen to) would be Louder with Crowder. It is the one I have been listening to for quite some time, and I watch/listen to it every week on YouTube. I find Steve Crowder to be informative, but most of all, entertaining. He is, after all, a comedian by trade,” Gursoy said.
He also listens to portions of podcasts on YouTube run by Milo Yiannopolous and Gavin McInnes because “they always have something colorful to say about current events,” he said.
On the Media
“On The Media is probably my favorite one. I think that we all consume so much media in so many different ways (…) but we rarely think about being critical consumers of it. On The Media does a really nice job of that,” Epstein said.
“This election cycle, they have been the most consistent and outspoken critics of frankly false statements by Donald Trump for a very long time. It’s not a partisan issue, it’s a journalistic issue. They continue to do really insightful work on how politics and how important issues should be covered and talked about,” Epstein said.
The Ben Shapiro Show
“Ben Shapiro is a well-known conservative intellectual who always provides very good responses to topics,” DePaul College Republican and freshman Mert Gursoy said.
While this podcast appears on Soundcloud, YouTube and iTunes also provide ways to listen to podcasts. Political science professor Ben Epstein recommends an app called “Stitcher” for easier, more direct access to podcasts.
Planet Money
“The focus of this show is that it is an economic-based show. Very frequently, they will take the economics that are involved in our political system and figure out how to explain that to people. There are a lot of economic terms that got thrown around at the debate that people might not necessarily understand. They’ll take just these terms that people don’t really get and explain here’s how you understand it. Here’s how you make sense of all these things that are being thrown around,” Klain said.
Morning Joe
Political podcasts can be laughable as well as informative. Sometimes McNeil listens to Morning Joe in order “to get a sensationalized version of the election. It’s a guilty pleasure,” he said.
Overall, podcasts are “good audio storytelling,” Epstein said.
Keeping it 1600
“The two hosts are former big-time staffers for the Obama administration. It’s definitely one-sided and it’s definitely insider politics. It’s really well done and interesting, but as opposed to NPR, they’re not trying to be neutral. But they are really knowledgeable. I learn a ton listening to it,” Epstein said
“I love listening to Keeping It 1600 to be reminded why I’m a Democrat constantly by the former Obama advisers who are the hosts of the podcast,” McNeil said.
The Weeds
Another podcast curated by Vox, called The Weeds, “is the podcast for people who follow politics because they love thinking about health care, economics and zoning,” according to the podcast.
“Vox is a really interesting and important news source, but The Weeds is exactly what it sounds like, it dives into the weeds. It takes a deeper dive into a specific topic. They do a really nice job,” Epstein said.
Fivethirtyeight’s Election Podcast
“Fivethirtyeight’s Election podcasts keeps up with the hard data this volatile election, as well as with the senate races,” McNeil said.
“The Fivethirtyeight Election podcast is great. Fivethirtyeight, I’ve been a fan of for a long time, and they have recently ventured into podcasting and they’ve done a really nice job. They also have another podcast called What’s the Point. Sometimes it’s about politics but not necessarily. It’s sort of about data-driven journalism in general, but they do a really nice job,” Epstein said.