Last updated on 2023-04-11
The last thing I feel like doing right now is writing a summary of my year, or posit the 10 things I look forward to in 2023. Instead, I will review the social media, news media, and podcasts I am consuming and analyze whether I want to make any changes.
Social Media
First, I have never had a Facebook account. I thought it wouldn’t last at first, but as it did, I never felt the need to get on. I was on Twitter, and I really enjoyed it for emergent news events, but it became toxic and I was on the fence about it. Then, when it was bought and taken private, I saw it as an opportunity to quit for good, and I deleted my account(s). However, that leaves Reddit, where I still browse for a few minutes each day, but rarely post or comment. I deleted my main profile a year ago, but I still find it useful for sports highlights and niche content.
So, I really only participate on Mastodon, as I have become interested in the idea of a social network without corporate overlords. And, I have enjoyed the differences between the fediverse and old twitter. But, it has yet to achieve the critical mass of network effects.
Resolution: Get off reddit permanently and participate in Mastodon only as necessary to understand the culture.
News Sources
I subscribe to the LA Times, the NY Times, and to Barron’s. I don’t need Barron’s or the NY Times. I think I would rather subscribe to either the Washington Post or to the WSJ. I am simply not reading Barron’s anymore. I am not sure their opinions and information are relevant to me any longer, as I drift more towards index investing rather than picking stocks.
I think the LA Times has been excellent in the last year. Their features on water in California have been really informative and timely, and they also cover LA politics better than anyone else. Their oversight and reporting on government efficiency/management is absolutely necessary to a functioning city/county.
The NY Times frustrates me. I do not read their opinion pieces at all, because they anger me – especially David Brooks and Zeynep Tufekci. And I can’t imagine finding anything that Ross Douthat ever wrote interesting or thought-provoking. But the reason I dislike the NY Times is that I feel like their straight reporting is not straight. It often seems to have a pro-system or pro-police bias (here is a recent example). I simply do not wish to pay for that or read that slant regularly. It is irritating and skews one’s view of current events in ways that I believe to be harmful.
I also read newsletters from Noahpinion, The Browser, The NY Times environment, and I will occasionally read Talking Points Memo,
Calculated Risk, and Brad Delong. All of these are fantastic and fit for purpose.
Resolution: Stay with the LA Times and cancel the NY Times. Subscribe to the WSJ, and look for other sources of information. Track individual reporters better and pay attention to who I like and who I disklike.
Podcasts
I am currently subscribed to the following podcasts:
- Against the Rules by Michael Lewis – I am lukewarm on this podcast. It is good and I think his work is worth paying attention to, but it is not as frequently updated as I would like.
- Mother Country Radicals from Crooked Media – I really enjoyed this podcast. I listened to it while simultaneous listening to the audible book “The Radical King” by Cornel West. I recommend this, but I don’t know if there will be future content.
- The Ezra Klein Show – I like his content on policy, his discussions with authors, and just about all of his podcasts EXCEPT for the overtly political content. He is smart, I almost always enjoy the books he recommends or discusses and I think his guests are top quality, generally.
- The Drive from Peter Attia – I was super interested in this content, but now that I have listened to a hundred plus episodes, I think (a) I do not particularly like the host, (b) that he has blind spots that he is unbelievably unaware of, and (c) I am not sure that I have gained anything from listening to him. I do not need to optimize relentlessly. I just want to exercise regularly, eat well, and be active – and hopefully I will have a long life and retain my faculties as long as possible. It is not clear to me that I gain more by consuming this content.
- The Tim Ferriss Show – I admire Tim. I think he is smart and inquisitive. I think he is evolving in admirable ways. And, I think he has the common blind spots that someone who lived in Silicon Valley for too long has. I will continue to listen to the shows I am interested in, but will avoid the tech-heavy content he puts out.
- Volts from David Roberts – I am interested in renewables and will continue to listen to this content occasionally. It is informative, but can be a bit slow and tedious at times.
- Smartless – this is new to me and I haven’t listened yet, but it was recommended by someone I trust and who knows me decently well.
I could try to find more and maybe should go back to some podcasts on China, history, or finance.
Resolution: curate content more ruthlessly and only listen to shows you are very excited about. Listen to more music!