A clearer mind starts here
Every day we’re bombarded with headlines designed to provoke and entertain, not to explain or inform. The news distorts reality, fuels outrage, drains our attention, and affects our mood and mental health.
This is a place to think differently about the news. The ideas here are for anyone who wants to feel calmer, understand the world better, think more clearly, and live more intentionally in a world of constant updates. The same thinking runs through Skip the News, a book that began in a Swedish version and is now finished in a fuller English edition.
You are not alone. According to the Reuters Institute, around 40% of people now sometimes or often actively avoid the news, the highest level on record. This is not an opinion. It is a movement.
Why skip the news?
News gives you the illusion of knowledge
The world is better than the headlines suggest
News creates anxiety and distraction
You can stay informed without it
Youtube videos from TEDx Stockholm and Skip The News
“If more people did like Tobias and stopped following the news—or at least approached it with emotional distance—the world would likely be a better place.”
Posts
When your brain turns into a bad AI model
Last summer I took a course in AI, where part of the work was training models on data so they could learn patterns and make predictions. I did not expect it to explain what the news has been doing to everyone I know.
Your Stone-Age Brain on a 24/7 News Feed
Have you ever felt like you’re drowning in headlines? Every alert buzzing, every banner shouting, all of it certain that this is the thing you finally need to know. You tell yourself you’ll just check once. Forty minutes later you surface, vaguely worse, and you couldn’t say what you actually learned.
Why the news only shows you a slice of reality
The way we understand the world is shaped not just by what we see—but by what we’re shown. News media follow a specific logic for deciding what gets reported and what doesn’t. And what’s left out might be just as important as what makes the headlines.
How the media paved the way for Trump
I was sitting in the sauna after a swim, chatting with a friendly man from Nashville. After a while I dared to ask him if the United States is really as polarized as it seems. He sighed deeply and said, “You know what, it is probably worse than it looks.”
Are you taking part in the media’s manufactured battles of opinion?
The news presents itself as informative—but it isn’t. Its invented conflicts don’t empower us; they make us less capable of action and less truly informed. These manufactured opinion wars are fought by volunteers. You can opt out.
DO YOU RELAX WITH THE NEWS?
We all want to feel informed and in the loop, which is why we spend so much time and attention on the news. Sometimes we engage with it in a calm and thoughtful way—but for many, it becomes more of a habit, something to pass the time. Sitting on the bus (or the toilet)? Might as well scroll through the news feed. You’re not doing anything important anyway, right? An efficient way to stay updated?
“Are you addicted to the news? Here’s the checklist.”
When diagnosing addiction, we often look for signs like withdrawal symptoms, loss of control, and increased tolerance. News addiction may sound less dramatic, but it’s not uncommon to let news consumption spill over into other parts of life, and it does affect your mood and health.
The Monthly Skip
A short monthly letter for people who are done with the daily drip. One idea from the book or the world around it, one thing actually worth reading, once a month. No breaking news, ever.