This podcast is mostly free and offers episodes entirely in Chinese. The hosts do a good job of making sure you understand without relying on translation. Some episodes come in pairs, where one episode consists of the story and the other episode contains an explanation and discussion of that story in Chinese. Both types of episodes are very worthwhile, but note that the story is often harder than the episode discussing it. Episodes are usually long, which is great.

While I recommend this resource in general, I think their proficiency ratings are off by a significant factor (everything is marked as being much easier than it is). Many of the stories are quite advanced and introduce vocabulary that is well beyond the intermediate level, even though some stories aren't that difficult. Your mileage may vary. Try different stories to find what works for you. Beginners should focus on episodes labelled 1.X.X first, but these can be rather hard to find.

Also note that while episodes are behind a paywall on their website, they are still available on most podcast platforms. This won't give you transcripts and easy browsing, but you can access most of their content for free this way.

This podcast is mostly free and offers episodes entirely in Chinese. The hosts do a good job of making sure you understand without relying on translation. Some episodes come in pairs, where one episode consists of the story and the other episode contains an explanation and discussion of that story in Chinese. Both types of episodes are very worthwhile, but note that the story is often harder than the episode discussing it. Episodes are usually long, which is great.

While I recommend this resource in general, I think their proficiency ratings are off by a significant factor (everything is marked as being much easier than it is). Many of the stories are quite advanced and introduce vocabulary that is well beyond the intermediate level, even though some stories aren't that difficult. Your mileage may vary. Try different stories to find what works for you. Beginners should focus on episodes labelled 1.X.X first, but these can be rather hard to find.

Also note that while episodes are behind a paywall on their website, they are still available on most podcast platforms. This won't give you transcripts and easy browsing, but you can access most of their content for free this way.

"Using more than 99% target language, 听故事学中文Learning Chinese through Stories(LCTS) creates authentic and immersive podcasts to help people around the world develop Chinese language skills and cultural competency. It covers a wide range of topics and proficiency levels. Every story has two parts: story (A) and story explanation (B), accompanied by annotated vocabulary and transcript."

Pros: Good at keeping things in Chinese, dual structure of episodes, generally quite interesting

Cons: Hard to access on their website (find the podcast instead)

"Using more than 99% target language, 听故事学中文Learning Chinese through Stories(LCTS) creates authentic and immersive podcasts to help people around the world develop Chinese language skills and cultural competency. It covers a wide range of topics and proficiency levels. Every story has two parts: story (A) and story explanation (B), accompanied by annotated vocabulary and transcript."

This resource was featured in my article The 10 best Chinese listening resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced students.

This resource was featured in my article The best podcasts for learning Chinese.