Consume better in 2020: The NEXT team’s digital media recommendations
Make your resolution for 2020 to consume better, more challenging and more insightful media. Here's some recommendations to get you going.
As we enter a brand new year, there’s an easy resolution to keep: consume better media. Late last year, Martin Recke gave us his recommendations — so here’s a few more from others in the NEXT team.
And we’ll devote an entire post to books tomorrow.
Podcasts
Photo by Matt Botsford on Unsplash
Martin Ivanovs recommends the Tim Leberecht episode of the Heja Framtiden podcast, saying “Tim is a really smart guy”.
Ina Feistritzer recommends “Team Human” by Douglas Rushkoff.
“Team Human is a podcast striving to amplify human connection. Rushkoff’s energy is as present on air as it is live on stage and his choice of guests is inspiring if you want to learn about agency, social issues, and what makes humans special.”
I recommend Polarised by the RSA and The Ezra Klein Show from Vox. They’re both serious, intellectually demanding shows, which are prepared to embrace and debate with points of view very different from their own. I feel like a better, more informed person after I’ve listened go them.
Video
Martin recommends this video series from — of all people — Mailchimp:
”This video format was initially my idea!”
Ina really enjoys watching talks and documentaries — preferably about the universe (James Beacham) or unique personalities – famous or not.
“Lately I was impressed by the many things I didn’t know about Bill Gates, which were revealed to me by Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates (Netflix). Apart from that I enjoy crime series like Skylines or Élite. “
As I’ve been worthy elsewhere, I’m going to go for guilty pleasures in video. I do enjoy The Grand Tour, Amazon’s car show (more or less), starring ex-Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Despite not really being a car obsessive, I find the show always visually stunning — and inspiring shot — and enjoy the banter that very much that of three British blokes down the pub. However, their own media brand, Drivetribe, is worth watching, especially when they’re prepared to surprise and challenge their key audience like this:
I also get a lot of value from Spend More Time In The Wild, a YouTube channel about getting outdoors, walking and the heath (and mental health) benefits that come with it. A useful antidote to a working life spent largely in front of screens.
Social Media
Martin is a fan of the ‘gram, and realpostillon in particular:
”German satirical media, deeply funny, political and wise.”
Ina is a heavy LinkedIn user.
”People who are sharing interesting stuff are for example Azeem Azhar, David Mattin, Tim Leberecht, Steven Bartlett and Kristina Bonitz. Plus I benefit from the updates of Amy Webb, Monique van Dusseldorp and Benedict Evans.“
I’ve actually been in withdrawal from social media somewhat this year, and some of my favourite reads have also pulled back — including Euan Semple — which means I’ve been getting less interesting material via social media. So, instead, I’m going to recommend Nuzzel, which allows me to extract value from my social feeds without having to spend too much time there.
I’d also recommend micro.blog — a small, blog-inspired social network that was built from the ground up to avoid the problems of the big social networks. No follower counts! No likes! You’ll find me there a lot.
If you have any recommendations, feel free to drop us a line.
Lead Photo by Siddharth Bhogra on Unsplash