Of course listing podcasts is a great idea... what is even more helpful is telling us where you found them so that others can find them more easily. Not everyone uses iTunes or a podcast service,if you do, please tell us which one. Then, I'll be happy to copy and paste them into one of my reserved posts on the first page for everyone, but I don't have time to look up all the links myself. Also, a brief description of the content of the podcasts is helpful. This is along the lines of what what I'm talking about:
Democracy Now en Español US and international news translated from English with a left of center/progressive slant. It has an accurate transcript for listening while reading. Parallel texts can be made by going to the English site. Available on weekdays (updated US afternoons) 15 minutes with 30 minute week in review on Saturdays and special topic podcasts too- all with accurate transcripts.
Amnistía Internacional Podcast. Weekly podcast from Spain- varies in length from as little as 3 minutes to as long as 20 minutes, with an accurate transcript- again, left of center.
NHK World Noticias en Español Daily newscast 12-15 minutes long with accurate transcript from Japan (Native speakers, varied accents). Transcript can only be read by clicking each individual story and opening the audio in a new tab. Straight-up news from a Japanese perspective- dry but useful due to the transcript.
RFI (France) Noticias International news with a focus on France, Latin America and Europe. More of a magazine with a short 5 minute straight-up news followed by a press review and features including music, culture, the environment, science, etc. Enjoyable and varied format with varied, native-speaker accents from Latin America and Spain. 30 minutes in length.
Radio Ambulante Features of topical interest from all over Latin America and the Spanish-speaking US. It has accurate transcripts, most with an English translation- about 18 minutes in length.
Nómadas (RTVE- Spain) Travel, with an audio visit to a country or city exploring interesting facets of life, culture and tourism there. A vast archive is available. Podcast is almost an hour long and quite enjoyable if you're interested in travel and other cultures.
Radio Nacional de España A la carta All of Spanish National Radio- everything under the sun- politics, culture, music, books, film, sports.
La Tremenda Corte "La Tremenda Corte" was a pre-revolutionary Cuban radio show (comedy) with a regular cast. The situation is that of a trial where José Candelario "Tres Patines" is always being accused of something, una estafa generalmente/usually a scam. The plaintiffs are always Rudesindo Caldeiro Escobiña and Luz María Nananina. El Señor Juez y su Secretario open the show with El Señor Juez usually talking about his health. Tres Patines regularly mangles the Spanish language to great comedic effect. Each episode is from 10-15 minutes long. Only a limited few come with a transcript (look for "leer guión" in the episode list). It's between 60-70 years old but is still broadcast over the air today in many parts of the US and Latin America. I can hear it everyday, broadcast over the air at 2:00 pm on my car radio from WPAB Ponce, Puerto Rico (which can be
streamed online). Despite its age, it is still funny and relevant- timeless comedy and a great way to get used to Cuban Spanish. If you can understand Tres Patines, you can listen to anything in Spanish! Click "episodios" to listen/download.
ivoox The mother lode of Spanish language audio! It includes every topic you can imagine plus some audiobooks once broadcast on Spanish radio. I listened to
El Cartero de Neruda by Antonio Skármeta a few years ago from here, which was the book the film "Il Postino" was based upon. It was a bit odd at first hearing it with a Castillian accent, but... you get used to it. If you're interested in anything, odds are pretty good you'll find something to listen to here- including the aforementioned "
La Tremenda Corte". If it's been broadcast on Spanish radio- it's here. There's even a
mobile app available.
The Poor Man's Bluetooth- Bluetooth Wireless Audio Player FM Transmitters. Almost all newer cars come with built in bluetooth, but even if you drive an over ten year old island beater like mine, you can still take advantage of bluetooth technology for very little money. I bought one of these a couple of years ago from China via ebay for $6.00 USD. It plugs into the cigarette lighter/auxiliary port in the car. The device syncs with a smartphone via bluetooth and transmits the audio to a designated clear fm frequency on your car radio, meaning you can listen to anything on your phone through your car radio speakers. It's the best value for money I've ever had! I use it all the time. This is a no-brainer. Prices range from around $8.00 USD to around $20.00 USD. Some have the option of using a mini-sd card, so you don't even need a smart phone- just download and save to a mini-sd card, plug and play.