This is my fifth annual audit of the food I feed my brain, except for books (the most important ingredient for brain health, which you can find here). For comparison, my prior Media Diets are available here: 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019.
“Less is more” is the key principle guiding my Media Diet strategy. Other principles, like “read what your mentors and favorite writers [or just smart people] read,” are covered in the past Media Diets referenced above.
I have three big recommendations for you to incorporate into your Media Diet strategy: (1) abandon social media, (2) listen to EconTalk, and (3) prioritize books, especially old books.
Here are the staples and key elements of my 2023 Media Diet:
- No social media. I uninstalled the apps from my phone in 2022 and they remained off in 2023. I occasionally check LinkedIn (in the browser, not the app) but usually only in response to messages or connection requests.
- The Economist. Weekly print edition and daily morning briefing emails.
- EconTalk, “conversations for the curious” is a podcast hosted by economist Russ Roberts. Hands down my favorite podcast, and favorite item on this list.
- All-In (podcast): Industry veterans, degenerate gamblers & besties Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks & David Friedberg cover all things economic, tech, political, social & poker.
- Honestly with Bari Weiss (podcast): The most interesting conversations in American life happen behind closed doors. We’re prying them open.
- Conversations with Tyler (podcast) Esteemed economist Tyler Cowen engages with today’s most underrated thinkers in wide-ranging explorations of their work, the world, and everything in between.
- The Ryen Russillo Podcast (podcast): A weekly breakdown of “the biggest topics in sports.” I just listen to the episodes on the NBA. The life advice segments at the end of each episode are also hilarious and fun.
- StrongFirst newsletter, with tips and articles on strength (soul) training
- Sinocism – Get smarter on China (newsletter). I subscribe, but I rarely read the emails anymore. This one might not make it to the 2024 Media Diet.
- A handful of daily news articles on energy and utilities from the media team at my work.
- TV (but try not to watch too much or make it a habit): Mostly Suns games and NBA League Pass in season; some shows, like Succession, which was excellent; a handful of movies, including the staple Wolf of Wall Street on repeat.
Some honorable mentions – mainly podcasts that I still follow but rarely listened to – include:
- The Joe Rogan Experience
- GoodFellows: A weekly Hoover Institution broadcast, features senior fellows John Cochrane, Niall Ferguson, and H.R. McMaster discussing the social, economic, and geostrategic ramifications of this changed world.
- China Global: Bonnie Glaser’s China Global podcast on Chinese foreign and security policies decodes Beijing’s ambitions as they unfold.
- The Little Red Podcast: Interviews and chat celebrating China beyond the Beijing beltway from the University of Melbourne’s Horwood Studios. Hosted by Graeme Smith, China studies academic at the Australian National University’s Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs and Louisa Lim, former China correspondent for the BBC and NPR, now with the Centre for Advancing Journalism at Melbourne University.
- The Bill Simmons Podcast: Sports, media and pop culture. I just listen to episodes on the NBA.
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe here and I’ll send the latest posts right to your inbox.