Independent, Progressive, Socialist, Left News (Where Do YOU Find It?!)

Over the past decades, commuting to work or driving around, as well as at home, I often tuned into National Public Radio (NPR) and listened as it changed from a somewhat decent source of information and news into just yet another establishment mouthpiece funded by conservative think tanks, the Koch machine, etc. It was the only place I knew to get any semblance of "real" news, even though I knew it was heavily biased. I mean, where else was there to go?!? Talk radio? Good luck there!

A couple months ago, a friend of mine tuned me into KPFA.org, a left radio station in the San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and Monterey Bay area that is also available globally over the internet. It was both a shock to my system, and like a huge weight had been lifted off my body. Educated people, speaking intelligently about the real issues that are facing our country and the world today.

https://kpfa.org

Not only that, but the station is so wonderfully multi-cultural and the hosts are so tapped into what they are talking about. After listening to it for a couple months, I feel much more positive about the world, and much more interested and knowledgeable about it.

A couple of caveats--no source is perfect. They do host Democracy Now, which although not gawd awful, is not exactly unbiased. Also, in one recent news segment, they were talking about how crazy Trump was for wanting Russia back into the G7 (the interviewee expert even stated that it's so crazy that it goes against "elite intellectualism" in a disparaging way). So, you still need to think about what you hear (always!). But the other 98% is real thought and real talk about the important things. The second caveat is that they do a fair amount of local SF Bay area news, which probably doesn't matter to the majority of you.

The most important question is where do YOU find decent leftist news and information (besides here) ?

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Lookout's picture

Like democracy now they have video and text.

There's no corporate nor government funding. It is multi-cultural and global.
http://therealnews.com/

I think Joe's eb can't be beat anywhere. How he puts that together everyday is nothing short of amazing.

edit to add: open the blog roll option to the left and cruise those sites...

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Often it's like drinking out of a fire hose. Though I wouldn't exactly classify this as leftist, (but it's not my site) it kind of wraps around the spectrum, and a lot is just facts, information.

Will give a listen to KPFA.org. This is a good idea, sharing worthwhile news outlets. Wish I had some to add. The old world ones are dead and useless. It's bad when ABC has a 5 min. "news" story on the latest Star Wars film or cartoon.

*yeah, I know

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Deja's picture

Houston has kpft.org

It looks similar to yours, but afternoons are all music. Some of it I can handle, but much I can't stomach. I really liked when they played a reading of Orwell's 1984 every Tues morning for an hour during the "From the Vault" show, and when they played documentary recordings of interviews from a commune in the South back in the 50s or 60s on the same show. Very cool!

I no longer drive to work at 5:30 am, and no longer work in a warehouse, so I don't get to listen to it anymore (in an office on the phone a lot now). Don't miss Thom Hartmann, or hearing Amy Goodman repeating Dem talking points, though. I did appreciate Amy's coverage of the DAPL protests.

I'll check out your suggestion.

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travelerxxx's picture

@Deja

KPFT has made some big changes recently. For a while there, they were sounding to me like a pop country station - especially mid weekdays. No longer. I haven't had a chance to scope it all out yet, but will as I only listen to KPFT and whatever the University of Houston PBS FM station is now. Of course KPFT is still Pacifica, but the content is much different than the other Pacifica stations.

Further, KPFT is now running three separate (and different) streams simultaneously. You can listen to any of it online, and I can get all three streams in my car. My car is a 2012 and must have some kind of gee-wiz radio; my wife's car is slightly older and can only receive the main FM signal.

Did you know that KPFT is the only US radio station that has been bombed? Twice? The KKK hates KPFT. Here's what Wikipedia says about violence against KPFT:

The station's transmitter was bombed and destroyed May 12, 1970, two months after going on the air. The new station was off the air for three weeks until it was repaired. Five months later, October 6, 1970, while the station was broadcasting Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant," the transmitter was bombed yet again and the damage was significantly more extensive. The second bombing took KPFT off the air for three months. No other U.S. radio station or transmitter has been bombed.

On January 21, 1971, KPFT management invited Guthrie to visit the Houston studios, where he performed "Alice's Restaurant" live as the station commenced transmitting yet again.

After months of inactivity by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police, Pacifica took the initiative to mount a media campaign designed to draw attention to the unsolved case and seek support for pressuring authorities to act. Federal agents ultimately arrested a member of the Ku Klux Klan, Jimmy Dale Hutto, and charged him with the KPFT bombings, as well as with plotting to blow up radio stations KPFA and KPFK. Hutto was convicted and imprisoned in 1971.

In the early morning hours of August 13, 2007, a bullet was fired into the studio, breaking a window and narrowly missing a woman's head, but no one was injured. The shooting followed a week-long fundraising drive. After the shooting, one of the windows was covered with the KPFT banner and the front entrance was locked.

On July 16, 2008, a man demanded access to KPFT's studios. After being rebuffed, he punched out a window pane on the back door with a knife. The man was apprehended without resistance, and was promptly arrested.

An assailant severed power lines to the station's transmitter on June 28, 2010, leaving the station's program available only to online listeners. Damages were estimated at approximately $10,000. Power was restored the following day, and regular broadcasting resumed.

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Deja's picture

@travelerxxx
Yes, I knew about the bombings. My brother volunteers there sometimes. I did not know about the 3 platforms. That explains why there's nothing but strange music playing regardless of time of day. I'll try to find one of the others in my 2010 truck. Thanks for the info.

Did you hear some of the candidates running for board positions a couple of years ago? Holy crap, it was a rant fest, but amusing lol.

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travelerxxx's picture

@Deja

Yeah, it was kinda a rant-fest. I'm gone from H-town about half the time, so I don't keep up on it as much as if I was there constantly, but I heard a lot of that.

Seems to me things may have changed recently with the board or something. They've definitely changed programing around. Some of it may just be time slot changes, but not all. I'm hearing programs I've never heard before. I haven't even had time to go read at their website; they may explain things there. Or not ... after all, it's Pacifica. LOL In any event, I'm hearing things I like. Most, I don't even know the name of the programs yet. They shifted Jazz Latino, which - believe it or not - I had never heard, though they aren't new. Great program!

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Mark from Queens's picture

WBAI in NYC.

May also be part of the Pacifica Network.

Radio has fallen into the abyss, both for music and news. Thanks to Bubba’s deregulation of radio in the 90’s and odious conservative cabals like Clear Channel (now We Heart Radio) it’s been a desert of RW propaganda monopolies and nauseating homogenized corporate music.

I also listen to a lot of podcasts. Best of the Left, Jimmy Dore, Citations Needed, The Intercept, Chapo Trap House. YouTube subscriptions too.

Good idea for a thread, thanks.

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

@Mark from Queens @Mark from Queens There was this guy, Larry Josefson(?) and during a pledge drive he put on "Ballad of the Green Berets" or Kate Smiths "God Bless America" and said, I'm gonna keep playing this until we meet the goal. And he did, over and over and over and (you get the idea). It was entertaining in a s/m kind of way.

edit: sorry OT again.

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Deja's picture

@Mark from Queens

I also listen to a lot of podcasts. Best of the Left, Jimmy Dore, Citations Needed, The Intercept, Chapo Trap House.

Thanks, Mark!

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Creosote.'s picture

@Mark from Queens
I remember when they had their own correspondent in and reporting on the war in Vietnam.
And after midnight musicians like Arlo Guthrie and the guy they called Lampman might come on.
When it came out they played John Wesley Harding for a whole day and took listener comments.
Thousands of years ago!

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(as is WBAI.)

I used to listen to Los Angeles' KPFK back in the late 80s/early 90s. Then I moved from L.A., to places where such "left wing" radio had apparently never been heard before, with the most "left-leaning" radio that people had ever heard being an NPR affiliate. (That's how long the media landscape has been impoverished in the United States.)

I came back to L.A. a few years ago, and quite honestly, Pacifica has gone downhill. They've had so many internal shake-ups and establishment take-over attempts, not to mention the possibility that many of their programs are probably clandestine CIA operations (for example, Ian Masters' "Background Briefing" show in the afternoons), that they are largely unlistenable to me me anymore. And yes, in many ways, I've come to see Amy Goodman as a sell-out and/or left wing gate keeper.

Well, at least I can comfort myself in knowing I was exposed to Pacifica when it was still good. Through them, I was exposed to Chomsky, Howard Zinn, David Barsamian, Edward Said, Michael Parenti, and a whole host of truly alternative viewpoints and information. In fact, it was my exposure to Pacifica that first woke me up to the fact, in the late 80s, that NPR, for all of its supposed "liberal" slant, was really no more than establishment media. After listening to the old Pacifica stations, any NPR station could be discerned to be clearly "mainstream/establishment" media in its approach.

(If one wants to learn about the history of NPR/PBS and why public broadcasting is so bad, one should read David Barsamian's "The Decline and Fall of public Broadcasting," which came out in about 2000. Both NPR and PBS were created by the government in response to things like Pacifica (which were left wing, subscriber-supported stations) and the fact that other countries also had public, non-profit radio networks. But the fact that they were created by the government, and always relied on the government for part of their funding, is what ultimately undermined their independence and kept them "on a leash" and in line with the political establishment. Barsamian explains all this beautifully in his short little book.)

These days, there are very few mass media outlets where I get news. If I want real news--or at least, "better" news--I go to any one of two hand fulls' worth of alternative websites, all of which cover the gamut from alt-right, libertarian, progressive, and socialist left. What all these sites have in common is that they are anti-establishment in their outlooks, and they carry facts and viewpoints that I largely don't get in any corporate/establishment media outlets.

Let me be clear: There is no one site that one can rely on all the time to give "truth" and "accuracy." And to look for a particular site like that, is a fool's errand.

As always, look at alternative sources and information. Take what works in them, and leave the rest. Always have one's critical thinking cap on in sifting through and evaluating what one is hearing.

Also, always be attuned to the places from where a particular news source is getting its funding. In other words, "follow the money," because that, more than anything, will determine editorial slant, bias, and unspoken agendas. Thus, for example, even though I have always been a fan of Greenwald, I've noticed that since he affiliated with the Intercept and billionaire Omidyar's funding, the Intercept has carried more and more typical establishment points of view and propaganda, to the point that I've often felt that I might as well just open the New York Times, or listen to NPR, to get the same bullshit propaganda I'm getting on the Intercept.

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arendt's picture

@SoylentGreenisPeople

They've had so many internal shake-ups and establishment take-over attempts, not to mention the possibility that many of their programs are probably clandestine CIA operations (for example, Ian Masters' "Background Briefing" show in the afternoons), that they are largely unlistenable to me me anymore. And yes, in many ways, I've come to see Amy Goodman as a sell-out and/or left wing gate keeper.

I know there were years long fights over seating board members, and accusations that the board had been packed to shut up the lefties.

I used to listen to Pacifica. I don't anymmore

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@SoylentGreenisPeople

It might depend on the station. Yes, I agree with Arendt that Amy Goodman/Democracy Now is a fair bit of propaganda, but a lot of KPFA is really, refreshingly great. This past weekend they were basically organizing people to go out to the ICE facility in Richmond, CA to protest, and carried the protest speakers (who were in no way establishment) live. They are trying to arrange protests against the forthcoming 40,000 imigrant detention center being proposed in Concord, CA. There have been a couple discussions about Marx and socialism (in a good way). And there are many negative stories about Obama and his legacy and Diane Feinstein.

I have heard about the difficulties at Pacifica as well, but honestly, I've pretty much been jaw on the floor with how well they take on the issues--in a variety of shows. UpFront, Against the Grain, Hardknock Radio, Flashpoint . . . are all pretty damn impressive. Looks like they have Ralph Nader Radio Hour on Mondays (haven't listened to it yet). I heard one Democracy Now, and they were skewering Trump rightfully, but there were a couple points of establishment thinking that I identified.

At the very least it has been hugely informative. Perhaps LA's station is a lot more establishment.

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@apenultimate

For me, it no longer does. It's outlived its usefulness, especially in the era of the internet and the myriad numbers of places online that I am able to get more reliable alternative and independent facts, news, information, and opinion.

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@SoylentGreenisPeople @SoylentGreenisPeople @SoylentGreenisPeople
Maybe I was too centrist back in the day, but I tended to listen to the main NPR/PBS station, KQED and veiwed KPFA as communist radio. I knew people who listened to it all day long. Now it's my most trustworthy source. It was probably better when I held an irrational bias against it, but it's too late now to discover that, although KPFA has a great archive Pacifica has a great archive of every show made, including some very historic shows from the 50s and 60s. I wish more people who vote establishment would listen to it.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

I believe it was the first in history. It takes no corporate money. It's completely independent. There are lots of just regular people hosting shows on KPFA without pay. The oligarchs are trying to bankrupt Pacifica. It's a complicated story having to do with the radio tower on the Empire State Building. The owner of the building has raised the fees atronomically for the New York Pacifica affiliate which needs to use the radio tower. Consequently they've gone into millions of dollars of debt and KPFA is the only Pacifica station with the assets to cover the debt. Pacifica is facing some definite threats.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

Dhyerwolf's picture

@Timmethy2.0 Both LA and NY have assets that can cover the debt (albeit not particularly liquid assets, but I don't think Berkeley is necessarily much better on that front). Houston might potentially as well.

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Global Research, TeleSur, RT, Jackpine and Truthdig. Usually only have time for the headlines, but sometimes bookmark if it is a topic I want to know more about. Sputnik is whacky, sometimes get a chuckle. Moon of Alabama tends to be pretty heavy but thorough. Zero Hedge to see which way the winds are blowing. But so much of the news is just a drag. The comedy shows tend to not make me laugh much anymore. Colbert, Sam Bee, Oliver, Maher, Camp, etc. But it is sorta news. I like Russel Brand, cause he makes me think, sometimes.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@QMS

The comedy shows tend to not make me laugh much anymore. Colbert, Sam Bee, Oliver, Maher, Camp, etc.

Getting tired of "Trump, Trump, Trump", are you? Me, too. That particular noise reminds me too much of a flat tire on the freeway! Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Bollox Ref's picture

I'd rather peruse the back volumes of The Illustrated London News from the 1890's, than listen to modern broadcast media.

Propaganda, but with interesting advertisements.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

@Bollox Ref

I'd rather peruse the back volumes of The Illustrated London News from the 1890's, than listen to modern broadcast media.

When is Parliament going to do something about child labor and those awful factory conditions.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

Bollox Ref's picture

@Timmethy2.0

And the prices of bikes are to die for. I'm thinking of a Starley Rover.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

@Bollox Ref
Both the pension scheme and that they haven't sold out of those bikes yet.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

I don't look for "leftist" news. I look for informative news no matter the leanings of the writer. I look for writers with whom I can agree with on the facts, and often the who, what, when, and where are all I'm looking for. A couple of different ideas as to the why are also ok but I like to hear both sides of the why.

I don't like hearing a partial telling of the facts to slant a story. News sources that only confirm prior held beliefs are part of the problem, the problem on the left, the right, and the oh so entitled upper middle class "journalists" who all tell the same story.

Daily Kos cured me of slanted opinionated misleading "news" of the left, and I've never watched Fox.

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arendt's picture

@ban nock

Zero Hedge posts a lot of interesting stories - from a very right wing slant. (And the commenters - Jeez, the anti-semitism, the racism, the mysogyny - don't waste your time on the comments.)

I usually find an interesting economic or military fact or two there every day. Since I don't use any corporate media, they are a useful aggregator.

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@ban nock

My views are leftist (in the real sense, not the Clintonian sense), so I really appreciate finding people who share my views. But, as you and arendt say, facts are what I crave.

Another fact-based website to find out what is going on in military action across the world is:

https://southfront.org

They seem to do a great job cutting through the bullcrap and letting you know what actually is going on where fighting or the military is making news. Hugely informative. I know military stuff probably isn't most people's cup of tea, but it's hard to know what is really going on in the world if you just focus on the mainstream media's coverage (100% false pretty much), or the peacenik propaganda websites (that also do not delve into too many facts, although their sentiment is in the right place in my opinion).

For example, they have documented the Syrian military and Russian military attempts at using diplomacy to avoid unnecessary casualties before attacking cities and towns. At first, they were shipping only civilians out of the areas about to be attacked by bus caravans, into pre-agreed upon places. Then in recent months it has evolved into allowing rebels to lay down their weapons and getting shipped (by bus) to other rebel-held areas. Only after they have made such efforts have attacks commenced. I've never seen anything like it in recent memory--using heavy diplomacy in active military situations, and I'm really impressed with Putin's and Assad's utilization of it. Their takeback of Syrian territory has been impressive using these tactics.

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@apenultimate

southfront.org, thank you. I look at Rudaw each day for their down to earth reporting on Kurdistan, both about the war as well as other regional news. The writing is very down to earth and well composed, in spite of the horrors they have to report.

http://www.rudaw.net/english

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I can find is here at The Evening Blues, by joe shikspack.

My second favorite site, after caucus99percent, is
CONSORTIUMNEWS.COM.
https://consortiumnews.com/

If I listen to the radio, it is KPFA, and here is the list of their programs.
https://kpfa.org/programs/

What I most respect at KPFA are the following:

https://kpfa.org/program/flashpoints/
Flashpoints
5:00 PM PACIFIC TIME: MONDAYS TO FRIDAYS
with the incomparable Dennis J. Bernstein

https://kpfa.org/program/the-ralph-nader-radio-hour/
The Ralph Nader Radio Hour
11:00 AM
with the ever fresh and refreshing Ralph Nader

https://kpfa.org/program/voices-of-the-middle-east-and-north-africa/
Voices of the Middle East and North Africa
2:00 PM PACIFIC TIME: WEDNESDAYS
with Khalil and Malihe

https://kpfa.org/program/guns-and-butter/
GUNS AND BUTTER, an interesting conspiracy theory site
1:00 PM PACIFIC TIME: WEDNESDAYS
with Bonnie Faulkner

https://kpfa.org/program/against-the-grain/
Against the Grain
12:00 PM PACIFIC TIME: MONDAYS TO WEDNESDAYS
with Sasha Lilley and C.S. Soong

https://kpfa.org/program/economic-update/
Economic Update
10:00 AM PACIFIC TIME: FRIDAYS
with the wonderful Richard D. Wolff

The KPFA benefit speakers series held by Bob Baldock and crew, featuring, Chris Hedges, Laurence Shoup, Darnell Moore, Thomas Frank, David Talbot, Daniel Ellsberg, Peter Dale Scott, Matt Taibbi, Medea Benjamin, Michio Kaku, Nomi Prins, Yanis Varoufakis, Diane Ravitch, Michael Eric Dyson, Mark Danner, and the incomparable Ralph Nader, to name but a few, are often available to listen to online at KPFA after the live events.
http://bobbaldock.com/
Current Events

All of this is to say that the discussions at caucus99percent are among the best sources of information and enlightenment I can find anywhere, including those of the treasured work at KPFA.

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mimi's picture

and used to listen Democracy Now, when I was still working in the US. I think these cover everything I need to know. And the EB in particular leads me to the other sites which I not read independently and directly. I can not handle more anyway thes e days. But I hope to be able to get myself my own little site and organize my news sources there to my liking. Yeah, i am a dreamer ...

So far I am a victim of my multiculti computer mishappenings and "closed for business".

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The Saker blog has good analysis and links, MoA Is kinda heavy. Wings Over Scotland with the good Reverend for a 'lighter' look at the UK politics skewed toward Scotland, of course.
Black Agenda Report always surprises me: they can say that, I can't.
Other than that, I check links provided by commentators I trust on This site and evaluate those for what bias They have.
Oh! And of course the EB and lookout's weekly watch on Sunday.
Lest I forget, our own gjohnsit writes prolifically about shit you just won't find easily anywhere else.
I might disagree with they're analysis, but it's Always good info.

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march