An easy way to stream your favorite talk shows

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Some of you who’ve tried to pass long hours on the road by listening to podcasts might have found it cumbersome to find them, download them, find a certain one later for listening, and then maintain a mounting pile of big audio files. That was my experience when I tried podcasts years ago. I finally quit bothering.

The app is free and available for Android and iPhone.The app is free and available for Android and iPhone.

A free app now simplifies the process. Stitcher, available for iPhone and Android, offers the latest news, politics, sports, business and entertainment. Any given episode is available on demand. Many of these programs are available on National Public Radio, the web or elsewhere, but this allows you to hear what you want, when you want it.

And you can fine-tune Stitcher much the way you can many music services, such as building your own lists of favorites, establishing channels based on your preferences, sharing programs with friends, or discovering other content similar to your taste.

One caution: Unless you have an unlimited data program for your cell phone, you could gobble up your data allowance if you use this too much.

So what’s hot these days among talk show programs? Here’s a ranking this week from Stitcher. NPR fans, you’ll recognize some of these:

1. This American Life
2. Freakonomics Radio
3. Fresh Air
4. The Moth Podcast
5. Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me
6. WNYC’s Radiolab
7. NPR Hourly News Summary Podcast
8. The Joe Rogan Experience
9. Global News
10. MSNBC Rachel Maddow