Listener sentiment
Sentiment toward Apple News Today has visibly cooled over the most recent rating window, with a rise in frustrated reviews layered on top of the show's still-loyal daily-listener base. The dominant storyline continues to be Shumita Basu's extended absence from the microphone: her maternity leave and the handoff to fill-in hosts (Gideon Resnick, Cecilia Lay) is by far the most mentioned theme, and while some listeners praise Resnick's straightforward style and a few noticed Basu's apparent return in the latest episodes, a persistent chorus says the show has lost its signature warmth, cadence and credibility without her, with several downgrading their ratings accordingly. Editorial-bias complaints have intensified and grown more polarized — some accuse the show of parroting administration talking points and losing its investigative edge, others of a left-leaning slant, while defenders insist it simply reports facts. A handful of new complaints have emerged in this window: release times slipping past listeners' morning commutes, occasional on-air stumbles and scripting errors, and a couple of listeners asserting (with pushback from other reviewers) that the voices are AI-generated. Core strengths remain consistent: the concise, ad-free 10-to-15-minute format is repeatedly credited as a morning-routine essential, and recurring structural gripes about frequent breaks and the show's US-centric focus persist largely unchanged.
Apple3.9 · 587
Summary generated Oct 28, 2026
