How to Download the Best NPR Podcasts

Part 1. The Best 10 NPR Podcasts

#1: Fresh Air

Fresh Air, hosted by Terry Gross and aired on numerous stations, is a highly popular program with an audience of over 4 million people each week. The show has been recognized with the esteemed Peabody Award twice for its exceptional radio broadcasting. Known for its extensive interviews, Fresh Air delves into a wide range of topics including popular culture, news, and important issues. The host Terry Gross was honored with a National Humanities Medal by President Obama in 2015 for her ability to uncover the personal motivations of public figures, revealing fundamental truths that unite us all.

#2: Up First

Up First is a daily news podcast created by NPR. This program is available at 6:30 a.m. ET on weekdays with hosts Leila Fadel, Steve Inskeep, Michel Martin, and A Martinez, and at 9 a.m. ET on Saturdays with Ayesha Rascoe and Scott Simon. Moreover, on Sundays, listeners can delve deeper into the news with Ayesha Rascoe on "The Sunday Story," available by 8 a.m. ET. Up First gives you a concise summary of the top three stories of the day, differing from other NPR news podcasts that provide more detailed discussions. This makes it an excellent choice for starting the day.

#3: Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! is a popular weekly news quiz that is aired by NPR. It is an hour-long radio panel show where panelists and contestants are quizzed in amusing ways about the news that occurred during the week. You can have a good time and also test your knowledge with some of today's funniest comedians. This show has an average of around 6 million listeners every week, whether on air or via podcast.

#4: Planet Money

Planet Money is an NPR podcast that narrates complex topics like health care or insider trading in precise and to-the-point words to the audiences. The program aims to make economic journalism accessible to people who are interested in learning about popular economic issues but do not have an academic background in economics. By turning obscure political and economic topics into easy-to-understand stories, it engages a wider and younger audience. It's a highly recommended podcast for those looking to gain a deeper understanding of the economic world.

#5: The Indicator from Planet Money

The Indicator from Planet Money, hosted by Planet Money's Stacey Vanek Smith and Cardiff Garcia, who comes to NPR from the Financial Times, is a spin-off for Planet Money lovers. Published three times a week, this show follows the signature Planet Money storytelling style, delivering content faster and in shorter podcasts. Each episode gives the listeners a new lens through which to see the world, explaining the economy in a way that brings it to life. It's a great addition for Planet Money's fans and provides a channel for everyone to learn more about the world.

#6: It's Been a Minute

It's Been a Minute is a podcast on culture, hosted by Brittany Luse. In this show, you can catch up with the latest hits. It covers the latest cultural phenomena and offers in-depth discussions on a wide range of topics including society, technology, and education. It also provides a diverse perspective on different cultures and delves into the stories behind them. In addition to being entertaining, the program aims to broaden listeners' worldviews and foster a global perspective.

#7: TED Radio Hour

TED Radio Hour is co-produced by TED and National Public Radio and is aired on more than 600 public radio stations worldwide as well as in the USA. Listeners of TED Radio Hour can explore a specific theme with the host referring to some related TED Talks. Additionally, you may be supplemented by follow-up interviews with the speaker, original reporting, and other segments that enable you to engross in this topic deeper and deeper and help you to expand on the ideas presented. It allows you to follow the steps of the greatest thinkers and make you become a deep thinker.

#8: All Songs Considered

All Songs Considered is NPR's flagship program, broadcast weekly. It has evolved into a hub for uncovering new music of various genres. The hosts introduce music from bands that are not yet signed and less well-known and seek input from listeners for show ideas. The podcast provides a platform for listeners to discover new music, get to know the artists through interviews and engage with friends and fellow music enthusiasts. They discuss a wide range of topics, such as the best decade for music, universally loved albums, and the music people turn to for a good cry.

#9: Throughline

Throughline is a podcast and radio show produced by NPR, with Ramtin Arablouei and Rund Abdelfatah as the hosts. The program focuses on the connection between current events and historical occurrences namely digging into the past to make sense of the present. Additionally, the show features interviews with historians and includes historical audio clips from news broadcasts and recordings. This show also discusses issues of racial and religious concern, making it a great pick for those intrigued by stories about ethnic and religious minority groups.

#10: Here & Now Anytime

Here & Now Anytime is a captivating podcast produced by NPR. It presents a thoughtfully curated collection of news and cultural stories from the popular radio show, Here & Now. In addition to these stories, the podcast also offers exclusive interviews and reporting that are not available on the radio show. With each episode running for approximately 30 minutes, listeners can easily tune in to engaging daily conversations about news, politics, arts, and culture through the co-hosts Deepa Fernandes and Scott Tong. You can conveniently access the podcast on NPR's official website, ensuring you don't miss out on the enriching content offered by Here & Now Anytime.

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Part 2. How to Download NPR Podcasts for Free

From politics, economics, society, culture, and history to music, we have listed the best 10 NPR podcast episodes above from the NPR podcasts collection for your reference. Just feel free to choose an episode that matches your interests!

It is common knowledge that NPR podcasts are available on many platforms, including the NPR website, NPR One app, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, etc. It is very convenient to access these podcasts and stream them online. However, many podcast listeners shared their experiences, saying, it is unpleasant when hearing the most exciting part but suddenly the podcast stops playing due to the poor internet conditions. Given the fact that podcast episodes are generally longer than songs, lasting anywhere from 10 to over 60 minutes, a stable and fast network connection is essential to avoid interruptions during streaming. Additionally, streaming podcasts online consumes a significant amount of data.

For a seamless experience, many podcast listeners prefer to download NPR podcasts for offline listening. However, some podcast streaming platforms require a premium subscription to access the downloading feature. For example, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music require a subscription to access offline listening benefits (Spotify Premium, Amazon Music Unlimited, and Apple Music subscription). Since podcast episodes are long-term programs that are constantly and regularly updated, subscribing to a service specifically for podcasts may not be cost-effective. When faced with this problem, how should we deal with it? Furthermore, even though some podcast listeners have subscribed to premium services, they find no way to download the previous episodes at once for offline enjoyment but to download them one by one. Is there a more convenient way to do this?

No worries! Tidabie Music Go is here to help you troubleshoot these issues. Tidabie Music Go is a comprehensive music converter tailored for downloading podcasts, songs, playlists, or albums from multiple platforms like Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, etc. Most importantly, the newly launched Podcasts module allows you to listen to podcasts online and download podcasts for free! Tidabie enables you to freely stream and download podcasts from 100+ popular sites including NPR, BBC, TED, Podbean, ESPN, The Verge, Wondery, Podbay, and so forth. With this amazing tool, you can enjoy your favorite NPR podcast or any podcast without any cost!

Now, follow the steps below to use Tidabie Music Go to download NPR podcasts for free.

Step 1. Launch Tidabie Music Go on your computer. Before downloading NPR podcasts, you may go to the "Settings" section to customize the output file path.

Step 2. Then find the "Podcasts" module on the left-side menu bar. Here, you can find the hottest NPR podcasts to listen to. You may scroll up and down to pick any podcast you prefer. Or you can type in the podcast name in the search bar to find it directly.

When the mouse is hovered on a specific podcast episode, you will see the and icon. When you tap on the icon, the latest episode will be played immediately. If you would like to see the previous episodes, you may tap on the episode cover to go to the detailed page.

Step 3. Navigate to the detailed page of the podcast episodes, you will see the previous episodes listed on this page. Here, you can choose the podcasts you want to download.

You will see the download icon when you hover your mouse over one single episode. To download the specific episode, you can tap on the download icon, and then hit "Add" to start downloading.

To batch-download multiple podcast episodes, you may hit "Download All" on the podcast detailed page. Then check the needed episodes from the list and click "Add" to start downloading podcasts.

Step 4. When the NPR podcasts are downloaded, you may go to the "Converted" module to check the download history.

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Summary

In this article, we have listed the 10 best NPR podcasts for your reference. Plus, we recommend a free podcast listening and downloading tool - Tidabie Music Go, with which you can download your favorite podcasts locally for offline playback on any portable device. If you haven't tried this tool yet, click the button below to give it a try. Enjoy listening to your favorite podcasts on the go!

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