Wonky web watching

For those of you who can't get enough talking heads, there's a new policy-devoted TV network, but it's not actually on TV.

Fora.tv is YouTube for policy wonks. Fora.tv (the plural of forum, get it?) includes content from a wide variety of national think tanks across the political spectrum. You can find video clips based on subject matter, including both domestic and foreign policy; by content provider; or by region of the world. There is also a cool tool that highlights current headlines from policy-oriented media outlets like Salon and the Wall Street Journal and links to topically related Fora.tv video content.

According to the site:

We deliver discourse, discussions and debates on the world's most interesting political, social and cultural issues and enable our viewers to join the conversation. We provide deep unfiltered content, tools for self expression and the place for the interactive community to gather. There are brilliant ideas, expressed everyday, in public discussions and events, all over the world.

Started by a former C-SPAN executive, the new network has a similar feel, in that the "programs" are unedited. However, they are "chaptered," meaning if you are interested in only one portion of the video, you can find it without watching the entire video. Like YouTube, viewers can rate and comment on the video content, and there are viewer forums for discussion. Perhaps the best feature is that the video clips can be downloaded, so the truly wonky can listen via iPod while hitting the treadmill.