Current

I really like Current. I'm finding that my TV is tuned to that station more and more. The vast majority of the programming is insightful, informative, and entertaining. And, as an added bonus, there aren't a lot of commercials.

Vanguard Journalism -- think Channel One for adults. It's in-depth journalism at its finest. To give you an idea of the stories this program covers, two regular Vanguard contributors, Laura Ling (yeah, that's Lisa Ling's little sister) and Euna Lee were arrested and detained by the North Korean military for "hostile actions" -- in other words, they were taken into custody for doing a story about people escaping from North Korea. They are still being held, and haven't had access to any representatives of western nations since March 30th (which is a violation of international law, but hey, it's North Korea -- since when have they honored international law?)

Infomania is a humorous look at the week's news -- sort of a hybrid of The Daily Show and Best Week ever. It also features great segments like Sarah Haskins' "Target Women."

SuperNews is a weekly animated show that is, simply put, too good to miss. While everything is a potential punchline for this show, it seems like Ashton Kutcher, Twitter, and hipsters are most frequently on the butt-end of the jokes.

Speaking of hipsters, there is one show I don't like so much. Described on the show's website as "A late-night hour of short form docs from around the world, curated by Max and Jason, two twenty-something dilettantes whose tastes run the gamut from pretty women to the meaning of life," Max and Jason: Still Up is nothing more than Max and Jason, a couple of hipsterish douchebags (who were college buddies), sitting in chairs while introducing video clips that other people made. Fittingly enough, the program is sponsored by Axe hair products.

Great. Just what I want to see. A couple of self-involved dudes in plaid shirts and trucker hats pondering the meaning of life and making confused movie references. Example, last night they were discussing lawnmower racing and one of them mentioned a "Forrest Gump lawnmower," confusing Forrest Gump with The Straight Story, a movie about a man riding his lawnmower from Iowa to Wisconsin. I know, I may be nitpicking, but I'm also a firm believer that if you're going to try to make a funny movie reference, you should at least know which movie you're referencing. Anyway, I get the distinct impression from watching Max and Jason that they just walk into the studio to do their show with zero prep. Lots of "umms" and "uhhhs" and even more fidgeting. Jesus, guys, you're getting paid to do this show. At least try to act more professional than a high school video productions class.

Despite my disdain for Max and Jason (along with my envy, because I could totally do what they do, and it would be better, and less fidgety), Current is an awesome channel. I'm addicted.