Podcasts

5-4

5-4 is a podcast about how much the Supreme Court sucks. Hosted by Peter Shamshiri, Michael Liroff, and Rhiannon Hamam, it is produced by Rachel Ward, and presented by Slow Burn co-creator Leon Neyfakh.

American Prestige

American Prestige takes a comprehensive look at U.S. foreign policy and international affairs, providing listeners with everything they need to know about what’s going on in the world.

Best of the Left

Best of the Left curates the best of the liberal and progressive media on a wide variety of political and cultural topics—producing a thoughtful, nuanced, award-winning podcast in a world of hot takes. The show is not only informative, but also serves as an ongoing, audible ‘museum’ of modern political discourse—each episode a virtual exhibition for listeners.

The Bitchuation Room

Hosted by journalist, progressive political activist, and comedian Francesca Fiorentini, this pod features a weekly caucus of progressive comics, activists, and thinkers covering a wide range of pressing topics.

The BradCast

The BradCast focuses on progressive issues—from environmental policy to social justice—and is hosted by investigative journalist, blogger, and broadcaster Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com. It features investigative interviews, analysis, and commentary.

The Breach

The Breach is an independent media outlet producing critical journalism to help map a just, viable future. It provides a platform for voices you won’t often find in the establishment media, and investigations, analysis, and video content about the crises of racism, inequality, colonialism, and climate breakdown.

Canadaland

Canadaland is an audience-supported, independent news and podcast company that consistently produces some of the best audio journalism in Canada. Through the ongoing support of a growing community of more than 10,000 supporters, it provides more than 10 million listeners a year with free, high-quality audio content focused on media, news, current affairs, politics, culture, and original investigations.

Citations Needed

Citations Needed is a podcast about the intersection of media, PR, and power, hosted by Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson.

Congressional Dish

Congressional Dish is a podcast that since 2012 has been aiming to draw attention to where the American people truly have power: Congress. From the perspective of a fed-up taxpayer with no allegiance to any political party, Jennifer Briney fills listeners in on the must-know information about what our representatives do after elections, and how their actions can and do affect our day to day lives.

Conspirituality

Conspirituality investigates the intersection of conspiracy theories and spiritual influence to uncover cults, pseudoscience, and authoritarian extremism. A journalist, a cult researcher, and a philosophical skeptic discuss the stories, cognitive dissonances, and cultic dynamics tearing through the yoga, wellness, and new spirituality worlds.

The David Pakman Show

The David Pakman Show (TDPS) started as a radio show called Midweek Politics in the basement of community radio station WXOJ’s studio in Northampton, Massachusetts. Today, it is one of the most watched independent progressive podcasts and online shows, a daily internationally syndicated politics and news talk show airing on radio, television, the internet, and on Free Speech TV  via DirecTV and DISH Network.

Democracy Now!

Democracy Now! produces a daily, global, independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Its reporting includes breaking daily news headlines and in-depth interviews with people on the front lines of the world’s most pressing issues.

Democracy Paradox

Democracy Paradox explores concepts as broad as civil resistance, Russian conservatism, populism, and direct democracy. Guests have ranged from Ivy League professors to former elected officials. Many episodes have featured scholars from around the world, including Israel, Greece, and Germany. The pod regularly integrates big picture concepts with current events and history to make difficult ideas come alive.

The Dig

The Dig is Daniel Denvir’s Jacobin podcast on politics, history, and economics everywhere.

Doomed with Matt Binder

Doomed with Matt Binder is a leftist politics and culture show for our terrible times. QAnon, white supremacists, Proud Boys, the alt-right—host Matt Binder guides listeners through all the conspiracy theories, far right groups, fake news, misinformation, reactionary movements, and much more.

Economic Update with Richard Wolff

This is a weekly, nationally syndicated program produced by Democracy at Work and hosted by Marxian economist Richard D. Wolff. It explores complex economic issues, and empowers listeners with information to analyze not only their own financial situation, but the economy at large.

Gaslit Nation

Gaslit Nation provides a deep dive on the news, skipping outrage to deliver analysis, history, context, and sharp insight on global affairs. It's hosted by journalist and filmmaker Andrea Chalupa, an expert on authoritarian states who warned America about Russia and election hacking before the 2016 election.

Know Your Enemy

Know Your Enemy is a political podcast about the American conservative movement from a socialist perspective, co-hosted by Matthew Sitman, a former conservative, and Sam Adler-Bell, a lifelong leftist.

Knowledge Fight

This progressive podcast deconstructs and fact-checks Alex Jones and other conspiracy theorists. Hosted by Dan Friesen and Jordan Holmes, it provides critical analysis of far-right media and misinformation with thorough research and humor.

The Intercept Briefing

Cut through the noise with The Intercept’s reporters as they tackle the most urgent issues of the moment. The Briefing is a weekly podcast delivering incisive political analysis and deep investigative reporting, hosted by The Intercept’s journalists and contributors including Jessica Washington, Akela Lacy, and Jordan Uhl.

Is This Democracy

Is This Democracy discusses the ongoing conflict over how much democracy, and for whom, there should be in America. It is hosted by Lilliana Mason and Thomas Zimmer.

This one is a referral from Unf*cker John R. who wrote: “Wanted to turn you on to another podcast I discovered recently. It’s called ‘Is this Democracy’ and it examines the state of American democracy past and present and examines the American experiment in terms of addressing the question of ‘how much democracy and for whom?’ It’s a fascinating deep dive into the nature of small-d democracy by two academics and one working journalist and it definitely scratches my itch for deep intellectual history.”

Laura Flanders & Friends

Uncensored history meets bold voices with Laura Flanders, an award-winning journalist and author. The show explores actionable models for creating a better world by reporting on the people and movements driving systemic change—spotlighting the solutions of tomorrow, today.

Let’s Talk Native with John Kane

Friend of UNFTR and longtime voice of indigenous communities, John Kane tackles a range of Native issues from school mascots to Supreme Court decisions.

Lever Time

Lever Time is the flagship weekly podcast of The Lever, a nonpartisan, reader-supported investigative news outlet that holds accountable the people and corporations manipulating the levers of power. The investigative news outlet was founded in 2020 by David Sirota, an award-winning journalist and Oscar-nominated writer who served as the presidential campaign speechwriter for Bernie Sanders. Lever Time features exclusive reporting from The Lever’s newsroom, high-profile guest interviews, and expert analysis from the sharpest minds in media and politics.

The Majority Report with Sam Seder

The Majority Report is a daily, political talk show. Its 5x award-winning, daily program brings listeners progressive news commentary and long-form conversations.

Marxist Voice

Marxist Voice is the podcast of Socialist Appeal, with weekly episodes on Marxist theory, revolutionary history, and current events.

Media Roots Radio

Sister-brother duo Abby and Robbie Martin produce this pod. Media Roots is a citizen journalism project that reports the news from outside of party lines while providing a collaborative forum for conscious citizens, artists, and activists to unite.

The Muckrake Podcast

Political analysts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman host the weekly Muckrake Podcast to address the news of the day while moving past the headlines and tired narratives to deliver extensive historical and societal context. New episodes drop every Tuesday and Friday with emergency podcasts, exclusive coverage, and relevant interviews as needed.

Native America Calling

Native America Calling is a daily, interactive program connecting listeners with soul-stirring and thought-provoking conversations about Native and Indigenous communities.

News Beat

News Beat is an award-winning social justice podcast combining hard-hitting journalism and interviews with hip-hop music and original lyrics from independent artists. Guests have included dozens of activists, educators, authors, journalists, whistleblowers, and experts from  diverse spectrum of backgrounds—from Dr. Cornel West and Chris Hedges to Rosa Clemente and John Kiriakou, among many others—weighing in on everything from mass incarceration and U.S.-led forever wars to poverty, genocide, attacks on press freedoms, and much  more. It's produced by UNFTR contributors, journalists Rashed Mian and Christopher Twarowski, and our very own Manny Faces.  
 

No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen

No Lie covers the most important and breaking political stories of the week, hosted by progressive commentator Brian Tyler Cohen. He sits down with major players in the world of politics, bringing listeners right into the heart of the action.

Outrage & Optimism

Outrage + Optimism explores the stories behind the headlines on climate change, talking to the change-makers turning challenges into opportunities. Its hosts Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, and Paul Dickinson—and their brilliant guests—share expert opinions along with healthy doses of both outrage and optimism that leave listeners feeling informed and energized.

Owen Jones

Owen Jones, journalist, author of Chavs and The Establishment, or “that left-wing idiot off the telly,” is fed up with the establishment media. After all, it punches down, not up, blames minorities for all the problems in society, and, let’s face it, often just parrots the government line. So this podcast is offering something different: speaking truth to power, giving the marginalized a voice, offering hope—and having a laugh along the way.

Pitchfork Economics

Join venture capitalist Nick Hanauer and some of the world’s leading economic and political thinkers in an exploration of who gets what and why. Turns out, everything you learned about economics is wrong, and if we don’t do something about rising inequality, the pitchforks are coming.

The Professional Left

This award-winning progressive podcast features bloggers Driftglass and Blue Gal skewering right-wing politics with razor-sharp wit and unapologetically progressive commentary that dismantles conservative talking points and elevates overlooked stories.

Ralph Nader Radio Hour

Ralph Nader talks about what’s happening in America, what’s happening around the world, and most importantly, what’s happening underneath it all.

Revolutionary Left Radio

This educational podcast explores revolutionary theory, history, and current events from Marxist and anarchist perspectives. It is hosted by Breht O’Shea, and features in-depth discussions on leftist theory, anti-imperialism, and revolutionary movements.

Straight White American Jesus

Straight White American Jesus (SWAJ) is a podcast about religion and politics hosted by Daniel Miller and Bradley Onishi, ex-ministers who are now scholars of religion.

The Thom Hartmann Program

Thom Hartmann is a progressive national and internationally syndicated talk show host covering U.S. politics and political news commentary, science, culture, and economics.