On the menu today: Something of a stream-of-consciousness Jolt this morning, starting with contemplating how we can consume bad news in a troubled world and still keep our sanity and good cheer; what cults offer their members and how that relates to our current political environment; and Attorney General William Barr heads for the exit.
If It Bleeds, It Leads
One clichรฉ about journalism is, "they don't write articles about all the planes that land safely." Another is that news is defined by what is unusual and surprising — when a man bites a dog, not when a dog bites a man.
But if every time you tune into the news you hear about men biting dogs, and you never hear about dogs biting men, you start to think you live in a society with a scourge of men running around trying to chomp on canines, and that dogs rarely if ever bite men. If your news sources aren't being careful to maintain perspective, the process of trying to be more informed about the world around you can lead to you ...
Episode 160: The Principia... 
