I know NOTHING about politics. How can I start to learn?

This is the kind of explanatory video made for an American audience.

I don't knjw how good this is - it's just an example.

There's so much available.

There's a huge amount on YouTube to explain anything

The Today programme
Channel 4 News
Newsnight
PM on Radio 4
The Rest is Politics
The New Statesman
The Spectator
Newsweek
Books about 20C history
Books by current/recent politicians and historians - check your library

Also if someone never criticises one side then they are probably biased. You really need to focus on your instinctive reactions then try to find arguments against your instincts. If you still hold the same opinion then thats your opinion. Don’t believe everything you read of hear, try to find the counter arguments too.

I would pick one newspaper on the left and one on the right. The “truth” will be between those two.

A

Does Ros Atkins still do his explainer videos? They're good if a news item is on TV a lot but you haven't got a clue why. But, I agree, to really understand detail, you probably need to read around the subject.

I watch the last leg . The humour holds my attention

I think this is a fair point. Certainly in the subject areas I know professionally, the news coverage is simplistic, and interviewers seem not to challenge politicians who misrepresent the facts.

What books would you recommend for a beginner?

The news is entertainment at the end of the day. It glosses over major issues and gives a veneer of understanding to complex topics that you can spend years researching. Expecting comprehension on these matters from a ten minute (at best) segment in the news is folly.

Case in point, the history of austerity and how the economy of a sovereign nation state operates. The news and media overall, have been peddling the same “country run as a household” narrative bollocks that got us austerity because “there’s no more money left” or “we maxed out the nation’s credit card.” This is ideology from people who have an agenda to privatise sectors of the public space and keep people down. Do not buy into it.

If you simply must listen or watch something rather than read books, then there are podcasts and YouTube channels that can give flavour to the drier texts you can find. Of course, politics is a big subject, so what part we’re meant to detail here is tricky.

also check out

Gary Stevenson

watch serious indepedent news channels

and
maxmilian rospberrie

My fave youtube channels if you want to check them out

Also listen to the PMQs every Wednesday

a different bias

novara media

You could listen to Newscast or The Rest is Politics, or watch the Sky Politics Hub or the Sunday morning politics shows.

Ian Dunt's book 'How Westminster Works (and why it doesn't)' could be good too.

Can you explain why you have said this?

Read books. Do NOT listen to the news or Radio 4 on this. Do NOT read the papers.

I find ‘politics’ coverage can sometimes feel that it almost trivialises big issues - it’s all about how policy manoeuvring affects politicians and not about the actual impact the policy will have on the ground. I used to keep up to date with UK and international news but nowadays I’m not so good at that as I find it mostly makes me angry and depressed.

What I like is reading something that gives me the big picture and helps me understand the causes of why things are how they are. Perhaps search for ‘long reads’ on topics like:
What climate scientists are saying about climate change.
How austerity has affected the UK (both generally and e.g. education, local authorities, the justice system).
Brexit
Other elections happening around the world this year - the French and US elections are the most obvious ones but there are many others and they are a good starting point for learning about other countries.
Gaza and Middle East politics (although understanding this properly is kind of advanced level - try and read some different perspectives)
And then basics of how the UK system works, elections, House of Lords, how legislation is passed.
Oh and the history of UK/Ireland/Northern Ireland

I hope that doesn’t sound too daunting or boring and dry. I think it’s really interesting though I am ignorant myself on huge chunks of it! I think the key thing is relating it to real people’s lives. And once you start getting into topics there will be books, podcasts etc.

I listen to The Rest Is Politics. Alistair Campbell (Labour) and Rory Stewart (Conservative) discuss national and global politics. I find it really interesting and if, like me you hate listening to politicians and journalists talking over each other in louder and louder voices it makes it all a bit more digestible.

Lesson 1 in politics: most tell lots of lies and serve themselves.

Lesson 2 in politics: it's like a playground of fickle kids where people are besties one day and stick the knife in the back the next day.

There aren't any more lessons. That's it.

Heh, watership down isn't a bad place to be!

Another thing to think about, my history gcse (mumble years ago) did a lot on propaganda, images and text (in our case Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia).It taught me to look at what is being said, but also why and by whom, with what long term aim. One of the most useful things I ever took from any bit of school, and very handy re politics.

@murasaki Ha ha you are so right! I live in the rabbit hole (love it in here to be fair). 😂

@heldinadream is totally right, geopolitics is important, and wanting to gen up is the first step.

It's a total rabbit hole though, you'll never get out! But in a good way.