Up First from NPR

Up First from NPR surges to #7 by distilling the day's headlines into 15-minute episodes that start 1.8 million listeners' mornings each weekday—a 12% year-over-year gain in average downloads. Its tight editorial process filters 500+ news stories to three essential segments, making it 40% briefer than the average morning-news podcast. Compared to Good Hang with Amy Poehler at #6, Up First offers zero personality-driven fluff: every word reports, analyzes, or contextualizes. The show's ad load tops out at 90 seconds total, which is 50% less commercial interruption than the typical #8 podcast, respecting listeners' limited time while delivering hard data like a March 27 Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs snapshot.