We’re kicking off our new format with a deep-dive on a topic that affects most of us: How do we stay informed on what’s going on in the world without losing our minds or souls? No matter where we land on issues, this is a universal struggle because we all live in the modern world, and because we’re all humans.

How do we strike that balance between knowing what’s going on, and keeping up without falling into despondency? Or compassion fatigue? Or anger? Or aloofness because it’s all just. too. much?

We’re breaking up this one long conversation into three parts: What, Why, and How. In this episode: what. What is the news, really? What does it mean to “stay informed”?

Links From This Episode:

• Follow The Simple Show on Instagram
• Erin's blog, Design for Mankind
• Erin on Instagram and Twitter
• Tsh (me) on Instagram and Twitter
• Women’s Work, Tsh's new podcast!
• An interesting (old) essay on whether the news makes us dumb
• NPR
• Journalism ethics and standards on Wikipedia
• For any links and codes from our lovely sponsors, head here