What Blogs Have Influenced You This Year?

December 30, 2008 By Guest Contributor 33 Comments

Simple question:

What blogs have really influenced or challenged you this year?

If that blog is an “established” one, fantastic. If that blog only began this year, even better.

Who has grabbed your attention with every post (or many of them, anyway)? Who do you read for original thoughts and opinions?

Feel free to leave links in the comments!

(Thanks to Matt Stone for the idea and mention!)

Filed Under: General 33 Comments
  • http://learninfreedom.org/ tokenadult

    Friendly Atheist, of course, even if I don’t like the jokes about eating children.

    Pharyngula, which is always where I go after I visit Friendly Atheist.

    http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/

    I like Pharyngula less because it’s, well, less friendly, but sometimes I’m in take-no-prisoners mode, and anyway I like the science focus there.

    My favorite all-around news site now is Hacker News.

    http://news.ycombinator.com/

    That’s not really a blog, but a news aggregation site.

  • Dallas

    I like “The Peaceful Atheist” at http://peacefulatheist.wordpress.com/. This blogger is a recent grad of Wheaton College, where she wrote the “Leaving Eden” blog about her expwriences as an atheist at a Christian college: http://leavingeden.wordpress.com/
    She is very intelligent, has a lot of insight, and is an excellent writer.

  • http://peacefulatheist.wordpress.com Lily

    Thanks for the plug, Dallas!

    I love Friendly Atheist, of course, especially the jokes about eating children. Without Hemant, my baby-eating skills would be woeful indeed.
    This year I’ve started reading Irritable Reaching, which is very thought-provoking. I’ve also been reading the older posts on atheism on sudo life. And I know I’m a little late to the game, but I’ve only just started reading the eBay atheist.

    Two new / newly outed atheist bloggers I’m eagerly watching are Next Reformation and Closeted in Academia.

  • http://ravingatheists.com/forum Professor Chaos

    That was so not the Matt Stone I was hoping for…

  • Cindy

    My husband claims I spent all my time on blogs this year, with the election and all. The following require frequent/daily checking:
    Friendlyatheist.com (of course!)
    daylightatheism.org: really well-thought out discussions
    scienceblogs.com/pharyngula
    scienceblogs.com/dispatches: love the law-related discussions of separation of church and state
    Dailykos.com
    crooksandliars.com
    thinkprogress.org
    fivethirtyeight.com: great info about elections (Coleman/Franken a big topic currently)

  • Autumn

    I recently discovered “Writings of a Liberated Mind”. The Author was once an indoctrinated catholic and has some great insight into thoughts about atheism and combating blind religion. I also enjoy a sprinking of libertarian commentary that appeals to my humanist side.

    Find it at http://writingsofaliberatedmind.blogspot.com/

    Keep up the great posts!

  • MH

    I’m not sure if this counts, but I’ve been reading Beliefnet for about a bit over year.

    I’ve been trying to convice some of the locals there about the reality of evolution. A frustrating experience to be sure as they tend to ignore any evidence you offer. I’ve tried to explain why science is not a religion and if you want a religion that’s fine, but please don’t ignore physical evidence.

    The Reformed Chick’s Blabbing blog had a pointer to this blog, which is how I found it. So I think that author might read this blog. In any event she influenced me to read this blog.

  • http://darwinsdagger.blogspot.com Darwin’s Dagger

    The blogs I regularly read are:

    Angry Ballerina
    Blue Gal
    Dark Ages America
    Deep Thoughts
    Distributorcap NY
    Enemy of the Republic
    Evolved and Rational
    Friendly Atheist
    Informed Comment
    Julia Sweeney
    Morning Martini
    Pharyngula
    Silly Humans
    Stardust Musings and Thoughts for the Freethinker
    Think Progress
    TooManyTribbles
    Zaius Nation

  • Jamie G.

    About Buddhism,
    Atheism Central,
    Bad Astronomy Blog,
    dhamma musings,
    Friendly Atheist,
    NeuroLogica Blog,
    Ox Herding,
    Progressive Buddhism,
    Right Wing Watch,
    Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal,
    Skepticblog,
    Atheist Experience,
    Big Picture,
    Buddhist Channel,
    Rogues Gallery,
    theworsthorse.com,
    We Angry Buddhists,
    Hardcore Zen,
    Flapping Mouth,
    Go Beyond Word,
    Ordinary Extraordinary,
    Middle Way,
    Stupid Way,
    the leaf,
    thinkBuddha,
    Going For Refuge,
    Urban Monk,
    Precious Metal

  • http://thebitchreport.blogspot.com/ Milena

    Feministing.com is one of my faves.

    The one that has really touched me is ill doctrine, which started out as a hip-hop vlog, but the author, Jay Smooth, has some great posts on politics and society in general. It’s always a pleasure to watch his videos.

    The Sartorialist (http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/) and Kanye West’s blog (http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/) are other ones that I read on a daily basis.

  • Richard

    The Little Cog

    A blog by a Conservative, who actually thinks like a real conservative. You know, the convservatives like Lincoln who actually thought that civil rights and the rights of the individual outweigh the currently accepted norm.

    http://littlecog.com/

    i dont agree with everything he writes, and we especially disagree on our views of the economy, but he is a really good, smart thinker.

  • http://atheistbibleforum.blogspot.com/ Albert Ip

    I recently (last November) started my own blogging (http://atheistbibleforum.blogspot.com/) on Atheism – because many of my family members have fallen into the religion slavery. Since then I have discovered a lot of atheist’s sites, including of course the Friendly Atheist. However, the inappropriately named Atheist Central is a constant source of entertainment and material to refute.

  • http://msatheists.org Oliver

    I have to mention vjack over at Atheist Revolution. His blog is always focused on debating the best way to move the atheist movement forward.

    Of course, I have to mention Mississippi Atheists, which currently consist of a small group of writers who discuss the role of religion in our state. Both vjack and I write for this blog.

  • http://sanguinity.livejournal.com Sanguinity

    Racialicious. Smart array of bloggers who are willing to put in the time to go after the nuance of the situation, and the comments sections are excellent, too.

    Seconding the shout-out for Ill Doctrine, too. :-)

  • http://fivepublicopinions.wordpress.com AV

    I can barely go a day without my regular fixes of Pharyngula and Dispatches from the Culture Wars, but I’m also a big fan of the Australian atheist blog The Thinker’s Podium.

  • http://www.skepacabra.wordpress.com Michael

    Neurologica
    Skepchick
    Pharyngula
    Respectful Insolence
    The Intersection
    ERV
    Denialism blog
    Bad Astronomy
    Rogues Gallery (by the SGU)
    The Bird’s Brain
    Skepbitch
    Friendly Atheist
    Greta Christina’s blog
    Amateur Scientist
    Edgar
    Skeptico
    Skepticblog
    Unreasonable Faith
    Rationally Speaking
    And my blog, http://www.skepacabra.wordpress.com

  • http://skepticsplay.blogspot.com/ miller

    Greta Christina’s Blog – Greta’s writing is always very lucid, and gives me all sorts of new angles on old topics.
    Think too much – Unusual views on religion/philosophy, from a post-theist/label-eschewer.
    Skepticblog – Includes not one, but several fantastic writers. I am especially liking the perspective of Mark Edward, the skeptical “psychic”.

  • Ulrich

    Besides some that were already mentioned, I have to say Daylight Atheism by Ebonmuse and Atheist Ethicist by Alonzo Fyfe. Both are very gifted writers with great thoughts and insights, and I find myself in agreement with them on many levels.

  • Ryot

    Obviously this one, but Pharyngula and Towleroad as well. PZ and Andy Towle sure know how to piss off the Catholic League, something we can all admire.

  • Ross

    Great post, I keep meaning to find more blogs to subscribe to but never getting around to it. This is a big time saver!

    I’m a regular reader of:
    Pharyngula
    The Friendly Atheist
    Bad Astronomy Blog
    Respectful Insolence
    (Various toons, such as Dinosaur Comics, Penny Arcade, A Softer World, etc.)

    Occasionally I’ll check on:
    Debunking Christianity
    Unreasonable Faith

    Keep the blogs coming, I’ll keep subscribing.

  • http://yunshui.wordpress.com yunshui

    This year, I’ve been infected by the blogging bug myself, and it’s primarily down to No More Hornets, Daylight Atheism and Primordial Blog, although Pharyngula and of course Friendly Atheist have been influential as well. Now I have a blogroll as long as my arm, most of which I read pretty regularly, but these five sites are still pretty much at the forefront of my atheist reading experience.

  • Jen S

    Favorites:

    Friendly Atheist

    Sustainablog – sustainability and the environment

    Feministing

    The narrow bridge – writings by young economist Anya Kamenetz, author of Generation Debt

  • http://www.atheistrev.com vjack

    There are so many excellent atheist blogs out there, and it is always a joy to discover new ones. A few newer ones that have caught my attention lately are:

    Prince of Pithy’s Weblog
    Proud Atheists
    Godless Woman

  • http://creationistidiocy.blogspot.com Luke

    I also check Friendly Atheist, Unreasonable Faith and Pharyngula daily.

    Some others I haven’t seen mentioned above:
    LOL god
    Atheist Media
    Bay of Fundie
    The Panda’s Thumb
    Are You Free Yet?

    And my own two, which I started earlier this year:
    Atheist Wisdom
    Creationist Idiocy

  • Anne
  • Maakuz

    Absolutely the funniest blog I know of is wwtdd. It tells the latest news about celebrities in a style that certainly is not for everyone, but personally I can´t even count how many times I have laughed so hard it hurts.

  • Zerotarian

    Atheist Ethicist, Greta Christina’s Blog, and Dispatches from the Culture Wars. Only recently (basically since Prop 8 passed), Pam’s House Blend.

  • J Myers

    Evangelical Realism is outstanding. I’m also a regular reader of many others already mentioned.

  • http://newref.blogspot.com/ James

    Thanks for the plug, Lilly! Over this past year the most influential blogs for me have been:

    http://leavingeden.wordpress.com
    http://peacefulatheist.wordpress.com
    http://unintentionalatheist.wordpress.com
    http://unreasonablefaith.com

  • Julie

    Stats.org really rocks my world.

  • http://proudatheists.wordpress.com/ Mark Pogue

    Thanks for the plug, vjack!

  • http://aclevererversion.blogspot.com/ Rose

    In 2008 I finally discovered the world of Atheist blogs. I can’t even imagine what good I ever thought the internet was before this. What was I even doing?
    So… of course, friendlyatheist, unreasonablefaith, parentingbeyondbelief, xkcd, bad astronomy….
    Thanks, Atheist Blogging Community for giving me a great 2008!

  • «bønez_brigade»

    As for _every_ post:
    Friendly Atheist, Pharyngula, Bad Astronomy.
    There’s just not enough time in the day to keep up with the comments, though, as several podcasts (and life in general) also call out for my attention.

    However, of honorable mention are:
    randi.org, richarddawkins.net, Universe Today, and anything linked to in the aforementioned.