Public Affairs Podcasts
A Catalogue of Podcasts on Matters of the “Public” Sort
This post offers a curated list of podcasts relevant to public affairs, including matters of civics and governmental affairs, public policy, public administration, nonprofit organizations, and social enterprise. This is a “living” list — I encourage you to respond to this story with any suggestions I may have missed.
Last updated 2/8/2023
1619
1619 is a New York Times audio series, hosted by Nikole Hannah-Jones, that examines the long shadow of American slavery. The podcast is part of a larger effort, The 1619 Project, curricular materials for which are provided by the Pulitzer Center.
A Matter of Degrees
Join Dr. Leah Stokes and Dr. Katharine Wilkinson as they tell stories about the powerful forces behind climate change — and the tools we have to fix it. A Matter of Degrees is for the climate curious people who know climate change is a problem, but are trying to figure out how to tackle it.
According to Need
According to Need is a limited series by the makers of 99% Invisible in which reporter and Oakland resident Katie Mingle has a simple question with a complex answer: “What are we doing about all of it?” The way homelessness has exploded here over the last decade, you’d think there was no system in place to address it. But there is one — it just wasn’t designed to help everyone.
Civics 101
Civics 101 is a podcast refresher course from New Hampshire Public Radio on the basics of how our democracy works, addressing questions such as: Why does the U.S. have an Electoral College? How do congressional investigations work? What does the minority whip actually do?
Democracy in Danger
All over the world, liberal democracy is getting turned upside-down. Autocratic leaders are using populist appeals, the partisan media and the power of their offices to short-circuit thoughtful deliberation and political consensus. They flout the rule of law, unleash the police on their own people, suppress dissent and attack voting rights. So what can you do about it? Join hosts Will Hitchcock and Siva Vaidhyanathan — along with leading thinkers from around the world — as they put illiberal trends in context and explore ways to turn them around in the Democracy in Danger.
Fire Triangle
In Fire Triangle, reporters from Texas Public Radio and Houston Public Media speak with community advocates, examine the frayed patchwork of local, state and federal policies around chemical safety, and pull back the curtains to reveal what’s going on behind the scenes with competing federal agencies to answer the question: why do so many chemical disasters keep happening in Texas, and what — if anything — is being done to prevent more?
Floodlines
Floodlines, a podcast from The Atlantic, interweaves the voices of survivors into its main narrative: a concise yet thorough history of Katrina, which examines the human errors that made a manageable Category 3 storm so needlessly brutal. A full review of the series can be found on Podcast Review.
GovLove
GovLove is a podcast about the people, policies, and profession of local government produced by Engaging Local Government Leaders. From Mayors and City Managers to interns and everyone in between, GovLove features the people making a difference in their communities to learn about the great work being done at the local level.
Hidden Brain
On Hidden Brain, Host Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices, and direct our relationships. Many of the podcasts episodes present cutting-edge social science research that is directly relevant to understanding human behavior in public policy and organizational settings.
In Common
In Common explores the connections between humans, their environment and each other through stories told by scholars and practitioners. In-depth interviews and methods webinars explore interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary work on commons governance, conservation and development, social-ecological resilience, and sustainability.
Inside the Bricks
Inside the Bricks: Woodhill Homes tells in-depth stories of people in the places they live and work, and in their own words. The first season shares personal stories from one of the nation’s earliest public housing neighborhoods as it faces a complete rebuild.
Intersectionality Matters!
From the African American Policy Forum, Intersectionality Matters! is a podcast hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory.
Local Gov Life
A production of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), Local Gov Life highlights successful programs and projects that enhance the quality of life in our communities.
Management Matters
From the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), Management Matters is a podcast where policy meets practice, public administrators who make government work, and work for all.
Model Citizen
Model Citizen explores how to think in a complex era full of “alternative facts” and conspiracy theories by discussing guests’ “big ideas,” including how they arrived at their conclusions, the mistakes they’ve made, the biases to which they’re prone, how they guard against them, and how they’ve changed their minds and why. Model Citizen is provided by the Niskanen Center, a Washington think tank dedicated to “improving policy and advancing liberty.”
More Perfect
More Perfect, a spin-off of WNYC’s Radiolab, tells the stories behind some of the Supreme Court’s biggest rulings and explains what the mean for everyday residents and the American public.
Nice White Parents
Nice White Parents is a five-part series from the New York Times in which reporter Chana Joffe-Walt examines “the 60-year relationship between white parents and the public school down the block.” It is a story of white parents’ influence over educational policy and administration, and the subsequent implications for parents and students of color.
No Jargon
No Jargon, the Scholars Strategy Network’s weekly podcast, presents interviews with top university scholars on the politics, policy problems, and social issues facing the nation. Show notes and plain-language research briefs accompany each episode.
Now and Then
How can the past help inform today’s most pressing challenges? Every Tuesday on Now and Then, award-winning historians Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman use their encyclopedic knowledge of US history to bring the past to life. Together, they make sense of the week in news by discussing the people, ideas, and events that got us here today.
Ordinary Equality
Nearly 100 years after the Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced, it is on the cusp of finally being ratified. Ordinary Equality tells the story of a landmark amendment that passed, failed, was resurrected, and now has the potential to change U.S. history once and for all.
P3: The Public Policy Podcast
In P3: The Public Policy Podcast, the editorial staff of the Policy Studies Journal engage in a series of informative and engaging conversations on public policy theory and deep dives and deep discussions with scholars.
Planet Money
Planet Money focuses on the economy, but many (many!) episodes have to do with public policy and government. Here is how the Planet Money website describes this podcast: “The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, ‘Meet me at the bar and tell me what’s going on with the economy.’ Now imagine that’s actually a fun evening.”
Policy Chats
From the UC Riverside School of Public Policy, Policy Chats features voices in the public policy world discussing potential solutions to important policy challenges, be they about health, the economy, the environment, or other societal problems impacting families in your community or across the globe.
Policy Matters Podcast
Policy issues often have long term widespread and pervasive impact on businesses. Not only can new governmental policies significantly affect the climate for business innovation and growth, they create precedents that affect future legislation and potentially spread across jurisdictions. Policy Matters Podcast provides updates regarding potential adverse impacts on benefits that policy changes can have on industry growth and offer a preview of what’s next in the competitive marketplace.
PolicyCast
From the Harvard Kennedy School, on PolicyCast Host Ralph Ranalli speaks with leading experts in public policy, media, and international affairs about their experiences confronting the world’s most pressing public problems.
Reveal
From prisons to protests, immigration to the environment, Peabody Award-winning Reveal goes deep into the pressing issues of our times. The show is hosted by Al Letson and partners with reporters and newsrooms around the world, including The Washington Post, ProPublica, APM, The Marshall Project and The Investigative Fund.
School Colors: There is No Plan
School Colors is a narrative podcast from Brooklyn Deep about how race, class, and power shape American cities and schools.
Science of Politics
The Science of Politics is hosted by political scientist Matt Grossmann of Michigan State University and provided by the Niskanen Center, a Washington think tank dedicated to “improving policy and advancing liberty.” It features up-and-coming researchers on the trends driving American politics and policy. Each episode is a 30 minute deep dive on a topic in the news with two researchers who have published relevant empirical studies.
SOLD OUT
SOLD OUT is a podcast that examines California’s housing affordability crisis and imagines what housing can be in America. Meet the dreamers and doers who are finding their own solutions to high housing costs.
Sparrows Point
In 1887, it was an isolated stretch of marshland on the shore of the Chesapeake Bay. By 1958, it was the biggest steel mill in the world. It went bankrupt in 2001. And by 2015, it was a pile of demolished rubble. Sparrows Point is a story of capitalism, labor unions, race, gender, civil rights, pride, and hubris. It’s the story of American steel.
State Street
State Street from KUER “is the place where Utah politics tastes good. Where the stories are covered in fry sauce and you can boost your civic IQ without all the campaigning, cajoling and cross-talk. This is politics, the Utah way.”
Stay Tuned with Preet
Stay Tuned with Preet features deep conversations that often revolve around matters of public policy, public administration, and government. The host, former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, is vocal about his opposition to many Trump administration decisions (Bharara was fired by Trump after being directed to take ethically dubious actions), but generally presents a balanced and informed discussion with experts and practitioners.
Successful Nonprofits
Produced by a nonprofit consulting firm by the same name, the Successful Nonprofits podcast features experts addressing topics such as managing risk, using social media, effective boards, mergers, and promoting diversity and inclusion, among others.
Talk Policy to Me
Talk Policy To Me is brought to you by the Goldman School of Public Policy and the Berkeley Institute for the Future of Young Americans.
This Land
On This Land, host Rebecca Nagle reports on how the far right is using Native children to attack American Indian tribes and advance a conservative agenda. Season two focuses on how a string of custody battles over Native children became a federal lawsuit that threatens everything from tribal sovereignty to civil rights.
The New Activist
The New Activist is presented by International Justice Mission. This show features conversations with activists and leaders who are tackling some of the world’s biggest humanitarian issues from the frontlines of the war against injustice.
The Nonprofit Leadership Podcast
The Nonprofit Leadership Podcast covers critical issues, trends, and opportunities facing nonprofit leaders and those engaged in social innovation. Hosted by Dr. Rob Harter, this podcast features founders and CEOs of nonprofits speaking to the strategies and practices that have made them successful.
The Policy Agenda
The Policy Agenda is a podcast discussing the newest research in the political science of the public policy process. Presented by the Policy Agendas Project from the University of Texas at Austin.
The Uncertain Hour
The Uncertain Hour says that it is a podcast that reveals “the surprising origin stories of our economy,” but really it is about how government impacts peoples’ lives (including the economy). It takes fascinating long form deep-dives into things like regulations and welfare and makes for great supplementary material for online classes.
The United States of Anxiety
The United States of Anxiety describes itself as “a show about the unfinished business of our history, and its grip on our future.” Through intimate discussions and long-form reporting, it dives into the tensions, debates, and conflict that characterize pluralism in U.S. society. Examples include episodes on America’s war on drugs, the tension between religion and civil liberties, and restrictions on teaching about climate change in public schools.
Through the Cracks
Through the Cracks investigates gaps in our society and the people who fall through them. The first season investigates how a second grader named Relisha Rudd disappeared from a homeless shelter in Washington, D.C. where she had been living with her family and has never been found.
Throughline
Throughline is National Public Radio’s (NPR) history podcast, in which hosts examine the historical underpinnings and evolution of contemporary events. Although the podcast is not expressly a public affairs podcast, many of the episodes present essential historical narratives related to matters of public policy, public administration, governance, politics, civil society, etc. Examples include recent episodes on the Constitution, the Endangered Species Act, voting laws, and race as a social construct.
Timber Wars
It’s the 1990s in the Pacific Northwest. A march of chainsaws clear-cuts the country’s last available ancient forests. Protesters bury themselves in front of bulldozers and spend months sitting in the tallest trees in the world. And at the center, the Northern Spotted Owl becomes the most controversial bird in the country. The Timber Wars podcast tells the story of how this conflict reshaped the Northwest and the nation as a whole, in ways we’re dealing with still.
Tradeoffs
Tradeoffs, a podcast launched by Marketplace Health Desk senior reporter Dan Gorenstein and University of Pennsylvania community health expert Courtney Summers, aims to be a show that tells intellectually engaging, emotionally resonant stories about the complicated, costly and often counterintuitive world of health care, with an eye towards how healthcare policy impacts people.
Transforming Society
Transforming Society, from Bristol University Press and Policy Press, features interviews with researchers (usually book authors) about their research, how it relates to key contemporary social issues, and the manners in which it might help change society for the better. Many podcast episodes speak directly to public affairs concerns, such as the “Culture and Values and Their Impact on Policy” and “How Governments Blame Citizens for Their Own Policies” episodes.
Trump, Inc.
Trump, Inc. reports the findings of an ongoing open investigation into the intersection of Donald Trump’s private business dealings and his presidential administration. A collaboration between WNYC Studios and ProPublica, the reporting project pursues questions such as: Who is profiting from the Trump administration? What deals are happening? Who are they happening with?
Uncivil
Uncivil brings you stories that were left out of the official history of the Civil War, ransacks America’s past, and takes on the history you grew up with. We bring you untold stories about resistance, covert operations, corruption, mutiny, counterfeiting, antebellum drones, and so much more. And we connect these forgotten struggles to the political battlefield we’re living on right now. The story of the Civil War — the story of slavery, confederate monuments, racism — is the story of America.
What Roman Mars Can Learn about Con Law
Professor Elizabeth Joh helps an anxious Roman Mars make sense of the maelstrom of news by teaching us all Constitutional Law on What Roman Mars Can Learn about Con Law.
