There are a lot of great podcasts for learning Spanish. We even did an article on them. Once you get to a more advanced or intermediate level of Spanish, there are a ton of interesting podcasts produced for Spanish speakers that you can listen to for practice. I tend to find the podcasts on this list a lot easier to work into my daily routine since they’re about topics that interest me outside of language learning.
News: Las Noticias de la Mañana
Las Noticias de la Mañana is a daily podcast from Telemundo, so it’s news that you can trust. Since Telemundo is a Puerto Rican/American company, the hosts use Latin American Spanish. It’s world news but focuses a lot on the United States. Each episode is about 10 minutes long, so it’s really easy to work into your daily routine. Generally, it’s pretty easy to understand since news anchors tend to speak pretty clearly, although I found their speaking to be pretty quick at times.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Also Great: Noticias ONU
Noticias ONU is the United Nation’s daily podcast in Spanish, so it’s also trustworthy. The podcast gives more updates on what is happening in various crises around the world. At the time of writing, more recent episodes are about the situations in Gaza and Haiti, for example. It can be a bit heavy to listen to at times. The hosts use Latin American Spanish, and it’s pretty easy to understand. It updates every day, and each episode is pretty short. Usually lasting between 5 and 10 minutes.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Also Great: Democracy Now! En Español
Democracy Now! is a non-profit organization that investigates and reports on global headlines with a focus on highlighting government and corporate abuses. The organization specifically does not take any outside funding to remain neutral. They offer a program in English as well, and this is the Spanish version of the same program. It updates every day, and unlike the other news podcasts on this list, episodes are much longer, usually up to an hour. The hosts use Latin American Spanish.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Radio Essays: Así Como Suena
I would describe Así Como Suena as the Spanish version of shows like Radiolab, This American Life, or 99% Invisible. It deals with interesting stories that are just about life, everything from abortions to microdosing to people’s experiences with their parents. The production quality is super high and the stories are very engaging. Así Como Suena is hosted by Alma Delia Fuentes, who is Mexican. She speaks very clearly and not too quickly. It updates every two weeks with episodes that are about 30 minutes long.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Also Great: Hotel Jorge Juan
Hotel Jorge Juan is hosted by Vanity Fair Spain. The premise of the podcast is that they are exploring a hotel by interviewing people, most often journalists and artists, who represent the guests of the (fictional) hotel. Similar to Así Como Suena, there is no unifying theme in each of the episodes, like you’ll see with other podcasts on this list. Generally, the hosts talk about the lives, decisions, or careers of the guests. The hosts are Spanish, so they use Castilian Spanish. The guests seem to mostly come from Spain, but there are episodes featuring guests from all over, so you’ll likely hear a mix of types of Spanish. There’s a new episode every week, and they run about an hour and a half long a piece.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Also Great: Radio Ambulante
Radio Ambulante is an NPR podcast that probably most similarly follows the format of This American Life. They tell stories about people’s lives and experiences in Latin America. It’s a very interesting and popular podcast. It’s produced in the United States, so you’ll hear Latin American Spanish. It’s updated weekly and each episode runs about 45 minutes long.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Travel: Nómadas
Nómadas is a travel podcast hosted by Radio Nacional, which is a huge Spanish network that has a ton of podcasts covering everything from news to science to culture. Because Radio Nacional is from Spain, it uses Castilian Spanish. They talk about places all over the world from Paris to Bangladesh to Milwaukee. This podcast updates every week and each episode is about 50 minutes. The production quality is high. Each episode has a different host, so the speaking can vary quite a bit. It’s genuinely a really interesting podcast though.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Science: El Explicador
El Explicador is a science podcast that talks largely about science in the news. It is hosted by Enrique Gánem Corvera, who is a very influential Mexican radio host, especially in the field of science. He is a biologist by education but has been an educator and radio host since 1974. He speaks very slowly and clearly, despite how excited he gets about science in the news, which is the best part of this podcast. If you’re interested in science, this is a podcast that you need to be listening to. It updates every single day with a 30-minute episode.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Also Great: A Hombros De Gigantes
A Hombros De Gigantes is a science podcast that is hosted by Radio Nacional, the same company that hosts Nómadas. This is another very high-quality science podcast that is a great listen for anyone who loves science. The hosts speak Castilian Spanish but do speak pretty quickly so it can be hard to understand at times. It updates a few times per week and the episodes average about 34 minutes long.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Mental Health & Relationships: Te Compré Flores
Te Compré Flores is a podcast that gives mental health advice, very often about relationships (romantic and otherwise). Not only is this podcast interesting and easy to follow but it is also hosted by Mara Urbina, who speaks like a normal, young Mexican person. Instead of getting academic Spanish, you’re getting Spanish that you’d hear on the streets of Mexico City. Episodes are added every two weeks and run about 20 minutes in length.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Also Great: Se Regalan Dudas
Se Regalan Dudas feels a lot like the grown-up version of Te Compré Flores. Te Compré Flores comes from Mara’s own experiences, whereas Se Regalan Dudas shares the experiences of others along with its hosts, Lety and Ash. It also uses Mexican Spanish and is easy for a non-native speaker to understand, but the language is a bit more formal than Te Compré Flores. Se Regalan Dudas is also updated a lot more frequently than Te Compré Flores, with new episodes coming out twice every week and lasting about 20 minutes long.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
History: La Rosa de Los Vientos
La Rosa de Vientos is a history podcast that deals mostly with historical mysteries or interesting stories like the tomb of Cleopatra and stories about Mary Magdalen. It’s hosted by OndaCero, which is a pretty massive Spanish radio station, so the quality is high and the episodes are in Castilian Spanish. The Spanish is very easy to understand because the hosts speak slowly and clearly. Other than the interesting stories that they talk about, the best part is just how much content they have. They update the podcast a few times a week and each episode is between 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Also Great: DianaUribe.fm
Diana Uribe is a very famous podcaster and radio host from Colombia. She hosts a podcast called DianaUribe.fm, which is mostly about history but includes a little bit of everything else. The Spanish is very clear and easy to understand, and the stories are always very interesting. Diana’s been doing this for a very long, so you really can’t go wrong with adding to this podcast to your rotation. Diana updates the podcast every week, and each episode is about an hour long.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Music: Café del Sur
Café del Sur has a very interesting premise, it explains the history of the 20th century through music. It has episodes about everything from Tango to Fado to Folk music and everything in between. Each episode contains a lot of music (entire songs) and an explanation of certain periods of the 20th century that go along with those songs. The podcast itself is hosted by Radio 3, which is another massive Spanish radio station, so expect Castilian Spanish. The Spanish is slow and clear. It’s really a pleasure to listen to this, and there’s a new hour-long episode every week.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Entrepreneurship: Renuncia Feliz
This is an entrepreneurship podcast that focuses on the mindfulness and spirituality side of being an entrepreneur. The goal is to put you in the mindset of creating, running, and succeeding in entrepreneurship. It’s hosted by Marissa Belvis who is a Puerto Rican business advisor, so it does offer some more concrete specific entrepreneurship advice. It’s a bit challenging to understand, but not overwhelmingly so. If you’re looking for a challenge, give this podcast a try. It updates daily and episodes are only about 20 minutes long on average, so it’s easy to squeeze into your daily routine.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Also Great: A Todo Sí
Similar to Renuncia Feliz, A Todo Sí is a podcast that exists at the intersection of lifestyle/spirituality and entrepreneurship. It talks a lot about how to be intentional with your life and practice things like mindfulness and gratitude with a heavy emphasis on using that to achieve your goals in entrepreneurship. It’s a lot less focused on concrete steps for entrepreneurship than Renuncia Feliz, but it’s still a good podcast. It’s hosted by Stephanie Rodriquez, who has a life coaching business. It’s in Mexican Spanish, and Stephanie speaks pretty slowly and clearly. She updates it every two weeks and each episode lasts about 30 to 45 minutes.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
True Crime: Crímenes de Terror
Crímenes de Terror is a true crime podcast produced by Óyenos Audio and iHeartRadio. It features semiweekly episodes about criminals, usually violent ones, in the United States. One of the coolest things about this podcast is that it deals a lot with the psychology of these kinds of criminals. It generally dives into each person’s life growing up and how they lived as adults. It’s very well-researched and has episodes about some of the most well-known criminals and some who aren’t as popular. If you like true crime, you can’t go wrong with this podcast. It is produced either in the United States or Mexico, so it uses Latin American Spanish.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
LGBTQ+: De Pueblo, Católico y Gay
De Pueblo, Católico y Gay is a podcast that explores stories of people growing gay in various places in Latin America. It’s hosted by Eder Díaz Santillan, a radio host who grew up in Jalisco, Mexico, who launched the podcast as part of his Master’s thesis that explored his own experience as well as that of others. It deals specifically with the intersection of identifying as Catholic and gay, particularly around how that affects coming out to your family. It’s an incredibly interesting podcast that shines a light on a very underrepresented experience. My only gripe with the podcast is that the recording quality could be better, but it is nonetheless easy to understand. Eder uploads a new podcast episode every 2 to 3 weeks, and each episode is about 30 minutes long.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Feminism/Women’s Lifestyle: A Todas Mis Chicas
A Todas Mis Chicas is a podcast hosted by Dominican journalist Airam Toribio that deals with all aspects of being a woman in today’s world. She covers topics from balancing motherhood to working in the corporate world to mental health, although there is a heavy influence of entrepreneurship on each episode. Most episodes involve Airam interviewing someone whose life experiences help to highlight the topic. Airam speaks Dominican Spanish, but her guests come from all over. It’s a high-quality podcast, with new episodes being released about once a month.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Technology: Topes de Gama Unplugged
Topes de Gama is a Spanish Podcast about technology. It talks mostly about consumer technology, so think like Apple, Facebook, and Google. The hosts are very knowledgeable and passionate about technology. It feels like some friends are talking about technology and left a microphone in the room! As far as their language goes, they speak Castilian Spanish. It’s a bit quick, but not too terrible. If you’re interested in technology, this is a good podcast to listen to! It updates every two weeks and each episode is about an hour and a half long.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Sports: ESPN Deportes
This is a bit of a cop-out since ESPN Deportes is a network and not a podcast like the other entries on this list, but since you may have different sporting interests, choosing a network like ESPN Deportes makes the most sense for this topic. ESPN Deportes has a lot of different shows covering pretty much any sport you can think of. If you’re a fan of the NFL, for instance, you can listen to Cuarta Oportunidad. If you like soccer, there is Fútbol Picante. ESPN Deportes uses Latin American Spanish. It’s hard to say anything concrete about how easy it is to understand the hosts, but since there are so many programs, you can typically find a host that you understand pretty well.
Listen to Cuarta Oportunidad on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Listen to Fútbol Picante on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Also Great: Con Las Bases Llenas Podcast de Beisbol
The one exception to ESPN Deportes is that they don’t seem to have a baseball podcast anymore, but that’s no problem since you can listen to Con Las Bases Llenas. It covers baseball from all over the world but focuses quite a bit on the MLB in the United States. It’s hosted by Alfredo Alvarez, who speaks Latin American Spanish. He can be a bit hard to understand at times, especially when he gets excited. There’s a new episode every day that lasts for about 40 minutes.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.