Info Wars Versus Nuanced Respectful Debate
A Review of News and Commentary Sources for Each Quadrant
Why We Need Different Perspectives
It's now cliché to note that power is shifting from institutions to networked tribes. There are no longer a handful of media producers, newscasters, or educators that control the available products, procedures, or information. Nor do these define what is acceptable for discussion. While we can be exposed to a lot of nonsense, we are also able to access what has merit, whether counter-culture or mainstream. Nicco Mele (2013) calls for resisting insular individualism, to encourage collaboration and accountability thru networks of groups that share common cultures and motives. Frankly, some of the tribes are not going to play fair or make nice. That makes it all the more important for those of us who see the need for an overarching unity of purpose, to step up and try to understand each other. This can help us ally with people who have some different views, but more importantly an intent to be honest. This may be the way we find win-win solutions.
Author Yuval Noah Harari recommends that like the health of the body, which requires not eating too much and not eating too limited variety of foods, it’s important for the health of one’s mind to have moderate intake of a healthy and varied information inputs (1:22:49). The following sections contain recommendations for a varied information diet that for the most part does not include clickbait nor intentionally provoke outrage.
Not Recommended: Info Wars News Sources
See Pew’s political subtypes if you aren’t familiar with these labels.
Recommended: Political Content Producers with Some Amount of Nuance and Conciliation
The intent with the set above is to promote the less acrimonious and more thoughtful voices from each quadrant. Hopefully, other quadrants can listen to these without being immediately angered and turned off. These influencers aren’t capitalizing on content intended to gain points in their own tribe by fomenting rage on the “other side.” I believe these individuals haven’t succumbed (yet) to “audience capture.” Top picks had to be U.S.-centric and currently commenting, not a politician, and recognizable as representing a quadrant. It’s hard to pinpoint sometimes. For example, Van Jones could represent green quadrant values to a large extent, but he is more pro-establishment than these others. He seems to believe in tweaking the system, rather than promoting the overhaul the green quadrant spokespersons often prefer. That is consistent with the Pew type establishment liberals, who believe change should be gradual and come thru legal channels. Altho Van’s podcast ended, he is still in the cultural conversation. These commenters can also be found as podcast guests if not having hosted their own.
Allsides.com links to three articles (1 each from left, right, and center) for each current topic in the news.
Recommended: Non-party-line Political Podcasts
In the heading above, “non-party-line” means they (a) seem willing to fairly consider alternative points of view and (b) hold some ideas non-typical of their party. They are more curious, less combative. For details about the podcast selections, see the next section.
These podcasts can give a clear understanding of the worldview and agendas of the four quadrants. While each is biased toward certain ideologies, these podcasts are not among the intentionally outrage-provoking. These feature long-form interviews. I believe they give a full picture of values that represent the best aspects of these quadrants. By listening, you may come to realize that “the other side” isn’t stupid or evil. Like the commentators in your quadrant, they are mostly stuck in filter bubbles. Like your quadrant, they are probably more guilty of confabulation and exaggeration than they are of intentionally lying. Like your quadrant, they want safe neighborhoods and want to help people genuinely in need. They simply have a different idea of how to most effectively do that.
Thanks for reading. Here’s a related post or continue reading if you’re interested in descriptions of the podcasts pictured above, compared with more podcast recommendations.
Podcast Descriptions + Contenders
In the interest of retaining your attention for the important bits, I admit all that follows is probably boring detail unless you’re interested in finding podcasts that represent quadrants’ views. These subsections are presented in order of the size of the parties represented by the quadrants.
Centrist or Multi-quadrant
· The Realignment podcast helps listeners make sense of “shifting views on national security, economics, technology, and the role of government in our lives.”
Blue Quadrant
· Making Sense is hosted by Sam Harris. Wikipedia states, “Harris describes himself as a liberal, is a registered Democrat and has never voted Republican in presidential elections. He supports raising taxes on the wealthy, decriminalizing drugs, and legalizing same-sex marriage” (sec. Political views). He fits the bill as a pro-science rationalist who opposes religious dogma of all kinds, promotes meditation, and values non-dogmatic spirituality. He’s critical of the progressive left, marking him as establishment left.
· The Ezra Klein Show also represents well the establishment left. I don’t know of a podcast representing Pew’s Democratic mainstays type. Maybe the Dem mainstays are too busy trying to make ends meet. Maybe they’re okay letting the establishment left promote their shared views. Or maybe the next two bullets represent Dem mainstays.
· Akimbo is also a good place to start if you are suspicious of the left. Seth Godin has a relatable and practical perspective on a variety of topics. Each episode is not too long. He regularly touches on topics of education, improving business practices to make them more ethical and people-friendly, addressing climate change, valuing diversity, and in general has a “we’re in this together” attitude. It is less of a match with the set above, because episodes are monologues rather than interviews.
· The Argument has a Black female host. That would be an important diversity representation for the blue quadrant, but they stopped making episodes after 2022.
· Van Jones Podcast was an excellent representative for promoting a reach-across-the aisle attitude, and I believe it was more fair-minded than The Argument. Van’s tagline was “unifying solutions to our country's biggest problems.” The time-limited funding ended, but it’s still worth listening to the episodes with topics still relevant.
· Nick Hanauer’s Pitchfork Economics represents this quadrant well. What makes it less of a fit in my list is that (a) it’s focused solely on economics, ignoring most culture war topics, and (b) the hosts don’t mind being snarky in railing against “neoliberal ideology,” especially the trickle-down hypothesis.
· 538 Politics hosts discussions about current events. An Allsides 2021 Blind Bias Survey of 1,147 people across the political spectrum reported a lean-left rating for its host ABC News on average.
Red Quadrant
· The Jamie Weinstein Show has been described as “center right,” analogous to the Ezra Klein Show. He states “I don't need to be opining or joining movements….I like to think of myself as a someone who helps in a very civil way bring light to internal debates and get interesting answers for listeners” (Ep. 103, 36:36).
· Honestly by Bari Weiss presents a perspective countering the progressive left on some topics. She and Jordan Peterson were both in the past self-described liberals; now they are allying with and exploring more socially conservative views in opposition to a vocal progressive left that has increased its influence in past decades. For example, Bari and JP side with Israel, which matches them with the red quadrant in general. Both see religion as generally a positive cultural influence, with the exception of militant versions of Islam. Many progressive left commenters place their sympathy with the Palestinians as underdogs, a stance dubbed by some conservatives as the “regressive left.”
· Even though Jordan Peterson is Canadian, he makes a point to bring in U.S. political figures regularly and has the advantage of being widely known. He also is helpful as a representative of religiosity, because he respects and studies the monotheistic religions (the “faith and flag conservatives”), while remaining outside of participation in any of them. Admittedly Peterson has sometimes been testy and impatient, but he still tries (and often succeeds) in “giving the devil his due” as he prods interviewees to respond to radical left counterarguments.
Yellow Quadrant
· The Joe Rogan Podcast is a match for the populist right’s disinterest in approval of the mainstream academic authorities. Joe doesn’t dismiss the academic but neither does he seem to favor it. Part of his appeal seems to be the non-combative attention he gives even to those he openly disagrees with. Sometimes an episode will be simply “guy talk” with friends, which seems to appeal to much of the populist right. Joe’s podcast is purportedly non-partisan, but some argue it is right-leaning. He does have a lot of counterculture guests on, but that may relate more to an interest in controversial perspectives. Joe holds some Libertarian ideas, yet his self-described political views do not line up completely with the yellow quadrant.
· Conversations with Tyler (Cowan) touches on many non-political topics, but fairly often is overtly political. Wikipedia contains this description:
Cowen has been described as a "libertarian bargainer" who can influence practical policy making, yet he endorsed bank bailouts….In a 2007 article entitled "The Paradox of Libertarianism," Cowen argued that libertarians "should embrace a world with growing wealth, growing positive liberty, and yes, growing government. We don't have to favor the growth in government per se, but we do need to recognize that sometimes it is a package deal"….David Brooks called Cowen "one of the most influential bloggers on the right," writing that he is among those who "start from broadly libertarian premises but do not apply them in a doctrinaire way."….Cowen wrote: "Just to summarize, I generally favor much more immigration but not open borders, I am a liberal on most but not all social issues, and I am market-oriented on economic issues.” (sec. Political philosophy)
· The Tim Ferris Show doesn’t focus on politics, yet the subculture of “San Francisco moves to Austin” is apparent. His guests seem exemplars of the dissident right (Pew’s ambivalent right): socially liberal, fiscally libertarian.
· “The Political Orphanage” podcast by a self-identified Libertarian has this tagline: “Politics minus bile plus jokes. Comedian and avowed independent Andrew Heaton interviews authors and thought leaders about policy.”
· Quillette podcast would also be a good choice to represent the dissident right, but neither the producer nor host are from the United States. They discuss U.S. politics often.
· TriggerNometry is a clear representation of dissident right perspectives, challenging wokeness (within the anti-establishment left) and the establishment as a whole, but the hosts are British, one raised in Russia and the other in Venezuela. Like Joe Rogan and the host of Quillette, their background in comedy helps set a “no holds barred” tone for their discussions. They discuss U.S. politics often.
· Subversive podcast represents the dissident right and some anti-woke views of the populist right. The host is female, which helps this list have more equitable gender representation. She isn’t in the United States, but often interviews U.S. political influencers.
Green Quadrant
· Marianne Williamson hasn’t posted a new podcast since August 2023. Even tho I would prefer to recommend a podcaster with ongoing content, Williamson’s is the best I know of for now that gives a clear representation of Pew’s outsider left perspective on a variety of political topics, and possibly the green perspective in general. While Marianne doesn’t seem to try for balance, I prefer her to those with a combative stance in the radical left.
· The name of Sean Illing’s podcast The Gray Area depicts that the intent is not to decide who is right and who is wrong, but to discuss the messy middle. The symbolism of the non-gray colors to me says “a small touch of spiritual-but-not-religious purple, left-symbolizing blue, and a dab of counterculture green.”
· Ralf Nader Radio Hour would be the most obvious choice to represent Greens, but it doesn’t even pretend to be balanced or give any credibility to counter-arguments. Still, it is a great place to pick up on current issues, many of which will be of interest to people with allegiances in other quadrants. A regular feature is the Corporate Crime Reporter.
· Movement Memos (MM) is pointedly combative. MM fits more the progressive left perspective, by which I don’t mean to say that all of the progressive left is combative. The progressive left is less likely to have any agreement with counterculture right views, while the outsider left, according to Pew research, is less politically active. MM is where you will get a clear view of the SJWs in real time.
· For the Wild podcast is a great representation of the wide variety of topics the green quadrant wants to discuss. It has far less mainstream appeal than the podcasts represented in the quadrants above and less overtly political discussion.
· If the woo woo content of For the Wild podcast is too much for you, a good alternative to check out is Restorative Justice on the Rise by Molly Rowan Leach, altho the focus is narrow. Neither of these are combative and both represent the outsider left perspective.
Written Content
Many of the podcasts above have transcripts. I will add other resources as I find them.
Committed conservatives: See National Conservatism
Repeat of Quadrants Content in First Two Tables
This section repeats the writing in two of the images, for those who are using assistive technology.
Not Recommended: Info Wars News Sources
establishment left (blue) quadrant: Network News, Washington Post, The Guardian, National Public Radio (NPR), New York Times, Cable News Network (CNN), Vox, Politico, Huffington Post
establishment right (red) quadrant: The American Conservative, National Review
Fox News (especially for “faith & flag” types)
anti-establishment right (yellow) quadrant: Parler, Gabber News, Breitbart, Truth Social (especially for the populist right; for the dissident right, little outrage is of interest because they’re too busy watching stocks news and creating alternate realities)
anti-establishment left (green) quadrant: Kos Report (especially for progressive left)
Mother Jones (especially for outsider left)
Recommended: Political Content Producers with Some Amount of Nuance and Conciliation
establishment left (blue) quadrant: Van Jones, Ariana Huffington
establishment right (red) quadrant: David Brooks, Ana Navarro
anti-establishment right (yellow) quadrant: Joe Rogan, Kat Timpf
anti-establishment left (green) quadrant: Reverend Angel Kyodo Williams, Charles Eisenstein
References
Mele, N. (2013). The end of big. St. Martin’s Press.
[1] As a member of the outsider left, I’m okay with the woo woo. I realize that a lot of people are allergic to it.