Accounting for the stuff I regularly read, watch and listen to.
Think about media as a form of food.
Media is a consumable good that serves as a prominent structural component and focal point in our daily lives and social norms.
Similar to nutrition, we under-utilize and under-value media inputs as crucial levers that impact health, perspective, emotions and behavior.
The present-day media environment also presents us with a version of The Omnivore’s Dilemma (an excellent book by Michael Pollan that changed the way I eat, and think about, food — highly recommended!) in which we’re not very restricted in terms of consumption, while at the same time we have a staggering selection of options available, 24-hours a day, often right at our fingertips.
Finally, like processed food, media can be comprised of ingredients, sources and context that’s not apparent on the surface. For example we don’t see (and usually don’t want to see) how Costco chickens keep getting bigger while the price remains only $4.99. Similarly, we don’t see (and usually don’t want to see) who’s behind that article in our News Feed from an unfamiliar website that fans the flames of our political tribes.
Therefore, it’s crucial for our health to strategize and develop healthy media consumption habits as we would design a nutritious diet.
To that end, in this post I lay out a general set of media consumption principles I’ve developed over the past few years along with a list of the staples in my media diet.
I hope this gets you thinking about your own media diet and gives you ideas for new places to eat information.
Media diet principles
Minimalist: Ruthlessly limited to select trusted sources.
Diversified: I trust these sources to collectively offer a balanced and diversified portfolio of perspectives that spans the spectrum, with a mix of conservative and liberal biases. More importantly, I heavily weight brand quality and topic variety.
Calm contrarians: Instead of hot takes and mob mentality, I want my sources to explore the other side in a thoughtful and respectful style.
People who change their minds: This usually means they’re listening, learning and adapting.
Long-form and complex: Soundbites, headlines, 2-minute vetted interviews, talking heads yelling over each other — all eliminated (unless we’re talking sports!). I consider all that stuff as an obsolete form of media that glosses over nuance, obscures perspective and cripples our learning. Instead, I try to read articles and listen to people who take the time to dive into the complexity of the issues. This means lots of long-form stuff on dense topics from deep thinkers. Podcasts are perfect for this. They’re a unique opportunity to hear directly from really smart people, usually unedited and off the cuff. More importantly, podcasts usually give those really smart people the essential time to delve into all that nuance, and truly explore and explain the issues. This kind of access is also one of the reasons I like Twitter so much. Access to really smart people who I would never normally get to learn from. Another great channel for this: books.
Non-perishable: I’ll scan the daily news but the real story is usually only revealed after the dust has settled. That’s one of the reasons I prioritize The Economist (a weekly publication) and classic books that stand the test of time.
Weird stuff that’s off the beaten path
Media diet staples
The Economist weekly print edition and daily Espresso news briefing. A global perspective with clear and concise analysis of wide ranging topics. My MBA economics classes assigned articles from The Economist that helped convey course concepts, and I’ve been a subscriber ever since.
Stratechery is a blog by Ben Thompson that “provides analysis of the strategy and business side of technology and media, and the impact of technology on society.” I devour the free Weekly Articles and happily pay for the subscription to his three Daily Updates per week.
Marginal Revolution is the super nerdy and fun “blog of Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok, both of whom teach at George Mason University…ranked as the best or one of the best economic blogs on the web, but it is more (and less) than that, also representing the quirks of its authors.”
Twitter is one way I try to add weirdness and diversity to my media diet. It’s a constantly evolving mess, and also another unique access point to really smart people.
Books: I try to read at least 20 pages a day and at least two books per month. I also try to only read great books that leave me inspired and enlightened. It’s a mix of non-fiction and fiction, though it’s usually more of the former.
Daily News Service: At work we get a news clippings email that offers a good sampling of local and industry news. I scan the clippings every day and dive into the stories that jump out at me.
TV: NBA games in season. Otherwise not much TV.
Spotify: For music escapes and variety.
Podcasts: I listen to an episode or two every day from:
- What’s News: Daily news from the Wall Street Journal
- RadioLab: Investigating a strange world
- The Bill Simmons Podcast: Sports and pop culture
- Conversations with Tyler: Tyler Cowen engages with today’s most underrated thinkers in wide-ranging explorations of their work, the world, and everything in between
- Freakonomics: The hidden side of everything
- Hardcore History by Dan Carlin is the world’s coolest history class. The shows are infrequent but they’re absolutely epic. I listen to some episodes over and over.
- The Joe Rogan Experience: A long form conversation hosted by comedian Joe Rogan with friends and guests that have included comedians, actors, musicians, MMA fighters, authors, artists, and beyond. (The great thing about this show is the quality of the guests, and the safety of the space. I only listen to the interviews with crazy smart people who I’d never normally have the privilege of hearing from. Even though Rogan isn’t a particularly skilled or expert interviewer in the traditional sense, he’s created a safe and open forum where guests feel comfortable being themselves and speaking honestly. This contrasts with a more traditional journalist’s interview, where both sides have an agenda and probably have their guards up. Whatever the show lacks in structure, professionalism and ability to press its guests, the show makes up for with honesty, objectivity, range and whimsical depth.)
Previous staples that have now been eliminated: Facebook, Instagram, TV News, talk radio (NPR), Netflix, Marketplace, Planet Money, exogenous articles on unfamiliar websites presented by algorithms.