Current Events
1)
(online & on radio) BBC: The British
Broadcasting Company does news the right way. I’ve found it very good as an
impartial look at the way American politics works, as well as a good source of
international news.
2)
(online) The Atlantic: A nice article-based news
site. They usually fact check their stuff, and aren’t afraid of admitting
they’re wrong. They also tend to pull articles from both sides of the isle,
though lean towards the left.
3)
(online) The Wall street Journal: It could be
called the conservative answer to the Atlantic, although finding studies on
this reality are surprisingly hard to come by. They are definitely more
economic oriented than The Atlantic.
4)
(online) Neatorama: While a lot of what gets
posted on the site isn’t terribly news worthy (nerdy t-shirts and videos of
cute animals, for example) they do link to weird-but-true news and interesting
scholarly articles. More than once, I’ve been listening to, “Wait Wait Don’t Tell
Me” (The NPR weekly news quiz) only to find that I know exactly what they’re
talking about because I read it here.
5)
(radio) Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me: The NPR weekly
news quiz, playing along provides a great incentive to not only pay attention
to the weekly news, but remember it as well.
6)
(online) Oregon Live: The internet version of, The Oregonian, Oregon Live is a nice
place to search for local news. There are still several other news sites that
compete with it, but I’d recommend shopping around for one that works for you.
History
1)
(You Tube) Crash Course: You’ll be seeing this
one a lot. Crash Course is a great series that focuses on providing overviews
of school subjects, in this case World History 1, World History 2, and US
History. Basically, while I would not suggest using it in place of a class,
it’s a really nice addition. However, I do wish they’d provide citations for
their ideas, and ask more questions rather than give more answers.
2)
(Book) Mental Floss: Mental Floss has produced
two great works on History. Like Crash Course, they’re not always the best at
citing their sources, but they are very accurate and entertaining. Also like
Crash Course, I would not recommend using them in place of another textbook.
Instead, they are a very nice addition.
3)
(You Tube) CPJ Grey: An American expat living in
the UK, he does a very good job at explaining very fine points in short amounts
of time (for example: if Small Pox came from Europe to destroy the indigenous
populations of the Americas, why wasn’t there an America Pox?). However, as
with most people on You Tube, don’t expect many citations.
4)
(Video) Animaniacs: For a show dedicated to
slipping as many jokes past the censors as they could, they had some
surprisingly educational songs. Wakko’s
America is still how I remember the states and their capitals, Yakko’s World taught me so much about
the nations of the world, and The Ballad
of Magellan—while a little historically inaccurate, at least helped me to
remember that the man existed. While some songs are not quite as accurate as
they once were—and the shorts themselves are less accurate than a Shakespeare
play—it’s still a fun way to get a little more well rounded.
Economics
1)
(You Tube) Crash Course: You’ll be seeing this
one a lot. Crash Course is a great series that focuses on providing overviews
of school subjects, in this case World History 1, World History 2, and US
History. Basically, while I would not suggest using it in place of a class,
it’s a really nice addition. However, I do wish they’d provide citations for
their ideas, and ask more questions rather than give more answers.
2)
(Blog/ Book) Freakonomics: Oh, Freakonomics, how
I love thee. How shall I count the ways? The fact that you explain economics
using strange questions? The fact that your posts aren’t too long, and aimed at
people whose knowledge of economics isn’t too low and ain’t too high? Or, maybe
that you’re just so entertaining and educational at the same time?
Freakonomics, you are a wonder.
3)
(You Tube) Crash Course: See? I told you it’d be
back! While not always appreciated by those dedicated to the art of Economics,
I think that it does a great job of setting the groundwork for beginners. Ibid
for the lack of sources, but that seems to be more a problem endemic to the
culture of You Tube than anything else.
Philosophy
1)
(Book) Plato and a Platypus walk into a Bar:
This book (the first in the series, followed by Aristotle and an Aardvark) are excellent takes on philosophy
through the lens of jokes. Basically, all the topics are short, sweet, and to
the point. The goal of the book is to draw people into philosophy, a goal that
I think they achieved.
2)
(Book) ___________ and Philosophy: Take your
pick. There are hundreds of books out there comparing your fandom of choice to
different philosophical concepts. Want to learn about Neitche’s Ubermenske [German, you are not my friend]? The Dark Night and Philosophy is the
place to go. Curious about the Tao? Believe it or not, Whinny the Poo can show
you the way. All it takes is a quick Google Search, and you will be on your way
to amazing places.
Politics/ government
1)
(You Tube) CPJ Grey: Yes, him again. Though his
history videos are good, his politics videos are better. He has a great
explanation of different means of electing someone (for example, the first past
the poll [pole?] system we use in the US), and has a masterful breakdown of how
the UK election system works. True, he doesn’t post very often, and he doesn’t
have a great number of videos, but the ones that he has put out are all worth the
watch.
2)
(You Tube) Crash Course: Again. Because they
keep putting out new series. They are a great way to review or catch up, and
are quite bright and flashy.
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