Seth MacFarlane

Seth MacFarlane Instagram – Statistically, a sobering portion of the American population now gets their news from three places: 24-hour cable outlets, social media (TikTok especially), and podcasts. While all three offer diversities of opinion (both thoughtful and productive or distorted and destructive) that can supplement journalistic news outlets, they tend to put forth a disproportionate amount of just that: opinion. Not news. The blurred lines between the two are why I try to avoid the noise and get my news from printed journalism… and books.

Today’s information seekers work at a disadvantage, because they are inundated with an onslaught of unvetted information that none of us had to slog through in years past—so the temptation to just give up and seek an internet personality to distill it in a digestible way is understandable. But in an election year, it can leave a large swath of voters unarmed with the facts they need to make informed decisions. For example, you hear a lot of “What has Biden done?” Well, as it turns out, a hell of a lot. Passing legislation in an evenly divided Congress, particularly one in which one party is utterly beholden to the whims of one man, is nearly impossible. But with the very unglamorous, behind-the-scenes skill of a seasoned legislator, a remarkable amount of transformative legislation has indeed been passed. So rather than repeating “they’re both old and therefore the same”, I recommend turning off your screens and making the time to read (Better to do it now than after the election). And this informative yet kinetic and brisk read by Chris Whipple—which I enjoyed a lot—is a great place to start. | Posted on 30/Mar/2024 06:27:12