Podcasts permit a shift of listening time from a set appointment to virtually any convenient occasion. I do it while taking my daily (more or less) 3 mile walk, while I’m “plodding along”. While there are thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of great podcasts from other sources, the ones sponsored via public radio have been vetted through the worthy objectives of the medium. Here’s what I’ve been listening to recently. I hope you might find these suggestions — in roughly 90 minute bites -- helpful in enhancing your own enjoyment of radio, our favorite medium.
__ __ “Trump's War on the Fed, Explained. Plus, How One School Teacher Stood Up to Putin" ON THE MEDIA - NPR and WNYC New York Public Media The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation against the Federal Reserve and its chairman. Hear how the Trump administration’s pressure campaign plays into a larger trend chipping away at central banks. Plus, how a teacher in Russia stood up to Putin’s propaganda. (51”) https://www.npr.org/podcasts/452538775/on-the-media (Scroll to January 16, 2026) “Stories from Greenland, Colombia, and the global market in Irish whiskey - from Japan to India.” FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT - BBC World Service President Trump has repeatedly insisted that the US needs to 'own' Greenland, to prevent Russia and China taking it over. But this vast, frozen territory is officially part of the Kingdom of Denmark - and the Greenlanders themselves have their own views on its future. Katya Adler has been in the capital Nuuk, speaking to people of Inuit descent about their island's painful history of colonisation - and how much say they will have in what comes next. Colombia has also been attracting attention from America, following the recent US operation in Venezuela. An ongoing war of words between its President, Gustavo Petro, and the US President on issues from migration to drugs US strikes on fishing boats in the Caribbean, has raised the level of tension. Can Mr Petro continue to walk the tightrope and avoid US intervention? Ione Wells reports from Bogota. While Irish pubs have spread across the world - there's even one on Antarctica - the fortunes of Irish whiskey have been more variable. Once, the island was the word's biggest whiskey exporter, with bars across the British Empire stocking its product. But then Irish brands lost ground in global markets, to whiskeys made in Scotland, the US and Japan. Now premium single malt is being made across states across India too. Jordan Dunbar explores how whiskey drinkers' tastes have changed and how Irish distillers are staging a comeback. (23”) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct6tsp "How Betting Took Over Sports” THE NEW YORKER RADIO HOUR - NPR and WNYC New York Public Media Danny Funt has been reporting on the gambling boom for The New Yorker, which has generated startling recent headlines, including the arrest of a former N.B.A. coach and the indictment of two M.L.B. pitchers—not to mention the Polymarket user who won four hundred thousand dollars wagering on the seizure of Nicolás Maduro. The legalization of sports gambling, combined with the accessibility of betting apps, has made gambling so pervasive that children in elementary school are routinely placing bets, Funt tells David Remnick. Funt’s new book is “Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling.” (18”) https://www.npr.org/podcasts/458929150/the-new-yorker-radio-hour (Scroll to January 20, 2026) — — A compendium of these suggestions, plus on occasion additional pertinent material, is published every other month in the CIDX Messenger, the monthly e-newsletter of the Canadian International DX Club (CIDX). For further information and membership information, go to www.cidxclub.ca John Figliozzi Editor, "The Worldwide Listening Guide” 11th EDITION, with comprehensive listings of radio programs on AM, FM, shortwave, satellite radio, internet-wifi radio and podcasts, available from universal-radio.com, amazon.com. amazon.co.uk, amazon.de, amazon.com.au PLEASE NOTE: Times change and some things just get passed by. Such is the case with THE WORLDWIDE LISTENING GUIDE. This 11th Edition will be its last. Once the current crop of issues is sold, the series is sold out for good. For 35 years, starting with THE SHORTWAVE RADIOGUIDE, it has been my pleasure to provide to select listeners a written record of some of the best programming available on public media radio everywhere. The media landscape is changing — much for the good, but some that’s concerning. This is especially true for the jewel that is public service media. But it’s also clear that radio — all its platforms — is de-emphasizing schedules and embracing the freeing capacity of podcasting. It’s also clear that — happily — there are some fine accessible and more timely resources for finding that piublic audio content available online. So for the next few weeks I will be compiling some of the best of those to share with you and provide places where you can still gain the information that the WWLG has tried to provide for these many years. On to the future! Happy Holidays! _______________________________________________ Swprograms mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above.
