Redefining My Reading - Embracing the Modern Age of Media Consumption

At times, I’ve felt a twinge of disappointment that I don’t read as much or as often as I’d like. The giants of philosophy, history, and technology had devoured volumes by this stage in their lives, a feat that seems beyond my reach. But then, I realised that my approach to media consumption is unique and satisfying in its own way.

For the past seven days, I have made it a point to note when I am listening to a podcast or audiobook, watching a YouTube documentary, or mindlessly scrolling through some technical post. The truth is that I consume information nonstop, but in different forms. Leopold von Ranke had no opportunity to have a group of intellectuals follow him around, piping various topics into his ears from around the globe in all his free time. His sphere of information was a fraction of what I could blare into my ears or burn my eyeballs with.

In addition to the wealth of information at my fingertips, most is free. The trope of a historian travelling to a library half the world over to consume a piece of text no longer holds—I do that daily in multiple languages. While I don’t physically turn pages in most of my consumption, I do so as an exception and personal treat rather than a requirement. In my pocket travels with me more knowledge the entire 19th Century could hope to have access to their whole lives.

The other unique benefit of this modus operandi is that I can curate my ecosystem in ways Immanuel Kant could only dream of. For every subscription to a liberal perspective, I can negate the bias with a conservative. I can equalise every subscription to theoretical physics with practical chemistry. That balance brings me so much peace and clarity.

Podcasts represent a small portion of my media consumption, but one that provides stats through PocketCasts. I wish I had kept stats from the early days of Juice and gPodder, but alas, this is all I have. I have listened to 176 days or 4224 hours of media in the past ten years. Between acceleration and silence trimming, I have “saved” 30+ days. I am eternally grateful to be alive at a time when that is possible.