Fascinating conversation, thanks Joel. (“Turn it off” is right; I quit TV news going on four years ago and stopped following most partisan pundits as well. The air is much clearer and fresher now.)
Back in the 1960s, FCC chairman Newton Minow called television a “vast wasteland.” “When television is good,” he said, “nothing—not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers—nothing is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse.“ If he were around today, he’d add that cable news is the worst of the worst.
Honestly, even supposedly good television is a turnoff for me most of the time. There are so many wildly acclaimed shows with impressive writing and production. But television is a conspiracy for my attention, and I’d rather give it to books. I do like movies—in part because of the limited time commitment. Getting invested in a new television series is like starting a dating relationship.
I’d rather have more control over my time and attention; I’d rather read a book.
Such a fun interview! And this sentence, wow! - "The unified theory of my own being in the world is that I am most comfortable at a critical distance from things."
Fascinating conversation, thanks Joel. (“Turn it off” is right; I quit TV news going on four years ago and stopped following most partisan pundits as well. The air is much clearer and fresher now.)
Back in the 1960s, FCC chairman Newton Minow called television a “vast wasteland.” “When television is good,” he said, “nothing—not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers—nothing is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse.“ If he were around today, he’d add that cable news is the worst of the worst.
Honestly, even supposedly good television is a turnoff for me most of the time. There are so many wildly acclaimed shows with impressive writing and production. But television is a conspiracy for my attention, and I’d rather give it to books. I do like movies—in part because of the limited time commitment. Getting invested in a new television series is like starting a dating relationship.
I’d rather have more control over my time and attention; I’d rather read a book.
As an editor (and a reader), I second your emotion.
I “third” it! 🤓
Such a fun interview! And this sentence, wow! - "The unified theory of my own being in the world is that I am most comfortable at a critical distance from things."