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Space, Spies, Soybeans: The World of Government Podcasts
Pods from space

Space, Spies, Soybeans: The World of Government Podcasts

We collected just a sample of the various podcasts put out by government agencies

There are plenty of podcasts out there ABOUT government, but also a surprising number produced BY the government.

Want to check out the coolest news from outer space? Pick a topic from the pods available over at NASA. What exactly goes on at the Central Intelligence Agency? (No spoilers, obviously.) There's The Langley Files. Ever wondered what, exactly, is included in the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard? There's an episode of USDA-Now You Know devoted to that very subject.

Pea pod

The Internal Revenue Service, attempting to prove that it does indeed possess a sense of humor, labels their series on tax issues Stay Exempt. Ever strait-laced, the G-men of the Federal Bureau of Investigation stick to a simple Inside the FBI label. Not to be outdone, the Department of Justice section simply reads 'podcasts'. (They're not alone; Voices From DARPA is all the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency could muster, while the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control all skipped the naming process.)

The Air Up There ties in nicely to the Federal Aviation Administration, while the Federal Communications Commission's podcast directory points out that they're More than Seven Dirty Words. Direct Current is clever for the Department of Energy.

Several branches of the Federal Reserve host podcasts, among them Bank Notes from the New York Fed and Economic Lowdown from the St. Louis branch.

The National Parks Service lists 49 different podcasts on all things parks. The Library of Congress, somewhat surprisingly, lists only a dozen shows.

The Navy alone lists 15 different podcasts in their directory, while the Army leans into Soldier For Life. The Air Force even put out on from the Air Force Academy, while the Marines publish their podcasts alongside speeches and interviews.

Rocket pod

Even some of the more obscure branches of the federal government are in on the podcasting game. The vaguely-named General Services Administration pokes a bit of fun at itself with the GSA Does That series. The Government Accountability Office covers a variety of topics but hasn't established a fun name for their podcast series. The podcast for the National Coordinator for Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience is cut down to a more managable Daily Scoop title.

Plenty of podcasts also originate from state or local governments, or international bodies and non-government organizations. Want to know what the United Nations, NATO or the World Health Organization are up to? Just pick a podcast: they've all got them.


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