I am not a media expert, and I couldn’t bear to hear any news at all for a week or two after the last election, so what I watch, listen to and read is determined in part by what I can tolerate. Of course, I only watch people that I trust to give me information, rather than misinformation, and I like to feel that I learn something from the podcasts and programs that I follow. Because there is so much loss and injustice to observe these days, I am drawn to people who can leaven it all with some humor, including ridicule directed at our emerging autocrats.
Bill McKibben writes The Crucial Years on Substack ; he is the founder of 350.org and Third Act. He writes very well, articulates feelings I believe many of us share, and is absolutely up-to-date on what is happening with our climate.
Heather Cox Richardson has an impressive talent for putting current events in historical context. This can be illuminating and sometimes reassuring. I find myself saying “Oh, we have emerged from this in the past; perhaps we can do it again.”
Joyce Vance (Civil Discourse) reviews legal news and sometimes ventures predictions about how cases may turn out. She is also one of four very smart women attorneys on the “Sisters-In-Law” podcast. They dilute the hard stuff with some light humor and chitchat, which I find helpful.
Robert Reich, an economics professor at UC Berkeley and a former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton does a daily letter and a Coffee Klatch on Saturdays with Heather Lofthouse, who appears to have been a student of his. Reich makes economics easy to understand, even for someone like me who sometimes struggles with the subject. He understands the way in which the economic divide between working people and the ownership class has widened. He explains the history of this trend and how it impacts us now. He also draws cartoons and asks the audience to provide captions. He then choses first, second, third place winners, which, in my opinion, is fun.
I also like The Contrarian on Substack. It features Jennifer Rubin and Norm Eisen. They emphasize opposition/resistance and use humor in reporting what the oligarchs are up to. Rubin recently quit her opinion column at The Washington Post for political reasons. Norm Eisen is an attorney challenging much of what the current administration is trying to do.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat from Lucid is an expert on authoritarianism. There is much more to know about authoritarianism than I ever imagined. She has a very matter-of-fact way of explaining her subject matter.
On MSNBC, I watch The Rachel Maddow Show and Lawrence O’Donnell’s The Last Word. I also like All In, with Chris Hayes, in part because of his concern about climate change. Unfortunately, MSNBC has laid off Joy Reid, who might be showing up on Substack if she hasn’t already. I watch these folks on Youtube without subscribing, which means I only get the “highlights,” but I have a friend with a paid subscription, so sometimes I see whole programs with him.
On climate, I have listened to Living on Earth.org on NPR for decades. I sometimes also listen to a new podcast called Climate One. They are both highly informative. LOE, and probably Climate One as well, have pieces on climate change, but also matters of interest about various animals, plants and weather phenomena.
I subscribed a while back to The Guardian’s climate articles. They are very good, and this paper does not have a pay wall. They are not owned by an oligarch. I like to give them a contribution.
I hope some of this interests you.
Laura Magzis