Non-political reading for a calmer mind.
September 1, 2015 12:17 PM Subscribe
Suggestions for websites to read during a news/politics sabbatical?
I've been a pretty big news junkie for about the last decade, but I think it's time for me to take a step back. It's starting to make me upset and angry all the time. My mind seems to be constantly arguing with random strawpeople who aren't even there about whatever issue comes up that day. It's just not healthy.
But I do love reading things online. Especially to fill in those gaps throughout the day at work when our intranet crashes for the fifth time or something similar. News stories are great for this because they're relatively short, get a point across (usually) and when I'm done that's it and I can move on to something else.
Does anyone have suggestions to replace these sites while I clear my head for a while? Ideally places regularly updated with new stories so I'm not tempted to go back to the political blogs again. Metafilter is great for this sometimes, but the news posts have to be avoided. Longreads has some nice magazine style articles that aren't always news related, but they can also be a bit long sometimes when I just want a quick story. Any ideas?
I've been a pretty big news junkie for about the last decade, but I think it's time for me to take a step back. It's starting to make me upset and angry all the time. My mind seems to be constantly arguing with random strawpeople who aren't even there about whatever issue comes up that day. It's just not healthy.
But I do love reading things online. Especially to fill in those gaps throughout the day at work when our intranet crashes for the fifth time or something similar. News stories are great for this because they're relatively short, get a point across (usually) and when I'm done that's it and I can move on to something else.
Does anyone have suggestions to replace these sites while I clear my head for a while? Ideally places regularly updated with new stories so I'm not tempted to go back to the political blogs again. Metafilter is great for this sometimes, but the news posts have to be avoided. Longreads has some nice magazine style articles that aren't always news related, but they can also be a bit long sometimes when I just want a quick story. Any ideas?
You'll have to pay to get the full experience, but I always enjoy reading The Believer.
posted by dis_integration at 12:25 PM on September 1, 2015
posted by dis_integration at 12:25 PM on September 1, 2015
Boing Boing is good for quick hits of miscellany. The Awl regularly publishes good stuff, although there is some "news" here and there. The Toast is one of the best web sites going right now.
posted by General Malaise at 12:43 PM on September 1, 2015
posted by General Malaise at 12:43 PM on September 1, 2015
Any niche subject-specific magazine. Science news like Smithsonian Magazine, Scientific American Magazine (just skip the climate change stories and NEVER read the comments). Any hobby you do? Read their magazines/blogs.
posted by clone boulevard at 1:15 PM on September 1, 2015
posted by clone boulevard at 1:15 PM on September 1, 2015
Right there with you, friend!
Maybe this is too obvious, but McSweeney's is usually good for a quick apolitical read. I will always love The Rumpus. And Aeon is pretty good, too. Just make sure to keep something like Daily Puppy open in at least one tab in case you break your no-news streak and need to decompress.
posted by divined by radio at 1:33 PM on September 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Maybe this is too obvious, but McSweeney's is usually good for a quick apolitical read. I will always love The Rumpus. And Aeon is pretty good, too. Just make sure to keep something like Daily Puppy open in at least one tab in case you break your no-news streak and need to decompress.
posted by divined by radio at 1:33 PM on September 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks everyone! This gives me a lot of choices.
posted by downtohisturtles at 9:50 PM on September 1, 2015
posted by downtohisturtles at 9:50 PM on September 1, 2015
I love Brain Pickings, which tends to be more arts/literary/philosophy leaning. I've been reading it for years and I don't recall ever seeing any current events-type things on there and I don't really recall anything super political, either. I just went and checked the "politics" tag and it seems like any posts with that tag are mainly things that are centered around history (a JFK speech on poetry, Nadine Gordimer on freedom, correspondence between Einstein and W.E.B. Du Bois on race, etc.) It is a really lovely and interesting blog and always seems like a little sanctuary from the rest of the internet. I get the impression that Maria Popova deliberately tries to keep it away from current event-type things for just that reason.
posted by triggerfinger at 4:05 PM on September 2, 2015
posted by triggerfinger at 4:05 PM on September 2, 2015
Oh, I can't believe I forgot to mention Arts and Letters Daily.
posted by General Malaise at 7:38 AM on September 3, 2015
posted by General Malaise at 7:38 AM on September 3, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by andrewcooke at 12:23 PM on September 1, 2015