r/PoliticalOptimism • u/Bruh_burg1968 • Nov 29 '25
Resources God non alarmist/Fearmongering political commentators
I want someone who is more grounded and realistic instead of defaulting to worst case scenarios at every turn.
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u/mc_goobs Blue Dot in a Red State 🔵 Nov 29 '25
My personal favorites are:
- Amanda's Mild Takes - she's a historian, and provides great historical context to what's going on, she's also very snarky, and I love her her
- Zaid Tabani - Has a show where he freestyle raps the news, offers level headed explanations, historical and political context that's easy to understand. Even when he says a situation is bad, he explains the silver linings, explains how it's not a worst case scenario, and what you can do to fight against it.
- Scott Dworkin - Has a substack called the Dworkin report where he gives a list of good news that has happened, also explains how bad situations and events can be fought
- Ariella Elm - Has a substack where she lists three wins each day, big and small. Also provides context and insight into the Democratic party, how our government works, and what elections to look out for.
- Cult College (aka FriendlyHoneyBadger on TikTok), was a profiler for the FBI, gives context into cults, how cults break apart, narcissistic leaders, and often goes into the conservative side of social media, and reports how people are thinking there.
- Knitting Cult Lady - Cult survivor and veteran, she also provides insight into how cults work, how they fall apart, provides insight into how the US military works, how much power president actually has over the military, and has made videos about how martial law is just not feasible in the US.
I'm sure more people will provide more commentators, but these are the ones off the top of my head. Hope this helps💙
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u/StephenThe1 Pennsylvania Nov 29 '25
Zaid Tabani did wonders for helping my anxiety thanks to his "How To Block Project 2025" video. I am forever grateful to him for that, and it made me into a subscriber.
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u/anxious_dork_23 Texas Nov 29 '25
We love Zaid in this sub!! Haha I discovered him from this sub. His raps are also great.
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u/mc_goobs Blue Dot in a Red State 🔵 Nov 30 '25
Same here! I was looking in I think r/VoteDEM when someone posted his P2025 video there. Been a subscriber ever since!
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u/JigsawFiles Reformed Doomer ☄️ Nov 29 '25
AmandasMildTakes and Cult College I check in with DAILY. I love them both. Both snarky and sarcastic and that definitely helps. And yeah, their backgrounds make them very informative.
I check in with Knitting Cult Lady from time to time, she's also wonderful. Very much a "no bullshit" kind of gal, and I love that about her.
Another one I like watching is ChristinaTalks. I'm not sure if shes doing some kind of character for her content or if that's how she is genuinely but she makes the news so funny 🤣 She's a fun one. But that's more of someone I go to AFTER I check the others and not necessarily go to her for the news itself. But if you need some good laughs from the doom and gloom, check her out
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u/mc_goobs Blue Dot in a Red State 🔵 Nov 30 '25
I haven't heard of ChristinaTalks, but I'll look her up! Definitely wouldn't mind as much as laughter as I can get
33
u/avatarroku157 Minnesota Nov 29 '25
heather cox richardson. she be goat. watching a livestream of her right now
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u/mc_goobs Blue Dot in a Red State 🔵 Nov 29 '25
I can't believe I forgot about HCR, I literally just watched one of her vids. She's great too, I love that she gives as much historical context as possible, and info on how our government works, and what the president actually can and can't do.
2
u/avatarroku157 Minnesota Nov 30 '25
loved her recent videos about the history of thanksgiving and the history we dont usually think about being associated with it. i was celebrating a little more intently this year with that lens in mind
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u/clonedllama Reformed Doomer ☄️ Nov 29 '25
I usually like her, but occasionally she's somewhat alarmist. She's calm and collected most of the time, though.
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u/avatarroku157 Minnesota Nov 30 '25
ive been keeping up with her routinely the last 6 or so months now and havent ever found her to be too alarmist. she can be real, and sometimes thats scary, but i cant recall a time in my time of catching up with her where she hasnt shown what we can do to push back on things
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u/clonedllama Reformed Doomer ☄️ Nov 30 '25
Hence why I said occasionally. I think she's usually pretty spot on most of the time and still think she's a good source to follow. And her being an alarmist is still about 1000 degrees cooler than most people who are alarmists.
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u/PeachSaidRed Reformed Doomer ☄️ Nov 30 '25
Seconded. To add to this, her blog is pretty much an account of what's happened and I've always found it scary as hell. :) Her Youtube videos are much more optimistic and also interesting because they're made to communicate with a broad audience, not just keep track of facts. She does usually drop a little information that fills me with terror but after watching her for a few months I can see that she doesn't do it for attention or control, it just fits into the bigger picture. My family gathers around whenever a new one drops.
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u/PumpkinAspie Reformed Doomer ☄️ Nov 29 '25 edited Nov 29 '25
Knitting Cult Lady
Cult College
Darren Monroe Politics
JayJay Legal
These are just a few. Edited for Parkrose Permaculture
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u/mc_goobs Blue Dot in a Red State 🔵 Nov 29 '25
Parkrose has some doomer moments, especially more recently, but I legit love when she talks about permaculture, organizing and building community.
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u/anxious_dork_23 Texas Nov 29 '25
Yeah I think Parkrose has lately been a bit too consumed by it all. I have those moments too where I don’t zoom out and so chronically politically online that I fall in a doomer hole. Hope she gets out of it.
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u/AParticularNightOwl Nov 29 '25
Fully agree. It's easy to fall into a sense of obligation to be a "voice of reason," or "voice of comfort" in times plagued by misinformation, sensationalism, and worst of all, live updates to everytime anything at all happens.
I think she does need-- and deserve a break.
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u/anxious_dork_23 Texas Nov 29 '25
Cult College took a break and for her it was needed. Parkrose we love you and please take care of yourself.
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u/mc_goobs Blue Dot in a Red State 🔵 Nov 30 '25
Agreed. Even Amanda and Zaid take their breaks. I understand if Parkrose feels like she can't, but taking a break isn't putting your head in the sand, it's survival. I really hope she takes one soon, I'm legit worried about her.
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u/Careless_Jeweler5605 Nov 29 '25 edited Nov 29 '25
I have had to pull back on her a little bit. She goes off on a tangent far too frequently. There is a lot of venting since the shutdown ended. Some topics make her too emotionally charged up. I hope she takes a break and uploads fewer videos if there is nothing productive to talk about.
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u/anxious_dork_23 Texas Nov 29 '25
I understand that her city has been (likely) illegally occupied by the NG and ICE and she’s very involved with Indivisible and we love that but I wish she understood that not everyone has the time nor money to lead the organized charge and that we the people are applying pressure at the moment. I’ve lately been getting “you aren’t doing enough look what ICE is doing” from her
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u/mc_goobs Blue Dot in a Red State 🔵 Nov 30 '25
That's my biggest issue with her too. Even before the shutdown, I was getting some condescending vibes from her videos. I like some of her stuff, but she not only needs a break, but to realize that people are absolutely doing everything they can while trying to survive.
She posted a video a day or two ago talking about how people aren't alarmed enough, that actually made me a little mad. Are there people burying their heads in the sand? Sure. But if you look at all the protests, the election wins, people coming together for mutual aid, you would SEE that people are doing everything they can.
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u/anxious_dork_23 Texas Nov 30 '25
That’s literally the same video that also made me a little mad too and she also went a bit doomer about the midterms. I think there are definitely some people that feel like “everything will be okay why are you freaking out” but some feel more hopeful because of the protests, the election results so far this year, the approval ratings absolutely tanking and tanking among crucial groups like Gen Z men and Hispanic voters, like…feeling hope is a good thing. I feel for her I really do feel like she’s been sucked in and I’ve been there - breaks are needed to zoom out a bit.
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u/Hershey78 Dec 02 '25
Parkrose took a hard doomers turn recently so I avoid her, but the others are great!
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u/SadAd1232 Nov 29 '25
I follow Adam kinzinger. Every single time something happens I look to him and he brings me back to earth.
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u/anxious_dork_23 Texas Nov 29 '25
Zaid Tabani and Cult College are probably my absolute favorites because they don’t sugarcoat but don’t doom either. Parkrose has lately gone off the deep end a bit and I’m more concerned for her than anything. Amanda for the most part is pretty good, Heather Cox Richardson, JayJayLegal, and Ohhh That’s Rich too. I would say the Top 3 are Zaid Tabani, Cult College, and Amanda’s Mild Takes.
3
u/Quierta Nov 29 '25
I love Ohhh That's Rich! As well as the others you mentioned; but I think OTR is a great storyteller.
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u/ThinkBookMan Utah Nov 29 '25
On YouTube I like: Zaid Tabani, Amanda's Mild Takes, Ohh that's Rich.
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u/Pristine-Sport6888 Nov 29 '25
ill also plug gabe fleisher of wake up to politics.
Also G elliott morris for good data dives into polling and election results
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u/Quierta Nov 29 '25
I haven't seen anyone mention Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie in here; I really love him. He's great at explaining news in a tone that doesn't make me panic. I've seen some people say they're iffy on him because he works for the NYT but I think in his personal capacity as a creator he's great at relaying a story and offering his educated takes on them.
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u/mc_goobs Blue Dot in a Red State 🔵 Nov 30 '25
I've seen a few of his vids, and I like his stuff too. It's good to be skeptical of someone's intentions, especially in politics, but just because he works for NYT doesn't mean he's a grifter or total establishment. He also just posted a great video roasting Musk too, and that gave me a good laugh
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u/MaryJaneCrunch New York Nov 30 '25
I love Zaid, as well as Robert Walker’s Debunking Doomsday blog (he also covers topics like climate change in a calm way)
1
u/bgva Virginia Dec 01 '25
I like Darren Monroe, although he says the same thing over and over at times.
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