this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2025
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Rest In Power, Michael Brooks.
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If she listens to NPR, this is the #1 answer by a mile
Citations Needed is the number one best podcast for helping people not imbibe liberal brainworms. You can expose them to more radical things all you want but if they do not have a proper intellectual immune system, which Citations Needed helps grow by teaching people media literacy skills and how to spot imperialist propaganda, then they'll just become a radlib who uses radical language but still fundamentally believes in the dominant bougeois order.
Citations Needed at it's best literally sounds like an NPR program, honey to the ears of the "informed" liberal.
this is correct and why I subsidize their efforts.
Because my own journey leftward involved getting a better understanding of modern conflict history I would suggest Blowback. Mostly because I think understanding the ways that America has warred with socialism and maintained its hegemony is a powerful way to radicalize without even having someone interact with ideology.
Also recommend Blowback. However, I think one potential problem with it is that it's gonna push a lib left very fast if they take it seriously, but it also reveals a ton of horrifying stuff that's almost blackpilling, for lack of a better word, so you still need to make sure they understand that a better world is possible.
It certainly lead to the conclusion I reached that a better world is possible only when the American empire is destroyed.
issue is, because of cultural hegemony, most Americans think American empire is the world, so they think the end of empire is the end of the world. It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.
Yeah I guess if you don't have some foundation that maybe a better system is possible you can just decided everything is screwed and choose some kind of nihilistic ideological bent
That's definitely the direction I've watched my dad go through. The past decade has turned him from a centrist to a nihilist and I feel like I fucked that up a little.
Yes, the fall of the USSR has produced nearly insurmountable sums of nihilism
judging by the responses, the current pipeline meta seems to be Citations Needed into lighter Trueanon eps into Blowback into Deprogram & All Trueanon
I think it's weird to put Deprogram at the end of the pipeline. It's like the Adam Friedland Show or Chapo but (even) less funny and aimed at teenagers.
Do you have any good trueanon recs? I get bored for most of them. I liked a couple of the series.
Their ZORT series of fascinating.
I'll check that out
Episodes 460-462! Insane story. Hopefully it’s not Patreon-only!
430: Gas Guzzler is also excellent, it’s about nitrous becoming a fad (and not just an excellent accoutrement to MDMA)
419: Afghan Dope was great
403: Guard card was interesting, it’s mostly the guest talking though
383: Fun Pump is great, insane crypto site
Then going alllll the way back, the episode where they actually go to Jizzlane Maxwell’s trial are excellent. I love how they describe her lawyer.
Did you listen to the Zizians series? If you haven't, you should first listen to episode 191: Network (this ep is, sadly, pretty ableist to plural folks, although I think Brace was trying to talk about people who had been misled by social media into thinking they had an illness that they don't actually have, but is otherwise brilliant and has some of the best commentary from Brace and especially Liz), then episode 434 and 435. If you're not a paying member you can get 435 at https://jumble.top/
No I haven't! I'll be checking those out. Thank you
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The Deprogram and Blowback are what really did it for me. The Deprogram is very unserious at times which is why I like it but its not for everyone. Kinda has "guy-humor" too so it may not appeal to your partner. It is 3 mostly cis straight guys after all.
Hakim is canonically queer
but is he single
not anymore
Revleft radio for me. Especially when he goes off on current events
I really wish Michael Brooks was still around, too
I thought the title of the post was leading in to a devastating bit about other Hexbears.
If she's into comedy, I definitely recommend TrueAnon, but that can be a tough sell sometimes. The Elon Musk series might be a good starting point. And as stated, Citations Needed is so good. Any episode, but just pick a topic that will interest her.
TrueAnon is both the main podcast that I want to share with all my friends, while at the same time know it is the hardest to pitch. So much nuance to their humor/sarcasm that has to either just "click" or require listening to enough episodes to understand when they are being serious (I still can't tell sometimes with how well they just flow).
Very frustrating since I would love to talk about all the funny stuff and have my friends get references I make before I realize I made them. I have started archiving my favorite episodes (do this with other long running podcasts to keep on my mp3 player) with the hopes that I can more easily share them if the right moment comes up.
I have started archiving my favorite episode
Excellent and underrated idea
I really like the "Lying Liz Wrecker Warren" episode, and honestly it might be the closest Brace has come to actually extolling communism since he said things like that rich people shouldn't be able to vote (which I disagree with, but his heart's in the right place)
There's The Socialist Program. It's kind of a news show with interviews with people involved with commie movements every now and then, seems like a side project by one of the PSL founders. Richard Wolff often goes on for updates in economics. One good thing is that it's not too much longer than 30 minutes while sounding like an NPR news update.
Economic Update might be a good fit for this scenario. Richard Wolfe is a great commentator and doesn't get too radical but tows a very progressive line that can lead to people really checking out socialism in a incremental way building on some of Wolfe's more 'radical' takes.
citations needed
Behind the bastards is really good and is history provided from a materialist perspective about the worst people and groups ever. Very funny, very informative.
This is hilarious in light of my recent /c/podcasts post: https://hexbear.net/post/5957576
Don't get me wrong, BtB has some ok bits and I've liked some of their episodes. But I would not describe it as "materialist" or "leftist" and I have tended to get the impression their devotion to historical accuracy is rather sloppy for the sake of telling a story. They shine the most when they are not handling political figures because from their politics I would categorize them, at the end of the day, as radlibs masquerading as anarchists. Which means that when they're talking about people who aren't major political figures, they can't botch it by being incompetent at political analysis.
Cool Zone Media in general lost my respect over the years as they seemed to have weird brainworms about the only countries that have had communist revolutions and then survived. Like, one of their hosts frequently went on rants about how much she hates China. That's weird. I don't hate China. I don't love China, but I don't hate China.
I never really got that, but I'm no scholar. For me it's a good faith effort to put out information that ties to root causes and its material effect. Beyond that, I'm not his agent or promoter. I just enjoy it and have found it to be a good way to get people into conversations about why things keep happening the same way throughout history.
Behind the Bastards is ahistorical slop by Robert Fedvans. Not even remotely communist.
I mean the title did request a "communist podcast"; I'm not going to be belligerently sectarian but communism is more distinct than 'generally leftist' even barring the fed-jacketting claims.
Behind the Bastards is an anticommunist podcast, in fact.
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Podcasts kind of suck for being a real cure for liberalism but they can help someone take a journey to the left. There is not a lot that is simultaneously communist and approachable for liberals because communist podcasts tend to use the esoteric language of Marxism and historical AES etc etc and focus on socialist topics specifically where a liberal audience will have trouble finding a foothold. Also, even communist podcasts usually don't escape the stereotype of being hosted by random white dudes, for better or worse.
The recommendations of Citations Needed are good even though the hosts seem more DemSoc than communist. They at least refuse to feed into the vast majority of anticommunist talking points and have no difficulty in unqualified support for Palestine and calling out liberal bullshit constantly (no triangulation!). It's really a media criticism podcast done by leftists so it usually ties into current events nicely and can give your wife ammunition for critically examining what her coworkers say.
I honestly think diving straight into Blowback could be a good idea so long as she can tolerate the horror. History is the best teacher of communism and Blowback tends to handle both the "America bad" element and the "the communists earnestly fought for liberation and were far less bloodthirsty than Americans" element. I believe the hosts are communist or at least nearly communists.
I can't think of any current podcasts by communists I would recommend. Most of them are entertainment media with bad or bro-ie jokes and that is a hurdle for wanting to keep listening for a liberal that isn't into that. They're usually not about communism directly or teaching anything efficiently. Or they are just attempts at restating theory but with low production value - might as well just listen to an audiobook, it will be more enjoyable.
I'm of the opinion that focusing on the audience is essential. Does your wife only like podcasts, so this is why you're only looking for those? Is she already interested or are you trying to gently help her get educated in the direction of communism? Why media by communists in particular? Would general anti-imperialist histories be okay? Do you think starting with questioning American exceptionalism would be good (it's where many start)? Current events are always relevant to communist thought - if she is sympathetic to Palestine, maybe reading the publications of the PFLP and ANC would be most effective. Etc etc. Any info you can safely provide for motivation, habits, and sympathies will make it easier for me to think of recommendations.
While I think the guy making it is a fanatical career revisionist, the Geopolitical Economy Report still has a lot of interesting stuff to listen to and think about. Obviously the best according to people here, myself included, was always going to be Citations Needed, but just to give you another title there's one more.
Another recommendation is The Dig podcast, with Daniel Denvir. It's a pretty light intro to good leftwing coverage of events and interviews.
Srsly wrong
Upstream. If she starts from the beginning, it is pretty radlib & identity politics focused first, but it has been satisfying to see the podcast become more radical year after year. Their recent China episodes for example have been pretty good. It covers all sort of topics, so there is probably something there for everyone.
I listened to it years ago when I was still very much a baby leftist myself, then dropped it for a few years as I moved on to others recommended here. And now went back to find out they have gone full Marxist.
Edit. Adding that one of the hosts in this one is a woman which is a rare thing in the lefty podcast-world afaik. It isn't as "laddish" as some of the others mentioned here can sometimes be and I think that not everyone will like shows like the Deprogram, which I personally do like, but the banter can sometimes be a bit much.
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