Sources

Sometimes when I’m walking down the street, people stop me and say, “Poorroy, how do you know so much?”  I have a few suggestions on how to get past the din and clatter of the 24 hour news cycle.

The New York Times.  You can read it on-line, but that gives me a headache.  I also like a crossword puzzle on paper, so I drive four miles every day to Monroe County to buy the paper at the Kresgeville Deli.  The Times covers stories with the old-fashioned journalistic idea that the editorials should be on the editorial page, the opinion pieces should be on the OpEd page, and news should be reported straight.  It is still the best newspaper in America.  [Full disclosure:  I own a pitifully small amount of stock in the New York Times company.]

The Nation.  A weekly magazine of opinion on the liberal side of the political spectrum.  The Nation has been around since the Civil War, and it is pro-labor, pro-environment, feminist, and  supportive of civil rights and civil liberties.

Dissent.  Dissent is a democratic socialist quarterly.  [Note:  democratic socialists like the British Labor party of the German Social Democrats believe in change by peaceful electoral action.]  I hesitated to mention this one because the articles tend to be long, somewhat dry, and very analytical.  Still, you get a perspective you won’t find in People magazine.

I also recommend Lancaster Farming (a weekly newspaper that is great for mid-Atlantic agricultural news and surprisingly pro-organic and environmentalist), the Atlantic, Harpers, and the Pennsylvania Game News.  

Finally, here is what you should not do.  You should not watch network news, cable news, or the Sunday morning opinion shows.  Not CBS, not Fox, not MSNBC, none of it.  The only reason to watch any television is for Stephanie Abrams on the Weather Channel.