The Media, like the 20th Century, is Over

Covid, Biden, Israel and Crime all share something in common

Howdy, I’m trying something different for this essay. I recorded the podcast first and then slammed in an AI-condensed transcript below. It doesn’t sound or read like me at all, which is great because AI is pretty awful and it’s coming for us.

I recommend giving the pod a listen, AI can’t compare to my literary style, but I’m a huge reader so I get if you prefer to keep going here. Thanks for your time!

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Rethinking the Media and the Modern Left

I’ve been reflecting a lot on misinformation—not just the kind we associate with Trump, but also from mainstream media, especially since COVID. The coverage around Biden’s cognitive abilities, COVID risks, crime, and Israel have often been false or so biased as to be useless.

The COVID and Biden Narratives

Mainstream media’s handling of COVID was a breaking point for me. We were bombarded with statistics, panic-driven headlines, and very little clarity about actual risk—especially for healthy, younger people. Important distinctions, like how obesity or comorbidities shaped outcomes, were underreported. Meanwhile, the hysteria around children and school closures dominated coverage without much scientific backing. As someone who’s highly plugged into the news, I still couldn’t get an accurate picture.

The same applies to Biden. I voted for him, and I think he’s a decent man. But the insistence that he was physically and mentally fine—until a live debate made the reality obvious—felt dishonest. Media figures, even respected ones like Ezra Klein, vouched for his sharpness. But it shouldn’t take a national debate for the press to acknowledge what’s evident.

Crime and the Media's Blind Spots

Crime, especially in New York City, is another issue where reporting feels sanitized. Violent crime is up, particularly on subways, yet the New York Times and others bury that reality beneath statistics about “overall crime” being down. I even contacted a reporter who dismissed my concerns. Why is it so hard to report what's plainly visible?

There’s also a strange reluctance to mention the demographic patterns of crime, even when they’re visible to any subway rider. It seems the media’s fear of being labeled biased outweighs its commitment to accuracy.

Israel and a Skewed Lens

Coverage of Israel has been warped for years. The mainstream media portrays a simple good-versus-evil narrative: Israelis as oppressors and Palestinians as victims. This misses a complex history and reinforces outdated tropes. It also ignores Israel’s context—its geography, security needs, and the internal diversity of its own citizens.

Dan Senor’s Call Me Back podcast is a great counterpoint. He interviews Israeli journalists with deep local knowledge—something legacy American media often skips. Why aren’t U.S. journalists doing this? Why does a finance guy turned podcaster provide better insights than an entire newsroom?

A Legacy Liberalism That Hasn’t Evolved

The underlying issue might be that liberalism—specifically mainstream liberalism born from the Civil Rights era—hasn’t evolved. In the 1960s, it had clear values: equality, anti-segregation, peace, and fairness. But today’s liberalism has become inert. It doesn’t focus on modern issues like affordability, infrastructure, and public safety.

In place of values, we now get an obsession with multiculturalism, which often boils down to symbolic representation without substance. Obama became the ultimate symbol of this multicultural ideal—Harvard-educated, articulate, and safe for the establishment. Yet his policies, while symbolically powerful, didn’t transform the economic realities of most Black Americans.

Hollow Multiculturalism and the Loss of Moral Clarity

Today’s multiculturalism feels empty. It emphasizes diversity, but without defining clear values. Is it about skin color? Language? Geography? Certainly not economic class or viewpoint diversity. And this vacuum—this lack of moral compass—is dangerous. Without a belief in universal equality and right versus wrong, liberalism is vulnerable to ideological capture.

Religion, particularly monotheism, offers a framework for equality: no one is divine, all are created in God’s image. Even if you’re secular, you benefit from these moral structures. They help us understand that morality isn’t relative—it’s about how people choose to behave. And yet, the left refuses to speak in these terms anymore.

A Vacuum Filled by Political Islam?

One disturbing trend is that this moral and ideological vacuum is being filled by something dangerous: political Islam. I wish I had a better term—maybe “totalitarian Islam”—but it’s clear that liberalism’s weakness is being exploited. Look to Europe: Muslim migration has created serious social tensions, and in some places, Islamist ideology has co-opted multicultural rhetoric.

This isn't hypothetical. ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas have made their intentions clear. They’re not subtle about their goals, which often clash violently with liberal democratic values. Yet, the Western left sometimes seems more sympathetic to these movements than to liberal democracies defending themselves.

The post-October 7th reaction was telling: protests on college campuses, widespread sympathy for Hamas-aligned rhetoric, and zero appetite for a peace movement. The civil rights-style “give peace a chance” liberalism is gone. What we see now is sectarian, militant, and morally absolutist.

The Left's Crisis of Purpose

So what does the modern left stand for? If its only unifying value is diversity, then it’s hollow. It has no real plan to address the pressing issues most people care about: safety, prosperity, infrastructure. It's too busy chasing ideological purity to focus on tangible outcomes.

And because of this hollowness, the left is being abandoned by the very voters it claims to represent. Increasingly, minority voters are moving toward the right—not because they’re brainwashed, but because they’re smart. They want safety, prosperity, and opportunity. And right now, they’re not getting that from the Democratic establishment.

The Media’s Obsolescence

This also explains why legacy media has become so unreliable. It’s stuck in a worldview from decades ago, still trying to fight the last war. Its inability to adapt has destroyed its credibility, and newer platforms—podcasts, Substacks, independent journalism—are filling the void.

The Wall Street Journal, in my view, is a rare exception. It still delivers news with substance and rigor. But the New York Times, NPR, and other legacy outlets? They're just not serious anymore. They’ve become echo chambers for an outdated ideology.

The Bigger Historical Picture

Historically, America has successfully battled fascism and totalitarianism—first in World War II, then in the Cold War. Both were existential threats, and we won. Now we face a new ideological struggle: political Islam. And we’re losing—not on the battlefield necessarily, but in the arena of ideas.

9/11 was the inflection point. It should’ve made clear the stakes of this new conflict. But we quickly forgot. Now, with the left entangled in cultural navel-gazing, the field is wide open for ideologies that are far more dangerous and deeply illiberal.

Where We Go from Here

So what should we do? First, stop relying on mainstream media for truth. Diversify your sources. Support independent journalists. Subscribe to platforms that challenge groupthink.

Second, re-engage with values. Not slogans or symbols—values. Equality, truth, prosperity, peace, safety. Rebuild a moral framework rooted in reality, not ideology.

Third, understand the shift in voter behavior. Minority voters moving right isn’t a betrayal of liberal ideals—it’s a rational response to a system that no longer serves them.

Finally, break free from partisan thinking. If you can be politically unaligned, you can be a more informed, more powerful citizen. That’s the essence of a healthy democracy.