2025-02-12
Some thoughts on news sources, and a great creative interview link.
Trying to be very selective about how I get my news right now (i.e. not through social media). Current news sources (with subscriptions):
- Le Monde
- The New York Times
- Financial Times
- The Economist
Across these, it's possible to get a good, sober view of what is going on. Too many people right now are re-posting headlines which they are outraged about, despite not having bothered to read the articles underneath, and that contributes towards a really toxic disinformation environment. A good rule of thumb; if you haven't read and understood the whole article, don't post or re-post it. We each have to take responsibility for this stuff.
A lot of the current outrage seems to be directed at the New York Times, which is apparently giving the current US administration an easy ride. I don't think this is the case. While there are always going to be some questionable pieces in a paper that size, in aggregate, the New York Times is incredibly effective at providing a balanced, fact-checked view of what is going on. And that is their job; to provide information so that readers can make decisions. The minute the NYT becomes overly partisan, it is no better than Fox News. The facts are not on Trump and Musk's side, and it is impossible to read any reputable news source and come away believing that the White House's actions are anything other than illegal, unethical, and idiotic. Once again, if you haven't read the piece, don't shriek about the headline.
If you're baffled/scared/angry at the news right now, this Ezra Klein piece is very useful:
All this nonsense aside, for anyone who wants a really good deep-dive into writing, storytelling, and creativity generally, I heartily recommend Tim Ferriss's conversation with fantast novelist Brandon Sanderson. I'm not across Sanderson's work (excepting a period where I worked on an ill-fated movie adaptation of one of his YA novels), but he is great on the creative process:
Have a good one.