How Are You Handling the News Overload?
A Saturday Prompt
The news since the clock ticked 2026 has been…a lot. I mean that both in terms of its quantity and heaviness. The illegal invasion and stated takeover of Venezuela and the shameless theft of its oil; the kidnapping of its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife; the point-blank murder of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent, as well as other shootings and abuses by this masked, lawless collection of federal thugs; the ugly threats to take Greenland; the arrogant threats of invasion against other neighbors in our region; the worsening conditions in Kyiv; the fifth anniversary of J6; the release of Jack Smith’s sobering testimony of his powerful evidence that Donald Trump would have and should have been convicted for his role in inciting an insurrection; the daily rantings of a narcissistic sociopath in cognitive and physical decline, largely unfettered by American law, international law and any version of morality or decency.
I could go on, but I won’t.
My purpose here is not to drown you, but to reflect on how we all can manage what is happening in Trump’s America (and beyond) that often makes it hard to find our beloved country. My task is likely different than yours: Amid all the madness, I try to identify the particular stories that I think demand a spotlight and then share observations and framing to help make sense of the usually senseless. That means ignoring other stories that either others have heavily covered (making my addition less necessary) or that seem less urgent. I can tell you that I often plan to write about one subject only for some other breaking news story to force me to shift my attention. The attacks on Venezuela, for example, led me to drop a plan to write in detail about Trump attaching his name to the Kennedy Center.
I always plan to deliver essays and other stories to your inbox every Monday, Friday and Saturday, along with occasional Substack Live conversations and recorded videos. But the onslaught of news has expanded that schedule. Over the last week, including last Saturday, I’ve shared news with you eight times. This prompt makes a nifty nine. And, I assure you, I think hard about whether a given piece beyond my usual cadence is necessary.
Some of you, I suspect, may find it too much. I welcome your comments if you do. And you should know that it’s not my plan to overload you; some weeks the heavy onslaught demands me to confront it and find a way to share what I’ve observed and digested that can be useful for your understanding. Honestly, most weeks are too much, but I make the decision to not inundate my dear readers. It’s also why America, America will be sharing more arts and culture writing—to take a breath, to look at our reality from other creative perspectives. (Note the new Arts & Culture tab on the America, America website that gathers together all such stories published to date.)
So all of that begs the question of this week: How are you handling the news overload? I’m of course not just asking about what I share with you, but all the news that you may absorb from whatever array of sources. Have your news habits changed, by watching less cable TV or dropping evening news broadcasts, for example? Has it helped to pare away some legacy media outlets that capitulate to Trump and publish or air increasingly unreliable views? Have you identified a finite number of trusted voices and largely stripped away the rest? And, beyond your news and information consumption, have you changed your daily activities to maintain your physical and mental health?
As much as I urge the America, America community to engage, confront and participate in what’s happening—so necessary to overcome this mad and fascist regime—I also hope that each of us is also paying attention to well-being. This is a marathon, not a sprint; I reminded myself of this when I took a week off over the holidays before the madness of 2026 rudely interrupted my all-too-brief vacation. (Vacation: “an extended period of leisure and recreation, especially one spent away from home or in traveling,” the dictionary tell us; or, I might add, a period of time not getting consumed by an overload of bad news.)
As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for this community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.
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I stopped tuning into American mainstream media 18 months ago. I am very selective on where I obtain my news and I turn off social media more often than not. I take the dogs for long walks in the desert and occasionally scream. No one cares what you do in the desert.
I have never been more grateful and proud of our professional and citizen journalists. We are nothing without them. We have to have this news. No I cannot take it and could not from day one but we are supposed to be an informed electorate. Thank you for using your smartphones. And all of the rest everybody. I cry every day.