Portside

Gollum is digital, and he may be the biggest star of the new Hobbit blockbuster. Here's how he was brought to life.

Bobby 'Blue' Bland was a blues and soul original that we lost in 2013. Here is his rendition of Stormy Monday.

Leonard Cohen (Live in London, 2008) performs Democracy Is Coming to the USA. "It's coming through a crack in the wall, it's coming from the sorrow in the street."

Many people use the PISA report to claim US public education is failing. But the data from the highest performing countries teach a different lesson. More information here. 

To encourage others to also seek help, Chiara de Blasio shares her personal story battling depression and substance abuse. 

Merry Christmas, from the GOP: no more unemployment benefits. Sign here to extend benefits.

President Barack Obama personally educates you about the health care reform law. Learn more at Tell a Friend -- Get Covered.

Woody Guthrie's Jesus is a working man ('a carpenter by hand'), an itinerant, and a radical ('sell all of your jewelry and give it to the poor'). For more Alt-Xmas music, go here and here.

The Playing for Change Band presents a new holiday video, “Low Down Dirty Christmas,” recorded live outside Sao Paolo. Composed by Tom Canning, it reaches back to the roots of blues and soul. For more Alt-Xmas music, go here and here.