Someone asked, and so I share this partial and ever changing list on August 22, 2025.
I subscribe to the NYTimes (Sunday paper, the rest digital), The Boston Globe (TH to Sunday paper), Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic. I listen to Maddow’s Monday program and catch as many Lawrence O’Donnells as I can. I used to religiously listen to the first hour of Nicolle Wallace but stopped after the election not sure why.
Late night: I often catch Colbert and Kimmel recordings with my lunch.
However, most of my news intake is from reading online and a couple of podcasts. I prefer reading to watching videos, otherwise MeidasTouch would be on this list (it recently surpassed Joe Rogan I heard).
I’m on Bluesky (@deemallon.bsky.social) where I glean a surprising amount of news.
Rebecca Solnit: brilliant, incisive, inspiring. Recent post entitled: On Not Surrendering in Advance (Or At Any Point Thereafter). Her thoughts on hope are must-reads. I’ve read that Substack has some Nazi influencers (or owners?) so I’m guessing that’s why she has her own website: Meditations in an Emergency.
Robert Hubbell: like Heather Cox Richardson, his enormously popular newsletter started as a way to keep his kids informed. He combines to-the-moment news coverage with a grounded optimism. I listen to him almost every morning while I get dressed because he has an audio link (I listen at 1.5 speed bc he talks slowly). I subscribe to free version of Substack but sts wish I paid because he interacts actively with his audience.
Tim Miller of The Bulwark is one of my favorite commentators. (I almost said, “one of my favorite former Republican commentators” but he’s just one of my favorites, period). He does a lot of good interviews on his podcast. Here’s today’s. He is gay and lives in New Orleans.
Charlie Sykes, also of The Bulwark. Here’s Sykes’s his interview with Ben Wittes on the Alaska Summit. I like him a lot. He has two gorgeous German Shepherds (used to see them more over on Twitter).
Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American: hugely popular and increasingly influential historian offering daily updates, often with in-depth historical background. She teaches at Boston College (or used to?) and lives in Maine. I used to read daily and don’t anymore. Again, not sure why.
Democracy Docket, Marc Elias et al fighting for voting rights in the courts. Paid and free versions. I get the free email daily.
Stephen Beschloss: Journalist (not related to historian Michael). Good analysis of the news. I get free version of his Substack newsletter by email.
Today from him I learned that Bryan Stevenson wisely erected his Legacy Museum and Lynching Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama without taking a penny from state or federal funders, so he is exempt from the current push to whitewash slavery from our history.
Joyce Vance, a former federal appellate litigator from Alabama, can be relied upon to “get in the weeds” with the legal status of cases. I listened to her more when there were active cases against Trump. She has a newsletter, Civil Discourse, (again, I subscribe to the free version) and a podcast, Sisters in Law, which she hosts along with Barb McQuade, Jill Wine-Banks, and Kimberly Atkins Stohr (start podcast at 8 minutes — lots of chatter and ads before content). Her father in law, formerly a judge in Alabama, was murdered and she has four kids, so she brings not just legal expertise to her discussions.
Andrew Weissman and Mary McCord have renamed their podcast to Main Justice. I used to listen more often when there were active cases against Trump. Weissman teaches at NYU Law and among other things, served with Mueller on the Russia investigation.
McCord teaches at Georgetown Law School and according to their website: McCord was the Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the U.S. Department of Justice from 2016 to 2017 and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for National Security from 2014 to 2016.
I love the way she says, “rhetoric” (RE-TRICK).
Sherrilyn Ifill, civil rights lawyer, democracy warrior. I pay for her newsletter.
For pure inventive satire, I read The Borowitz Report. That guy is brilliant.
Another irreverent commentator, Jeff Tiedrich, is among my favorites. He eschews capital letters and employs a crude, no-holds-barred style of writing. Recent headline: insane dictator wanna-be hosts batshit European leader play date. Substack, free and paid versions.
For incisive, SCARY, analysis of the “international crime syndicate,” with special expertise on Russia and Ukraine, read Sarah Kendzior. I stopped listening to her podcast, Gaslit Nation, because I got sick of the “I told you so’s” (justified, but still). She’s a midwesterner who has written books, one called, View from Flyover Country.
I occasionally listen to The Daily, a podcast of The New York Times. Runs about 30 minutes. A good supplement to read-news.
I pay for Roxane Gay’s substack newsletter, The Audacity. It’s focused on books but she does an interesting weekly roundup.
I still sometimes check in with the Pod Save America guys. Dan Pfeiffer, the smartest of the lot in my view, is on Monday’s.
I got lazy with links, but all can be found easily with an online search.
I also get Talking Points Memo, Simon Rosenberg, Peter Beinhart, Jess Craven. And more. So maybe there will be a part two.
I know some who follow Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway’s podcast, Pivot. It’s long and I just haven’t added it to the rotation. Both incredibly smart.
Drop your favorites in the comments, if you feel like it.
Thanks very much for this. Our lists are much the same but I’ll follow up on others you list. I agree that Dan Pfeiffer is the sharpest of Pod Save America; I appreciate their humor.
I fixed the spelling of Pfeiffer’s name. Thanks.
Yes, thanks. I meant to check it.
Thanks! It makes me happy that we follow many of the same folks. I miss watching Rachel. We dropped that cable subscription b/c it also carries FOX News. If anyone one knows how to get MSNBC w/o subscribing to FOX lmk.
Appreciate your list of sources. The more sources we have, the better and stronger we are in the face of this insanity:
We do not have cable and I am not one who is into podcasts per se. I much prefer reading news although at times, I do catch a video or podcast. My trusted news sources are small but important to me:
The Guardian: I am a subscriber, support them monthly and read them on-line. Often they carry articles by Rebecca Solnit and Robert Reich. Five days a week I get their newsletter, “First Thing” that summarizes the important news of the day. On Wednesdays, I get political analysis from journalist Adam Gabbatt via his emailed newsletter, “This Week in Trumpland”.
Robert Reich: I am a subscriber, support him yearly. Get email newsletters seven days a week, sometimes several in a day depending on what is going on. I also listen to his Saturday podcast, The Coffee Klatch with Heather Lofthouse of Inequality Media. Reich also sends a hand drawn political cartoon on Sundays, and asks his readers for captions.
PBS: I support them yearly and never miss the daily PBS News Hour, the weekend news or Washington Weekly.
NPR: I support them yearly. They continue to do some of the best reporting on the fires that occurred n Maui two years ago, something that is close and dear to my heart.
Two independent non-profit news sources that I trust and also read are Pro-Publica and Source New Mexico. It is very important for me to keep tabs on what is going on here in New Mexico for we are a state of many immigrants and Albuquerque is a sanctuary city. I’m sure everyone knows about Pro=Publica but you may not know about Source New Mexico: “Source New Mexico is an independent, nonprofit news organization that shines a light on governments, policies and public officials so you get the information you need to make choices — about yourself, your family, your neighborhoods and communities. Through a lens of public health and equity, we’ll bring you original news reporting along with analysis and opinion. We’re your source for unflinching coverage of COVID response and health care, access to education, tribal affairs, climate change and industrial regulation, police accountability, criminal legal reform, the impacts of immigration policies and more from across the region.
Source NM is an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers. Source NM retains full editorial independence.”
Thanks for recommending The Guardian and Robert Reich. I’ve been meaning to subscribe to The Guardian forever and just signed in for a year. So again, thank you. We support our local PBS station annually as well.
You make the important point about following local news. Fortunately several of my BlueSky accounts are about Boston and we, of course, have The Globe.
Clarification: the special email newsletters that I get from The Guardian are because I signed up for them, they do not come automatically. Also forgot to add that I also get “Fighting Back” a pop up weekly Guardian newsletter on defending democracy from various journalists.
I signed up for them as well. Again, thanks for the reminder.
Thank you for the links. Democracy Now on local radio or online has been a daily reliable source for years and a good place to hear voices of resistance. Keith Olbermann:s Countdown podcast is entertaining.i second the Guardian as a paid subscription (with very affordable rates) and try to support my local press where possible.
You’re going to think I’m nuts but the host of Democracy Now perpetually has a gurgle going in her throat (way worse than vocal fry) and I found I couldn’t listen. I just happened to see a Keith Olbermann extended comment this week. He does NOt mince words. I like that.
Great sharing, thku
I might add on Substack
Mary Trump tells all on her uncle.
More than Parks and Public Domain cover public lands and more.
Popular Information, multiple authors
Men Yell at Me
Ditto Joyce Vance!!
I read Mary Trump’s book about her brother. She has a unique perspective, doesn’t she? Is that the parks unofficial account? I read about it and will look for it. Thank you. Men Yell at Me, I don’t know. Will look for it too.
Dee~ Okay, trying again. Thank you for such a robust resource. I tend to watch/listen (think multi-task) more than read. For me, I still listen to Resistance Live (facts without fluff, knowledge, information). I like that she refuses to use the propaganda name for the concentration camp in the Everglades. I don’t hear other folks recognizing that for what it is. Alligator Auschwitz is no better. We do listen to Medias Touch, Brian Tyler Cohen, a couple of others. Pros & Cons on most online channels, but we don’t watch corporate media any longer, so we figure it out. I will add that J. reads far more than I do. Lastly, on the Medias Network, we enjoy Adam Mockler. 22 years old and filled with passion, intelligence, ability to research and present his points, courage and drive to go on ANY program to speak up for Democracy (he has interviewed some like Obama, Newsom and others). He gives me hope for the next generation. Mom/Teacher me gets a sense of pride watching him grow as an active member of society.
Thanks again for your ideas and to everyone who commented as well.
Nancy
Well you inspire me to listen more.
Dee~ How nice that we can inspire one another!!
PS My “facts without fluff, knowledge, information” part made it sound like she is without knowledge or information! haha Just the opposite she share tons of both. lol