Local Organizing and Blog Carnivals

While national politics are sexy and exciting, the real battleground is at the local level. If bloggers are to have an impact, it is important for progressive bloggers living in the same geographical area to be able to find each other, meet, and spur each other into action. How do you find local bloggers? Some places have local blog aggregators, but that is still rare. The best way is to follow blog carnivals and look for like-minded bloggers in your geographical area as well as those who share your interests.

There are more than 230 blog carnivals in existence. Many are organized by Right Wingers and may be useful for opposition research - what is their strawman of the week? However, some carnivals are better than others for finding progressive bloggers and the members of the reality-based community. Here is a small sample of some of the most appropriate ones.

General Liberal Topics

Carnival of the Liberals is competitive. Each time a new host serves as an Editor, picking the best ten entries. The eighth issue is up on Brainshrub and the ninth will show up on Atheism.About in about two weeks.

Carnival of Feminists looks at gender from all angles. The tenth edition is up on IndianWriting and the eleventh will be on Angry for a Reason

The Carnival of Bent Attractions is devoted to GLBTQ Blogging. Fourth edition is up on Transcending Gender and the fifth will be on Jay Sennett.

Radical Women of Color Carnival - well, the name says it all. The latest issue is supposed to be up on Mamita Mala (perhaps it will show up there shortly!?). In April, see the new issue at Woman of Color Blog.

The Big Fat Carnival covers fat pride and fat acceptance. The first edition is up on Alas, A Blog and the next one will be on This ain't livin'

Radical Progressive Carnival is new. The first issue will be on Julius Speaks on March 20th.

Science, Medicine and Environment

Tangled Bank is the Big Mama of science blogging, covering a broad range of topics related to science, nature, medicine, environment and the interaction between science and society. Living the Scientific Life. In two weeks, check out the next edition on Island Of Doubt. Tangled Bank has spawned quite a lot of other science-related carnivals with more narrow focus:

Grand Rounds is a carnival of medicine and healthcare. The latest issue is up on Geek Nurse and the next one will be next Tuesday on Health Concerns.

Carnival of the Green covers environmental issues. The last edition was posted on Dirty Greek and the next one will be on Baloghblog.

Skeptic's Circle collects posts that debunk pseudoscience, medical quackery and political misuses of science. Edition #30 is up on Paige's Paige and the next will appear on Terra Sigillata.

I And The Bird covers everything about birds: science, natural history, birdwatching and conservation. The edition #19 is on Science and Politics and #20 will be on Bootstrap Analysis in two weeks.

Circus of the Spineless gathers blog posts about Invertebrates. It is a monthly carnival. The last issue was on Science And Politics and the next one will be on Research at a snail's pace.

Animalcules gathers blog posts on all things microbial. The third edition is up on Aetiology and the fourth will appear in two weeks on Science And Politics

Friday Ark collects posts and pictures of all sorts of animals every week. Issue #77 is up on the Modulator (it is always there).

Carnival of Biotechnology is the newest addition to science-related carnivals. The second edition is up on About Biotech and the third will appear on Biotech Blog.

Religion

Carnival of the Godless looks at religion from a godless perspective. The 35th edition was posted on JodyWheeler and the next one will be on Daniel Morgan

God Or Not is a civil debate between theists and atheists on an assigned topic. Last time, the topic was Truth and it appeared on Kingdom of Heathen. Next time, the topic is the Problem of Evil and it wil be hosted by Buridan's Ass.

Freethinking Women Jamboree is just starting. The inaugural edition will be on The Atheist Mama tomorrow.

Social Science and Academia

History Carnival is mostly populated by professional historians (although lay bloggers contribute every now and then, too). The 27th edition is up on History:Other and the 28th will appear on Patahistory on April 1.

Carnival of Bad History looks at misuse and misinterpretations of history (in politics, journalism, media, science and art). The latest issue is up on Ahistoricality.

Carnivalesque is a monthly carnival, quite academic, and it alternates between Ancient and Early Modern history. Edition #13 is a mixed (Ancient + Early Modern) edition, it has Women's History as a topic and is up on Archaeoastronomy. Next month, it is a turn for an Early Modern edition on the Earmarks in Early Modern Culture.

The latest issue of the Philosophy Carnival was hosted by Heaven Tree.

Education

Carnival of Education covers all aspects of education, including policy. Issue #58 is up on Education Wonks (and the next one will be at the same place).

Teaching Carnival focuses on Higher Ed. The last edition was on Science And Politics and the next is about to be posted on The Salt Box.

Carnival of Unschooling is new. The third edition is up on Atypical Homeschool.net. The next one is due Monday also on Atypical Homeschool.net

The latest edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling is currently on Common Room and the next will be on PHAT Mommy.

You can see a complete list of currently active carnivals (there are more than 230 of them right now!), get the news, automatically enter your blog-posts, and check all of the archives on BlogCarnival.com. If you are interested in history of carnivals and want to check out some dead-and-gone carnivals of the past, look at the six issues of Meta-Carnival.