What I'm Reading Now

It's a good time to be well-read (and by "read" we now include podcasts). It's always a good time to be well-read, but now, as much as ever.

For news, I read: 

• The New York Times - skews liberal and media bias is a liberal blind spot, but they've put enough moderate conservatives (Douthat, French, Stephens, Brooks) on the opinion page--people who understand conservatism from the inside well enough to be trustworthy interpreters of the current political moment. Plus, Margaret Renkl. Plus, part of me still feels like a New Yorker. I subscribe to my local paper, the AJC, and I read their daily email digest of Georgia political news; but I only glance at the headlines and read an article or two a day as opposed to the 5-10 NYT articles I read each day.
• The Atlantic - I've subscribed to the Atlantic since I graduated from college--it was my first attempt at being an informed adult; consistently great reporting and writing on subjects that matter to me. It's where I first read some of my most-admired writer/journalist/essayists: David Brooks, Caitlin Flanagan, Sandra Tsing Loh, and William Langewiesche.

Substacks:

• Bill McKibben - one of my personal heroes; climate news from a pragmatic, progressive Christian environmental activist; the best source of information and commentary I have on the most important subject there is.
• Rebecca Solnit - her new column, Meditations in an Emergency, has been a welcome presence in my inbox; she consistently looks beneath politics for the human dynamics that are always under the surface; we are never, in Solnit's gaze, anything other than human beings; she is a relentless champion of things human beings need: community, kindness, and love.

Podcasts:

• Slate Political Gabfest - covers the news each week; the conversations always deepen my understanding of the week's main news stories; funny, too.
• The Dig - I need something in my feed that does class analysis; I'm still a capitalist; but a capitalist who doesn't take Marxist critiques seriously is a tool/fool.
• Poetry Unbound - Padraig O'Tuama's poetry analysis is the closest I can bear to listening to a sermon each week.

That's it. I read and study the Bible every week. I read one book at at time (right now, it's Ritual by Dimitris Xygalatas). I read poetry every week. I might tune into a few other podcasts depending on the topic. I have time for this reading because don't watch any movies or TV shows--nope, not ever; if I watch TV, it's live sports.

Would love to know what you read/watch to keep your mind fresh. Leave a note in the comments.