I tried Google's new Daily Listen feature and I kinda love it

I’ve been a dues-paying Spotify subscriber for as long as I can remember, and I don’t regret it. As soon as I became eligible for a dirt-cheap student discount in college, I bid iTunes farewell and dove headfirst into a commercial-free world of paying to listen to whatever I wanted whenever I wanted.

And, for a long time, I was happy to keep it that way. I trained my Spotify algorithm so perfectly to my tastes that I forgot what it feels like not to know what song is coming next. Perhaps more surprisingly, I forgot about the occasional fluffy charm that morning drivetime radio had to offer. Then, Google launched Daily Listen, and it scratched an itch I didn’t know I had. Here’s why.

Wait, what’s Daily Listen?

If you’re unfamiliar with Daily Listen, I don’t blame you. Right now, it exists as an experiment within Google Search Labs, so you have to opt in to try it out, and the waiting list isn’t exactly quick. As soon as I heard about it, I hopped in line, eager for a second chance to check out what Google’s NotebookLM model would do. After all, my first experience with it was as part of Spotify Wrapped at the tail end of 2024, so I was curious how it would fare with a more day-to-day task.

Essentially, Google’s Daily Listen is a little mix of everything I’ve mentioned above — equal parts news report and podcast — with the length of a drivetime radio segment. Thankfully, you don’t have to be caller number nine to win a prize. What you have to do is train your Google Discover algorithm at least a little bit because that’s how the Daily Listen decides what to tell you about. The two AI-generated hosts then pull around three stories from your Discover feed to summarize, giving you a quick one-minute rundown of each that you can listen to as often as you want for the day.

Don’t love the stories they picked? Well, they’re tailored to your interests but change again tomorrow, so you can always try again.

Daily Listen is just enough news with just enough variety

Given my love of control over what I listen to on a daily basis, I wasn’t sure how much I’d like Daily Listen. Although I’ve set up my Google Discover algorithm pretty well, with the right mix of tech news, fitness content, and a little sports, I wasn’t sure I’d be that impressed with NotebookLM’s picks for my day. So far, though, it’s worked out pretty well. I’ve only had access to Daily Listen for a few days, thanks to the long waitlist, but it’s given me just enough variety to keep my attention.

While I’ll admit that the two AI-generated hosts are far from perfect — they struggle with abbreviations like pronouncing GB rather than saying gigabyte or “milli-ha” for mAh rather than milliamp hours — they’re conversational enough. They also like to talk over each other a bit, but that’s no different from regular drivetime radio with human hosts. More importantly, they’re doing a pretty good job of sticking to the news I want while skipping the traffic reports and pop culture news that used to numb my morning brain.

For a better idea of the news that Daily Listen tends to grab onto, here are the stories it gave me on my very first day. First, the two hosts discussed soccer star Naomi Girma’s record-breaking transfer from the San Diego Wave to Chelsea, covering two types of soccer that I follow very closely. Although they didn’t give me any information I didn’t already know, it was a nice break from hearing the Straight Outta Cobham hosts talk all Chelsea all the time.

Then, my hosts shifted gears to a few upcoming Nike launches for Valentine’s Day, remarking on the company’s use of laces that read “It’s not me, it’s you,” and “It’s not you, it’s me.” I don’t know if I would have tapped on this article had it come up in my feed, but I was happy to get an easily digestible recap from Google.

The final story for my Daily Listen debut is the one that brought me to the abbreviations that so troubled the hosts, as mentioned above. They decided to compare the OnePlus 13 and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, breaking down the specs from top to bottom, complete with GBs and “milli-has” from both AI-generated voices. This is also the story where I felt most like Ron Swanson as he walked into a hardware store, announcing, “I know more than you,” when asked if he needed help. It’s not Google’s fault that this is my day job, but it did make me less willing to listen to a head-to-head battle.

And then, just like that, it was over. After three minutes and 52 seconds, I’d heard all the news Google saw fit to generate.

Could Daily Listen get better?

Honestly, I’m still surprised at how much I like Daily Listen in its current state. Although it’s not perfect, it feels like just enough of a news report that I can make time for it every day. And yet, as a Google Search Labs experiment, there’s always room for improvement. Right now, I don’t even think those improvements have to do with the pronunciation I mentioned above — it’s all about fine-tuning the news you hear.

Yes, I know that you could theoretically do that by tapping on different articles in Discover, but I’m somewhat surprised that I want more from Daily Listen. Although it nails my interests, I wish it would throw a national or world headline in there each day, too. I’ll readily admit that I’m not always the best at keeping up with the news when it doesn’t relate to tech, so if Google already has my undivided attention for a few minutes each day, why not give me something outside of my usual wheelhouse?

After all, if Spotify can put me onto new music with a few well-placed additions to my daily playlists, I’m sure Google — which sees everything else I do on my phone — can do something similar.