ISO recs for podcasts on world affairs or science?

[Porridge]

DS11 loves NPR, The World (PRI), and public radio in general. We're looking for good podcasts that discuss world affairs or science topics. Ideally, the approach would be journalistic with a narrative approach (not discussion or debate - DS doesn't really go for that)

We prefer a politically neutral or balanced perspective (if that's possible).

Some podcasts he enjoyed -- California Burning, NutJobs (note bene, NutJobs does have some swear words).

Thanks in advance!

[domestic_engineer]

“The Problem” by the Regenstrief Institute 

NPR’s “Planet Money” isn’t about science or world affairs but always entertaining. 
 

and of course, “Brains On” for science.

Edited August 11, 2021 by domestic_engineer
Added another one

[Porridge]

Thanks @domestic_engineer! Related question — how does your child access podcasts? Ours was given a radio one year for Christmas, but we’re looking at podcast series as a way for us to more closely monitor what DS listens to (radio can be the wild, Wild West in some places).  We don’t want to give him a phone to listen to podcasts, and it would be a lot of work for me to act as gatekeeper (i.e. to let him listen from my phone). We’ve thought about seeing if we can download the podcasts as MP3 and load them to an old school MP3 player, but that’s a lot of work. Curious how other families approach this? Maybe i just need to be gatekeeper and let him listen from my device…

[domestic_engineer]

I have no good solutions except to use only trusted sources or previewing episodes. For a short while, I controlled it through my phone and let them have a Bluetooth speaker in their room. But it got cumbersome. 

[ieta_cassiopeia]

People Fixing The World from BBC Sounds could be a good choice of podcast.

The episodes are generally just under 30 minutes each. Often combines world affairs with science, in that each focuses on (usually) one solution to help solve one problem in (usually) one specific place. This is explained by people who deliver the solution. Some downsides as well as upsides are described, but it is non-confrontational in nature. Some of the solutions are scientific, others are more people-orientated. Each episode can be downloaded from the podcast's web page (which will work with the MP3 player), and there's a lot of episodes in its archive, so you can focus on ones of particular interest.

[goldenecho]

Throughline might work but I'd preview it.  Some would be fine, others would not.  

For California news, I like "The California Report"

[Emily ZL]

"50 things that made the modern world" by Tim Harford is about as engaging and entertaining as it gets! Though you might take a quick glance for appropriateness. He only made the original series so it isn't ongoing but it's fantastic.

[kirstenhill]

I think all of these you may need to preview episodes for appropriateness depending on your family's level of comfort with topics like violence, etc....These are all podcasts that I subscribe to and pick individual episodes to listen to as a whole family on car rides:

Sidedoor (by the Smithsonian) -- a mix of topics, some might be more like science/world affairs

 

Stuff the British Stole -- more history, but it really gets into dealing with how the complexities of history spill over into the modern age as we wrestle with how to potentially return looted/stolen objects to places they came from

Radiolab (there's also a "Radiolab for kids" feed that probably requires less previewing) -- again, a mix of topics but some would be what you are looking for

99% Invisible -- some of their topics are kind of world affairs/science oriented.  The big theme is "design" but in the broadest sense possible. It's really all over the map in terms of the types of topics they cover

This is mostly history, but we recently discovered "Stuff You Missed in History Class" and there are sooo many interesting episodes in their back catalog.