In college, a ton of your time is spent walking to class. While I love listening to music, podcasts are an easy and convenient way to keep me informed and thinking about things outside of school. Here are a few of my favorite ones to listen to all across campus.
1) The daily (The New York times)
This podcast, hosted by Michael Barbaro and Sabrina Tavernise, takes a half-hour or less deep-dive into some of the most significant issues our world is facing today. Instead of covering quick morning news, The Daily informs its audience on issues from abortion rights and elections to the war in Ukraine. In the last few minutes of each episode, they also cover some top stories of the day.
2) Up First (NPR NEWS)
NPR, famous for its radio show, has some of the highest-quality journalists. In podcast form, they’re really convenient to listen to. I like listening to this one while I get ready in the morning or on my way to breakfast. Hosted by Leila Fadel, Rachel Martin, Steve Inskeep, and A Martinez, Up First provides a quick morning news update, summarizing it all in less than 15 minutes.
3) Anything goes with Emma chamberlain
I was skeptical about this one at first because it seems like every influencer lately is starting a podcast, but it quickly proved me wrong. Emma Chamberlain talks about everyday Gen Z experiences from trends vs. timelessness, traveling, and harder topics like failure and cheating. These episodes range from 30 minutes to an hour, so it’ll last a good bit of the day’s walking.
4) Consider this (NPR NEWS)
Another news podcast from NPR, Consider This is hosted by the same reporters from All Things Considered. Ari Shapiro, Juana Summers, Mary Louise Kelly, and Alisa Chang focus on one main news story from the current cycle in about 15 minutes. Episodes come out in the afternoon, so this podcast is my choice when I’m walking to club meetings (Her Campus for the win!).
5) Very PRESIDENTIAL with Ashley Flowers
With only fifteen episodes, this podcast is somewhat of a limited series. Each episode focuses on one former U.S. president. It exposes many facts about each one that most of the public, or at least I, had no idea about. This podcast made me really think about the fact that presidents are just citizens, too, and make mistakes — in some cases, big ones. The episodes are between 30 minutes and an hour, and they made me rethink a lot that I learned in elementary school.
It’s hard for busy college students to stay informed on news and world events. These podcasts make learning and hearing new perspectives on life easy and convenient. All podcasts listed can be found on Spotify.