I'm pretty sure my mom watching MSNBC and such got me into it. She bought me Paul Begala's book Is Our Children Learning? and Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them (though that was post-2000). The former was instrumental in me learning how much of a goddamn idiot W was prior to the election and probably kickstarted my interest in politics.
My teachers didn't do shit; in fact, I brought Is Our Children Learning? to school and my history/social studies teacher told me to put it away before class as I was showing people.
Yeesh. My 8th-grade teacher was our requisite history person and she devoted a significant chunk of the year to Native American studies, to give an idea on where I was at.
She was a huge influence. Weirdly, so was going to a catholic school. The religion didn't take but the lessons on good works and such did. I was basically molded into liberalism through it even if so many people aren't.
Their politics have definitely changed. There's a lot of newer episodes basically apologizing for past ones in the last few years. (Trans issues, Al Gore, Bush/Kerry)
South Park for me was always a show where I could enjoy the circumstances while always realizing the creators were who they were.
Similar to that, I adore the Simpsons. It shaped me in a hundred ways. I still buy every season on DVD, keep up with the new seasons, etc.
But, that show was also made primarily by a bunch of college-educated, straight, white dudes and it shows. It's an oddly anti-intellectual show while still requiring a certain intellect to engage with it, it's not great on race or gender, etc.
I was doused with media as a kid and somehow developed a media savvy mind very early on.
Another weird source of liberalism for me - 90s daytime talk shows. They were toxic, they were carnivals, but I will always remember an episode of sally Jesse Raphael with a cross dressing man dancing to "these boots were made for walking" and my grandma commenting, "he's got better legs than me." Instantly normalized the concept for me.
