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File: President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the economy February 1, 2012 at the James Lee Community Center in Falls Church, Virginia.

The 2012 Obama campaign is trying to use some of the social networking zeitgeist they seized upon in 2008 with social media like their huge MySpace following (quit laughing, that was still a thing then). Obama's already on Tumblr and Instagram, which are de rigeur for most hipsters these days, but now he's on Spotify, too. (Or at least someone in his office set one up for him.)

The official playlist runs the gamut with everything from country to R&B. It also includes some artists that have been used for numerous political campaigns, like Bruce Springsteen and U2. A couple artists even get two songs: Sugarland and Darius Rucker (of Hootie & The Blowfish fame).

Here's the full rundown of songs:

• Raphael Saadiq: "Keep Marchin'"
• Noah And The Whale: "Tonight's The Kind Of Night"
• Bruce Springsteen: "We Take Care Of Our Own"
• Zac Brown Band: "Keep Me In Mind"
• Aretha Franklin: "The Weight"
• U2: "Even Better Than The Real Thing"
• Ricky Martin featuring Joss Stone: "The Best Thing About Me Is You"
• Dierks Bentley: "Home"
• Ray LaMontagne: "You Are The Best Thing"
• Earth Wind & Fire Experience featuring Al McKay Allstars: "Got To Get You Into My Life" (Live)
• Booker T. & The MG's: "Green Onions" (Single/LP Version)
• Wilco: "I Got You"
• The Impressions: "Keep On Pushing" (Single Version)
• Jennifer Hudson: "Love You I Do" (from Dreamgirls)
• AgesandAges: "No Nostalgia"
• Sugarland: "Stand Up"
• Al Green: "Let's Stay Together"
• Darius Rucker: "This"
• Arcade Fire: "We Used To Wait"
• Florence + The Machine: "You've Got The Love"
• James Taylor: "Your Smiling Face"
• REO Speedwagon: "Roll With The Changes"
• Sugarland: "Everyday America"
• Darius Rucker: "Learn To Love"
• Electric Light Orchestra: "Mr. Blue Sky"
• Montgomery Gentry: "My Town"
• No Doubt: "Different People"
• Ledisi: "Raise Up"

As the playlist notes, it features picks by the Obama campaign staff, so it's not exactly handpicked by the president himself, but it does include "a few of President Obama's favorites."

How does Obama's taste compare with former President George W. Bush's? Bush gave the New York Times a peek at his iPod in 2005. Like Obama's official playlist, it included a good dose of country, though more traditional artists (George Jones, Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney) than the newer artists in the Obama list (Zac Brown Band and Sugarland). Bush used the iPod primarily during bike workouts at the time, according to the Times.

The Obama campaign also has a playlist with those working on the campaign sharing their stories, as well as discussion of the relaunched campaign site, BarackObama.com.

You can listen to Obama's 2012 Campaign Playlist here.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais-Pool/Getty Images

President Obama delivers his State of the Union tonight; what else is on TV tonight?

The State of the Union will be delivered tonight at 9 Eastern, 6 Pacific by President Barack Obama. As a political nerd, I'll be following along (and livetweeting the speech at @WithoutABlog), but for those of you who aren't particularly interested in an hour long speech, here are some alternatives.

I'm looking out for both those of us here on the West Coast and those of you on the East Coast, below:

West Coast

• FX, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Reruns of my favorite sitcom "How I Met Your Mother." Then there's "Two And A Half Men" at 7, during which you should immediately turn away.
• E, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.: "Kourtney and Kim Take New York." (I don't know anything about the Kardashians other than that people hate them but want to watch them as much as possible on TV anyway.)
• Cartoon Network, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.: Reruns of "Adventure Time." Check out the cult hit surreal animated series and see if it fits your sense of humor or if people who like the show are crazy.
• Discovery Channel, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Reruns of "Dirty Jobs." (I may just be mentioning this because host Mike Rowe shares my name, except he spells it wrong, obviously.)
• Spike TV, 6 p.m.-9 p.m.: "Kill Bil: Vol. 2." Go watch pretty/violent Quentin Tarantino pictures and be amused by how it's been edited for cable.
• Comedy Central, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.: If you want to see what's been going on in politics, but just want it to be funnier (intentionally), you can catch up on last night's "Daily Show" and "Colbert Report"...
• Comedy Central, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.: ... then watch "30 Rock" reruns to clear your mind of politics until tomorrow's "Daily Show" and "Colbert Report," which is when they'll probably get around to talking about the State of the Union.

East Coast

• TNT, 7 p.m.-10 p.m.: "The Shawshank Redemption." You can see this movie on cable pretty frequently, but that doesn't mean it's not still awesome. (I also enjoyed comparing the way prison life was depicted here to the depiction of Alcatraz in the flashback scenes on Fox's "Alcatraz.")
• FX, 8 p.m.-10 p.m.: "Taken." Get intense with Liam Neeson...
• FX, 10 p.m.-11 p.m.: ... then follow that up with a new episode of one of the best dramas on TV right now, "Justified."
• Discovery, 9 p.m.-10 p.m.: Brand new episode of "Dirty Jobs." (I will take you down, guy-with-my-name-who-spells-it-wrong Mike Rowe.)
• A&E, 9 p.m.-10 p.m.: Brand new episodes of "Shipping Wars"...
• A&E, 10 p.m.-11 p.m.: followed by new episodes of "Storage Wars." So, you know, there's a lot of warring tonight.
• Food Network, 10 p.m.-11 p.m.: New episode of "Chopped," so if you want to get really hungry at 10 p.m., check it out!
• TNT, 10 p.m.-11 p.m.: New "Southland." (I'm interested in this show, but that may just be because I was a big fan of "The O.C.")
• USA, 10 p.m.-11 p.m.: New "White Collar."

Photo via Public Enemy | Used with permission

Chuck D and Public Enemy occupied their Sunday with a free festival on, for, and about LA's skid row.

Organized by local non-profit Los Angeles Community Action Network, LA CAN, and hosted by Public Enemy, "Operation Skid Row" drew a crowd of hundreds to the questionably-permitted free-for-all on a stretch of Gladys Avenue downtown, and featured five hours of consciousness-raising rap and messages of social responsibility. 

KPCC spoke with Chuck D about Public Enemy's involvement with "Operation Skid Row" and the Occupy movement.

"The biggest stories not being told are the realities of housing and homelessness in America. We already know the Occupy movement has shone light to the hypocrisies in America taking care of its people," said the group's frontman.

Likening the U.S. government to a car leaking oil, he asserts, "I always thought Obama was a good driver, but he's in a terrible car in need of an overhaul."

What it will take to fix the problem, he remarked, is "more than a good driver — it's an agenda that needs to be rewired."

Steering the message back to the music, @MrChuckD continued, "I'm putting the pressure on the rap community to not speak for their companies, but to speak for the people." 

Rap will have another local and literal platform from which to speak loudly when Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg headline Coachella 2012 for two nights in April.

Firm but hopeful, Chuck D urged responsibility to the homegrown pair saying, "My request is that the rap community stop speaking for the elite. It's like rap music speaks for the 1%. And that needs to stop. I don't know if Dre and Snoop are ready, but I think Snoop has a heart."