Start Your Day Informed: The 7 Best Daily Podcasts For Your Commute

From 'The Daily' to 'Pop Culture Happy Hour', these news-based shows are the perfect listens alongside a coffee.

Here’s a peek into our morning routine. Wake up, roll out of bed – making it afterwards, of course – and head to the kitchen. While we start brewing our first cup of coffee we hit play on a podcast. There’s nothing like listening to a freshly updated podcast to get us ready for the day ahead.

These podcasts release episodes each weekday at the very least, to give you a fresh dose of the news before you head into the office or get started from home. Here are a few of our favourite daily podcasts to accompany you on your morning routine.

1. The Daily

We might as well start with one of the best. The Daily is, well, a daily podcast from The New York Times and it’s one of the best ways to get your morning news. The podcast airs five times a week in short 20-minute bursts, covering the big headlines and commentary that you need to know now. Hosted by Michael Barbaro and Sabrina Tavernise, it’s thorough and rigorous, and because it takes place at 6 a.m EST., it will be in your podcast feed in time for the next morning (or you can listen to it in real-time while you brush your teeth).

2. Today In Focus

The Daily has a US slant while Today In Focus is from the Guardian’s journalists Nosheen Iqbal and Michael Safi, which means it follows the news events of the UK closely. Both podcasts pair well with each other and give a rounded picture of the daily news events. We like Today In Focus for the way it dives deep beyond the headlines and gives the analysis that helps you understand what is really happening around the world.

3. TED Talks Daily

While we don't need to explain to you the magic that is TED Talks we will say that this bite-sized podcast format is perfect for your commute. Each episode is roughly ten to fifteen minutes long making it possible to hear thought-provoking ideas about every subject imaginable on even the shortest of trips.

4. The Briefing

The Briefing delivers sharp 20-minute episodes from rotation of co-hosts including Tom Tilley, Jan Fran, Antoinette Latouf, Katrina Blowers, Rhianna Patrick, and Jamila Rizvi. They bring you the stories, headlines, and conversation starters that will set the day’s agenda. This podcast actually airs Monday through to Saturday – you get an extra weekend episode to keep you up to speed.

5. 7AM

The clue is in the title: 7AM publishes at seven in the morning every day, a daily news podcast from the publishers of The Saturday Paper and The Monthly. Thoughtful, engaging, and inquisitive, it’s one of the best Australian news podcasts out there.

6. Pop Culture Happy Hour

Okay, so what about daily podcasts that aren’t about breaking news? You need to try Pop Culture Happy Hour. This daily podcast from America’s National Public Radio service – or NPR – covers all the film, television, music and pop culture news that you need to know. That includes breaking news commentaries, such as what everyone loved about Rihanna’s Half Time Superbowl performance or funny conversations about the television shows that we’re all obsessing over. (The Last Of Us, anyone?) The Friday episode runs a little longer than the others, but mostly they sit around that 20-minute mark and are easy listening for first thing in the morning.

7. Fresh Air

Also from NPR is Fresh Air, an interview and conversation-style podcast hosted by journalist and broadcaster Terry Gross. This award-winning show runs much longer than any other show on this list, with hourlong episodes in which a person of note is interviewed about their work. Recent standout episodes include the filmmaker Stephen Spielberg, author Taffy Brodesser-Akner and The White Lotus’s F Murray Abraham. We love listening to this podcast on our commute into the office or on a long morning walk.