I am not a reader of either the New York Times, or the Atlantic, as I have long found them both only present the view of the elites of our society, and both have served as the Propaganda Arms of the most dangerous tendencies in our society. (Support & cheer lead every war, and push agendas such as LGB rights in ways that divide & pits groups against each other.)
I am glad to see some people pushing back against this, but I fear that it is too late. One of the reasons every voice needs to be heard is that the voice that is unheard becomes more and more shrill (extreme) the less it is heard. When a community is stripped of its wealth, and its jobs are outsourced to Mexico the people left behind do not do well being told "learn to code". That some will become angry is to be expected, and not listening to that anger creates fertile ground for extremism. When people who value family are told that their rights are less than the "Trans Woman" it is only natural that they develop animosity towards "Trans Women".
The way to deal with these communities is the give voice to their fears, what is called in coaching "Level Three Listening" where you give voice to the feelings that lie below what is being said. (You are scared because you are loosing your job, and see no future for your family) What the media has done by their presentation of narratives is pitted workers loosing their jobs against immigrants. They have pitted families against LGBTQ people. This is neither required, or natural, and show lack of empathy on the part of the media. Reality is that many if not most families have LGBTQ family members who they love, and support. Giving an empathetic voice to those on the edges brings people together. Inflaming fear, drives us apart. What I have seen the media do the last 20 years is drive us apart.
The average Joe does not trust the mainstream media because they are not trustworthy.
Goebbels had the same problem when the Allies started bombing Berlin. Will the progressive Leftwaffe change? No, they don't have to. They are fully funded, and their propaganda machine is just taking a quick breather before the next election cycle.
I remember reading - and tremendously appreciating - both the Adolph Reed and the Hakeem (don’t remember name) / astrophysicist stories. (It would be great to link to them and other stories discussed in the show notes! As they’re still very much worth reading.) But I hadn’t realized that they were written by the same person. It was really interesting and revealing to learn that. And I loved hearing the insider report on what it felt like at the NYTs at the height of the recent madness. Personally, I’ve long since gone from holding the NYTs in high esteem to looking at it with bitter cynicism. But I recognize that they still do support some great work and reporters. It was great to gain some insight into that. Thanks to both of you for seeing clearly through the fog of culture war.
Thank you for kicking off this year, and year two of Lean Out, with such an intriguing interview. You have such a gift of making each episode feel intimate. It’s like being at a dinner party and discussing topics that are timely without fear.
Tara - In your conversation with Michael Powell you said that you feel the tide shifting in the right direction — i.e., that the mainstream media is beginning to recognize how its ideological stance is feeding polarization rather than helping it. (Please correct me if this paraphrase is not what you said or meant.)
Alas, I am not seeing movement away from ideological news reporting — at least not here in the U.S. Quite the contrary; in newsprint as well as on National Public Radio, the skewed reporting on any cultural issue continues to be blindly ideological, and as such, it is deeply dismaying because it locks in false and/or incomplete narratives which do considerable harm to our ability to understand one another.
Your attention to the polarizing media continues to be important. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for presenting Michael Powell.
I am not a reader of either the New York Times, or the Atlantic, as I have long found them both only present the view of the elites of our society, and both have served as the Propaganda Arms of the most dangerous tendencies in our society. (Support & cheer lead every war, and push agendas such as LGB rights in ways that divide & pits groups against each other.)
I am glad to see some people pushing back against this, but I fear that it is too late. One of the reasons every voice needs to be heard is that the voice that is unheard becomes more and more shrill (extreme) the less it is heard. When a community is stripped of its wealth, and its jobs are outsourced to Mexico the people left behind do not do well being told "learn to code". That some will become angry is to be expected, and not listening to that anger creates fertile ground for extremism. When people who value family are told that their rights are less than the "Trans Woman" it is only natural that they develop animosity towards "Trans Women".
The way to deal with these communities is the give voice to their fears, what is called in coaching "Level Three Listening" where you give voice to the feelings that lie below what is being said. (You are scared because you are loosing your job, and see no future for your family) What the media has done by their presentation of narratives is pitted workers loosing their jobs against immigrants. They have pitted families against LGBTQ people. This is neither required, or natural, and show lack of empathy on the part of the media. Reality is that many if not most families have LGBTQ family members who they love, and support. Giving an empathetic voice to those on the edges brings people together. Inflaming fear, drives us apart. What I have seen the media do the last 20 years is drive us apart.
That was quite good.
The average Joe does not trust the mainstream media because they are not trustworthy.
Goebbels had the same problem when the Allies started bombing Berlin. Will the progressive Leftwaffe change? No, they don't have to. They are fully funded, and their propaganda machine is just taking a quick breather before the next election cycle.
I remember reading - and tremendously appreciating - both the Adolph Reed and the Hakeem (don’t remember name) / astrophysicist stories. (It would be great to link to them and other stories discussed in the show notes! As they’re still very much worth reading.) But I hadn’t realized that they were written by the same person. It was really interesting and revealing to learn that. And I loved hearing the insider report on what it felt like at the NYTs at the height of the recent madness. Personally, I’ve long since gone from holding the NYTs in high esteem to looking at it with bitter cynicism. But I recognize that they still do support some great work and reporters. It was great to gain some insight into that. Thanks to both of you for seeing clearly through the fog of culture war.
Thank you for kicking off this year, and year two of Lean Out, with such an intriguing interview. You have such a gift of making each episode feel intimate. It’s like being at a dinner party and discussing topics that are timely without fear.
Tara - In your conversation with Michael Powell you said that you feel the tide shifting in the right direction — i.e., that the mainstream media is beginning to recognize how its ideological stance is feeding polarization rather than helping it. (Please correct me if this paraphrase is not what you said or meant.)
Alas, I am not seeing movement away from ideological news reporting — at least not here in the U.S. Quite the contrary; in newsprint as well as on National Public Radio, the skewed reporting on any cultural issue continues to be blindly ideological, and as such, it is deeply dismaying because it locks in false and/or incomplete narratives which do considerable harm to our ability to understand one another.
Your attention to the polarizing media continues to be important. Keep up the good work!
Congrats on the anniversary. Great episode!
Congratulations on your anniversary and happy new year! Thanks for your courage and all the great work you’re doing.