The internet is a buffet. If you wade in mindlessly, eating whatever you see first, not only will you feel sick, you'll miss all the best parts. That's been especially true in 2020, with the news in hyperdrive and so many of us stuck at home, doomscrolling our way through a global pandemic. To protect your mental health, you need a strategy for information consumption.
That's what we did this year and it helped - a lot. In this post we're going to share the principles we've used over the past 12 months to craft a good information diet, and give you the specific sources we found the most helpful. We're not making any prescriptions. Instead, our hope is that by adopting these principles, and mixing and matching some of our recommendations, you'll be able to create your own, healthier habits for the future.
The Information Food Pyramid
When it comes to information consumption, most of us have a food pyramid that looks like this.
At the bottom, all of the emails, messages, notifications, Whatsapps, etc. that pour onto your screen very day. This is what we call non-consensual information. It’s stuff that comes at you whether you like it or not. Once someone has your email address, or your handle or your phone number, they can grab your attention any time they want. We don't get a say on who gets to contact us or when that information arrives. This year, as the boundaries between our home and work environments disappeared, that was more of a problem than ever before.
Above that, there’s algorithmic information. This is primarily news and social media. Once upon a time, it may have made you better informed, or kept you connected to friends and family, but those days are long gone. The business model for this kind of content now relies almost entirely on grabbing your attention. This is information that is designed by editors and machines to be addictive, making us unhealthy, and corporations rich.
These two food groups make up the bulk of most people’s information diet. They're why so many people felt stressed out and overwhelmed by screens this year. Large swathes of the world's population spent lockdown fueling their brains with the digital equivalents of deep fried chicken, refined carbohydrates and corn syrup. The results, as we all know, haven't been pretty.
Above that, we’ve got consensual information. These are your email newsletters, your podcasts, the specialist publications, the things that require a deliberate choice to consume. They are chosen by you, and you can opt out of them any time. Instead of being optimized for attention they are designed for retention, and that means they’re a far healthier way to build knowledge.
At the top, the highest quality information of all, humanistic information. This is the really powerful stuff: fiction and non-fiction books, audiobooks, documentaries and longform podcasts. Fact-checked, carefully revised, and concerned with identifying the forces and patterns that make the world tick. This kind of information is often non-intuitive and lies hidden below the radar, dealing with longer time scales than the 24 hours news cycle or the quarterly report.
If you’re really interested in turning information into knowledge and ultimately, transforming that through a lived experience into wisdom, then these two food groups are essential. That doesn’t mean you have to suddenly subscribe to 20 newsletters or read 50 books a year. Rather it’s about being intentional, and prioritizing the kind of content that expands your mental horizons beyond the day to day grind of the industrial metronome.
The trick to having a healthy information diet is to flip your pyramid upside down. You want to be consuming mostly consensual and humanistic information, and fiercely protecting your attention against non-consensual and algorithmic information. More mind-expanding leafy greens, fruit and vegetables, fewer carb-heavy notifications and fast news.
For us, a healthy information food pyramid made all the difference. We didn't ignore the messages or turn off the news and social media altogether (that wasn't an option, given the general craziness and yes, the election). We weren't super strict either. There was a lot of falling off the bandwagon. Each time we did though we came back to base principles, using the pyramid as a guide. As a result we experienced the internet in 2020 not as a soul-destroying hellhole, but as an incredible resource for gaining deeper understanding about the world around us.
So here's our challenge to you for 2021. Why don't you see if you can improve your own information diet? There are no hard and fast rules. We're not going to give you a blow by blow account of exactly how to divide up your day, or how many hours you should spend on each category. This is not a strict dieting regime - that doesn’t work for food and it won’t work for information either. Instead the idea is to change your habits when it comes to information consumption and be more aware of the choices you are making when you give away your attention.
If you're looking for a place to start, here are some of the information sources our team found most helpful in 2020.
Newsletters
The Whippet
McKinley Valentine's fortnightly masterclass in whimsy is a serious contender for our favourite newsletter on the internet. We can't imagine life without it. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200 without subscribing.
Sentiers
The closest thing in both form and spirit to the 'information superhighway' section of Future Crunch. Curated by Patrick Tanguay, it's an eclectic weekly newsletter exploring technology in society, signals of changes, and prospective futures. Strikes gold in every single issue.
The Browser
Incredible quality of curation, and by far the most accomplished newsletter we know of. Editors, Robert Cottrell and Caroline Crampton must each have at least five clones to be able to sift through this much content, and some of the most amazing information diets in existence.
The Dispatch - The Sweep
One of the rare highlights of the US election was the Sweep, a pop up newsletter from centre-right newsletter pioneers, The Dispatch. Put together by Sarah Isgur, a long time veteran of multiple Republican campaigns, it provided something very rare: genuine insight.
The Dispatch - The French Press
Wondering what a right-wing, pro-life, pro-gun, born-again Christian can teach you about American politics? Everything. We learned more from David French than from a hundred journalists inside our filter bubble.
Nothing Here
Some yang to our yin. A fortnightly collection of links on culture, politics, ecological collapse, the climate crisis and the end of the world, put together by a gang of misanthropic radical lefty nerds from Melbourne. Capitalism is evil and everything is awful and this newsletter offers front row seats to the entire spectacle and we love it even though they're like our angry twins.
The Hypothesis
Annalee Newitz is one of the best science and technology minds alive, and recently started her own newsletter, a mix of "science news, rampant speculation, and thought experiments informed by history." Highly recommended.
The Science of Fiction
Maddie Stone's newsletter is an upbeat, fun and unapologetically nerdy exploration of her favourite bits of science fiction. Pitched somewhere between the level of a YA reader and a convention geek, it's a welcome relief each time it lands.
Freethink - The Future Explored
A weekly email guide to world-changing technology. 3-4 minute summaries on everything from vertical agriculture to brain machine interfacing - a good, accessible sense check for anyone interested in frontier tech.
Breaking Smart
One third of Venkatesh Rao's posts are irrelevant, one third are annoying, but one third are so mind-bendingly brilliant, prescient and on point they make the subscription worth every dollar.
NEO.Life
These guys are doing some of the best biotech journalism on the internet, and their fortnightly newsletter is a must for anyone who wants to make sure they're keeping up to date. Gold-plated science, highly accessible.
Atlas of the Future
These legends out of Barcelona have been our go to people for all things social impact. They profile small initiatives, from all over the world, that are trying to make the world a better place. An inspiration each time it hits our inbox. We've found a significant number of the charities we support via this newsletter.
Maker Mind
Anne-Laure Le Cunff, a neuroscience student at Kings College, came from seemingly nowhere to be everywhere this year. Her Maker Mind newsletter is a rare example of productivity advice without any hacks or bullsh*t. One of the best sources of new concepts anywhere on the internet.
News Items
A daily collection of links by news junkie John Ellis. The main focus is finance, politics and technology, and it's comprehensive. Can be overwhelming; we use it primarily to make sure there's nothing we've missed.
Fisted by Foucault
A new find, but one we're really looking forward to hanging out with. Geopolitical musings by writer, speaker, risk consultant, and "shepherd roaming the Dinaric Alps" Niccolo Soldo.
Publisher Weekly
Curated by the team at Ghost, our newsletter platform, this is a surprisingly useful collection of links, tips and news that's relevant for anyone in the indie publishing game. For anyone looking to navigate the brave new world of journalism.
Long Story Short
The FT's weekly roundup of good opinion pieces, and one of the best traditional media newsletters online. Mostly, we read this for the 'Best of the Rest' section, which is useful even if you're not an FT subscriber.
Non-Fiction
Laura Spinney - Pale Rider
One of the best decisions we made at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak was to read this definitive history of the Spanish Flu. Helped put everything that happened over the next nine months into perspective, and made us feel far less panicky about everything from masks to conspiracy theories.
Maria Konnikova - The Biggest Bluff
Psychologist with a PhD from Columbia sets out to become a professional poker player, and in the process writes one of the best explorations of the difference between skill and luck you'll ever read. Our best 'business' book of the year.
Sara Hendren - What Can a Body Do
This book changed our minds about disability. More than that though, it's an inspiring exploration of what it really means to be human (the answer might surprise you).
Marianna Mazzacuto - The Entrepreneurial State
She's one of the world's most influential economists, and for good reason. Along with Kate Raworth, she's got a torch and is showing us a clear pathway out of the darkness. If only more governments would listen.
Carlo Rovelli - There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness
This collection of essays by the legendary 'poet of physics' traces a direct line from the Greek philosophers to the 21st century via the Renaissance, with a helpful dose of politics and religion thrown in. It'll restore your faith. Masterful.
Rana el Kalioubi - Girl Decoded
A captivating memoir by the Egyptian-American visionary and scientist, providing an intimate view of her personal transformation as she follows her calling — to humanize our technology and how we connect with one another.
Glennon Doyle - Untamed
A circuit breaker that redefines so many of the stories women tell themselves about what it means to be a woman in the world. An invitation to the reader to become aware of the Kool-Aid women have swallowed, and to choose their own stories, to become 'untamed.'
Mitch Albom - Tuesdays with Morrie
A memoir about a series of visits the author made to his former sociology professor Morrie Schwartz, as he gradually dies of ALS. We love this book because it focuses on the simplest and most powerful lessons on how to live.
David Abram - The Spell of the Sensuous
A book about re-establishing a conversation in which we recognize ourselves in intelligent relationship with the more-than-human world, an essential component of restoring and regenerating life-systems on this planet. Stunning.
Fiction
Richard Powers - The Overstory
The most beautiful and devastating novel we read in 2020, an epic gut-punch of ecological truth, and perhaps one of the best things ever written about modern humans and their relationship to the natural environment. It will change the way you look at trees forever.
Madeleine Miller - Circe
Greek mythology, complex heroines, and a generous serving of adventure, bloodshed, betrayal, magic, and monsters. A wonderful story about finding yourself, and reclaiming your power, seamlessly woven into one of the greatest myths of all time.
Tamsyn Muir - Gideon the Ninth
By far the most fun we had during lockdown. Queer necromancers duel for lust and honour while searching for clues in a giant haunted castle in space. We'll never trust a skeleton again.
David Mitchell - Utopia Avenue
A psychedelic rock 'n roll ride through London's Swinging Sixties, courtesy of one of the most inventive novelists of our time. Made us feel like we were there (and forced us to start listening to the lyrics of songs again).
Amor Towles - A Gentleman in Moscow
OK we know we're late to this one, but it was worth the wait. The best kind of escapism, it took us into another time and another place and convinced us that civility still matters. Felt old-fashioned, in the best way possible.
Alistair Reynolds - House of Suns
A different form of escapism, this time across space and time. Strange, dark, mind-expanding space opera with one of the best final chapters ever (a rare thing for a genre that so often fails to stick the landing).
Adrian Tchaikovsky - Cage of Souls
More brilliance from an author at the height of his powers. Joseph Conrad meets Jack Vance via China Mieville at the end of the world, and shows us that even at the end of all things, life finds a way.
Podcasts
Invisibilia - Two Heart Beats a Minute
An unlikely crew band together to take on one of humanity's largest problems using nothing but whale sounds, machine learning, and a willingness to think outside the box. Even stranger, several of the world's most accomplished scientists seem to think they might have a good idea.
On Being - Resmaa Menakem ‘Notice the Rage; Notice the Silence’
Extraordinary. Colonialism, White supremacy, Black bodies, window dressing diversity, policy brutality, unconscious bias, it's all here, explained more clearly and compassionately in 45 minutes than in a thousand op-eds. This episode gave us a new perspective on race, inter-generational trauma and pathways to healing. Do yourself a favour and listen.
Reply All - Country of Liars
Convinced us that podcasts are the best format ever invented for investigative journalism. PJ unpacks the Q Anon scam, going right back to the beginning, and the message board trolls who started it. After listening to this, all the news reports about conspiracy theories took on a different hue.
Home Cooking - Chicken Butt Is Delicious (with Yo-Yo Ma)
“A riddle, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a tortilla.” This had us at tortilla! Tune in to some wisdom from the world’s foremost purveyor of cello-based delights, for a mellifluous conversation about memories and the power that artists have to provide comfort and community. It’s the kind of combined passion for food, music, and humanity in general. Fun, informed and um, tasty.
99% Invisible - The Great Indoors
Even before the pandemic hit, humans spent a lot of our time indoors. Emily Anthes looks at all of the ways our indoor spaces impact our health, and observes that there is so much we don't really know about the places we spend a majority of our lives.
Birds Eye View - Episode 7: Love-
A podcast by 18 incarcerated women in the Darwin Correctional Centre. language warning - NSFW or kids - all about love and sex in prison. Meet Naomi who had a boyfriend on the other side of the fence, find out what it means to be ‘gate gay’ and get to know some real love birds. A wild and endearing ride, from holes in mattresses lined with lunch meat to keeping love alive behind bars.
1619 - Episode 4: How the Bad Blood Started
A timely and excellent series. This episode, through the lens of family, highlights how Black Americans were denied access to doctors and hospitals for decades. From the shadows of this exclusion, they pushed to create the nation’s first federal healthcare programs.
Netflix is A Daily Joke
Choose your own adventure - NSF...ANYONE - the best comedy from around the world. If you don’t like what you hear, try another and then another. If you don’t laugh, then laugh at yourself. If you get upset, then think about it.
Brené with Sonya Renee Taylor "The Body is Not an Apology"
An interview that changed our perspective on body issues and body positivity. A re-frame from self-acceptance to radical self-love: the kind required to get off a social hierarchy determined by the size of your thighs or the color of your skin.
Science Rules - We Are All Science People
Bill Nye and his fellow science communication nerds lay down the reasons why science is awesome. What's not to love. Also the episode What Happens if You Fall Into a Black Hole with Dr. Priyamvada Natarajan, an expert on the strangest things in physics: warped space, dark matter, dark energy.
The Regen Narration - Come of Age
A go-to podcast this year. So many incredible humans, revealing the power of the land to heal and restore abundance when those that relate with it do so with humility and tenacity and listening. This episode is the deepest dive, on the regeneration of human culture represented by acknowledging the loss of elderhood and undertaking the journey to restore it.
Radiolab - Octomom
Look, we loved My Octopus Teacher… so if you’re into it, try a robot submarine that stumbles across an octopus settling in to brood, and when its human pilot goes back to visit her, month after month, what began as a simple act of motherhood emerges as a heroic feat that has never been equaled by any known species on Earth. Cool, weird and tentacled. We’re such suckers.
Websites
Emergence Magazine
Contender for favourite website of the year. A magazine that truly encapsulated the word 'regenerative' and introduced us to a whole new type of writing - stories about the timeless connections between ecology, culture, and spirituality. The best resource we've found for making sense of ecological collapse.
Granta
We only discovered it late in the year, so it's still too early to pass judgement but if our first impressions hold, we've struck a goldmine. It's a quarterly journal out of Cambridge that's been running since 1889, publishing the best in new literary fiction, memoir, reportage and poetry from around the world.
Neoma
We've been waiting for a while for the field of international relations to join the new media wave. This year we finally found not one but two brilliant publications. Neoma has more of an op-ed style, covering philosophy, governance, geopolitics, economics, technology and culture, and it's been excellent, especially on China...
Palladium
... and there's also Palladium, which explores the future of liberalism, governance, and society, through long-form analysis and political theory. Slightly more theoretical in tone, but just as accomplished. Both are highly recommended.
Grow
The standard by which all other 'sponsored' magazines should be measured. Ginko, a synthetic biology company, has spun this out as part of its marketing efforts, and it's brilliant. A space to highlight current endeavors, investigate neglected histories, and imagine collective biological futures.
NEO.Life
Another great biotech website, with in depth reporting and quality writing about the people, companies and ideas shaping the neobiological future. So many things we love - neuroscience, genetics, longevity, food, sex, biohacking, synthetic biology.
OneZero
They've consistently been interrogating some of the big questions in tech this year, and the quality has been top notch. A really good combination of news and opinion pieces.
Real Life
Our other contender for favourite new website. A magazine about living with technology (the emphasis is more on living). Evidently funded by some deep pockets because the editorial quality is incredible and they regularly pull in some of the best writers on the internet.
Rest of World
We were delighted when we heard about Sophie Schmidt's new publication, an effort to understand what happens when technology, culture and the human experience collide in places that aren't America and Europe. An important source of other voices, we've learned a lot.
STAT
Any time we needed a sense check on what was happening out there on everything coronavirus related, this was our first stop. Helped us wade through all the noise with fast, deep, and tough-minded journalism about health, medicine and life sciences.
Nautilus
One of the earliest publications of the science new wave, and still one of the best. They've had a particularly good run in 2020, publishing some of our favourite reads, including the Dawn of the Heliocene article which might be the single best idea we came across this year.
Longreads
It's been around for more than a decade, but we only really discovered them this year. In-depth investigative reporting, interviews and profiles, podcasts, essays and criticism. Their 'recommended reading' list is one of our most important online resources.
We know that's a lot of recommendations. We certainly aren't suggesting you add them all to your list! Hopefully though, we've given you an idea of just how wide and diverse the internet is, and how many wonderful things are out there if you're willing to dig a little deeper. The information superhighway is still awesome, underneath all the gunk. With a little bit of effort and dedication, you can make it sparkle again.
What did your food pyramid look like this year? And how are you planning to change that in 2021? We'd love to hear from you.
Thanks as always for reading, and we'll see you in a few days for the big one, 99 Good News Stories.
With love,
FC HQ
