Happy Birthday, Newsdesk– Where’s the Yank Competition?

Newsdesk, the podcast from the Guardian and host Jon Dennis celebrated its first anniversary on Tuesday. Why has a show produced by a bunch a foreigners become essential listening for me? Its tightly produced,  informative and witty without trying too hard. Newsdesk is a cheeky counterpoint to the Beeb’s daily morning (at least for me in the Central Time Zone) news summary. When will a U.S. project emerge to compete with it– and who will deliver it? I presume, and hope, that online news mavens at, to name three, the New York Times, WNYC and the Washington Post (which tonight posted a simple and not overproduced video summary of Dem presidential candidates addressing the Communications Workers of America) or its cousin Slate are exploring morning news summary podcasts that might rival Newsdesk. Perhaps competition will emerge from a surprising source. In the meantime, I’ll happily make do by following Guardian’s reports on the Zimbabwe crisis, the travails of Gordon Brown and the search for Bob Woolmer’s killer.