Political podcasts to listen to

One of my hobbies is running and I also tend to get extremely bored if I'm walking somewhere so I need something to occupy myself that doesn't me to take my eyes off where I'm going and risk colliding with someone.

Accordingly one of the most-used apps on my phone is the podcast player. It has all the convenience of listening to the radio (there's a reason why drivers are the only people who listen to the radio anymore) but with the on-demand certainty that it'll be something I'm interested in.

I listen to podcasts on lots of things, films (Kermode and Mayo), comedy (The News Quiz but never The Now Show) and recently I've started to subconsciously associate going for a run with the murder case so fascinatingly documented in Serial. My favourite overall is probably the Cracked.com podcast which is pretty wide-randing but, as this is a politics themed blog, most of the podcasts I listen to are political in nature.

So here's my rundown of those I enjoy and, with an election looming, they will only become more relevant over the next 5 months. I say 5 months because we're expecting a hung parliament and the coalition negotiations will probably take longer than last time.

BBC Radio 4 - Westminster Hour

A bit more traditional but mainly listened to for the final 10 minutes of each podcast where they get into more psephological topics. Recent example is an interview with the editors of (the excellent) Sex, Lies and the Ballot Box.

BBC 5 Live - Pienaar's Politics

I was put off this for a long time by the politicians' interviews but actually once I started listening I realised that John Pienaar is a great interviewer to listen to, calling bullsh*t exactly when you want him to.

Leo Barasi and Keiran Pedley - Polling Matters
A new one but focused entirely on my subject which is most welcome. Leo Barasi runs Noise of the Crowd, a blog about public opinion, and Keiran Pedley is a political pollster with GfK NOP (and formerly ComRes). They're only about 5 episodes in but have already had Hopi Sen and Stephen Bush as guests and it's a fascinating discussion, particularly given the record number of opinion polls that will be published between now and May.

Matt Forde - The Political Party
Matt Forde starts each episode with a bit of stand-up comedy which can be hit and miss but the man does killer impressions of Ed Miliband and Nigel Farage. But the reason to listen though is the middle 45-60 minutes where he interviews a major political figure and it's often pleasantly surprising. Frontline politician interviews are extremely dull with rehearsed party lines repeated ad nauseam but because Forde tends to get prominent backbenchers they can be a bit more candid and interesting. David Davis is someone I tend to disagree with politically but his interview was genuinely interesting throughout.
It's only a shame about the sound mixing. The interviewees are pretty quiet but Forde's laugh is extremely loud which leads so some rip-out-the-earphones moments.

The Bugle

For an explanation of why the Bugle is so good, listen to the episode that covered Margaret Thatcher's death and funeral. The Bugle was famously dropped by The Times for their coverage of the phone hacking scandal and it's easy to see why. It's a caustic, hilarious look at the news and the week's events (at least it is when John Oliver can take time off from his TV show to record them) and one of the only topical comedies where it's really rewarding to listen to archives of old episodes.

The Spectator - The View from 22 / The New Statesman podcast
The two main news magazines of the right and left (I'm excluding The Economist as I'm a print subscriber) both have podcasts which tell you a lot about how their respective sides view events. Both are just as critical of their respective parties as of their opponents which gives you a good insight into the internal divides affecting each one. Fraser Nelson and Isabel Hardman from the Spec and Helen Lewis and George Eaton from the NS are the regulars and always interesting (although I'll skip any episode of the former if I see James Delingpole is featuring). They also both have a nice habit of covering a non political story in the third segment which is a nice breath of air if you're in danger of consuming too much politics.

The Guardian - Politics Weekly / The Times - Did You Read?

As with the magazines so with the broadsheets. In fairness to tabloids I think The Sun has a podcast but it's about Big Brother and does anyone really expect the Express to produce a podcast?

These again are a great way to contrast how left and right view the same events but if you're not a Times subscriber (and £6 a week when I'm only really going to read the comment section is not going to happen) then this is how you keep up with their contribution to the conversation without paying for it. Matthew Parris vs. Tim Montgomerie also tends to be as good as they were in their recent debate and the great thing about this and the Guardian podcast is that you get the best debates between informed partisans.

So those are my regular listens when I'm walking or running (but not cycling, that's just asking for trouble in traffic and I've already been shouted at by one Smart car driving psychopath this week). Other honourable mentions go to the Political Scene from the New Yorker which is great for US and international politics and the LSE also do occasional editions of Democratic Audio and the podcast from their department of government though these are every few months at best.

So fire up your iPhone or whatever it is you use and get listening!