Why (& how) to Stay Informed

While Remaining Calm (ish)

Over the past few years, I know that many people have stopped reading, watching and listening to the news because it is just too upsetting. I am sure there are many more people who have done so over the past week. I am often on the other end of the spectrum and I know I could benefit from dialing back my news consumption. When bad things happen I can’t get enough. I keep the TV on during the day. I listen to NPR in the car. I constantly scroll Twitter where I follow mostly journalists, teachers and authors.

So while I could deal with consuming less, there is also a risk to consuming nothing. In the week between Christmas and New Years, I did a fairly good job of staying away from the news and I realized something interesting. In doing so, it was pretty easy to forget that there was a pandemic killing over 3,000 Americans a day. If I was always in this place, I might be making different decisions about how to go about my day to day. In doing so, it was also pretty easy (and frankly very relaxing), to forget that Donald Trump and his followers were continuing to deny the results of a free and fair election.

If I was able to forget and miss that much news in one week, think of how much information countless smart, thoughtful people have missed over the past four years in order to (understandably) protect themselves from anxiety.

I believe we have to find a balance between consuming too much news and consuming nothing. We have to stay informed while protecting our mental health. I am writing this as much to remind myself to consume smartly as I am to encourage others to plug back in.

I find that podcasts are a really great way for me to get my news. I listen while doing the dishes, folding laundry and wiping down the counters in the morning and while walking Daisy in the afternoon. While multi-tasking doesn’t always work for me, these combos do. Below are the podcasts I listen to nearly every day/week that provide researched and accurate information without trying to scare the pants off of me.

I listen to NPR’s Up First podcast nearly every morning. I love that it is super short (less than 15 minutes) and covers the headlines in a straightforward, simple to understand way. In ‘normal’ times (remember those?!), Up First might be all I listen to before moving on to my favorite bookish or pop culture podcasts.

When we are in crazy times (so almost every day these days), I also listen to at least a portion of The Daily each morning. This podcast also focuses on the headlines but goes more in depth with certain stories than Up First does. I’m not sure what this says about my attention span but at a little over 30 minutes, sometimes The Daily feels a tad long but I always feel more informed after listening.

I have been listening to Pantsuit Politics for a long time. Initially one of the co-hosts was a Democrat and one was a Republican. They are both now registered Democrats but they continue to focus on having ‘grace filled, nuanced conversations’. Sarah and Beth release a new episode each Tuesday morning. Today’s was great.

I’d love to grow this list so please let me know how you stay informed while remaining calm (ish).