Why stepping outside our media comfort zones makes us smarter and less tribal.
No, Not Everything Was Better Yesterday
How nostalgia tricks us into thinking the past was better than the present
As kids, bubbles are great. Making them. Catching them. But as adults, bubbles suck, especially when you live in one.
With the demise of the monoculture, the growth of TV channels from 5 to 500, and niche content creators spread across all mediums, many of us reduce the clutter, prefer to be unchallenged, and live in bubbles.
A friend of mine is a middle-aged conservative from Pennsylvania. We don’t agree on much, but we both love baseball (me the Mets, him the Phillies) and Star Wars.
Last year, I told him I couldn’t wait to watch the new series “The Acolyte” on Disney+. I binged it quickly, and he eventually got around to it at his own pace.
When the show premiered, centered on a former Padawan reuniting with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of murders, the toxic fan base and the more conservative corners of the galaxy revolted against the idea of a female protagonist and antagonist, plus a subplot involving lesbian space witches. (You’ll have to watch it – it makes more sense than I can explain here.)
So, as you can imagine, I couldn’t wait to hear my friend’s take. When he finally watched it, I asked, “Well???” expecting a roast.
And he said… he liked it.
WHAT? I was waiting for a Ben Shapiro–level takedown, a monologue about the end of innocence, and a call to make Star Wars great again. But no. He liked it.
I asked, “Didn’t you hear all the scuttlebutt?” He said no. He does consume conservative media, but he doesn’t live in a conservative bubble.
I was mildly disappointed – I do enjoy riling him up – but I was also relieved that his bubble didn’t prevent him from enjoying the show or clouding his judgment. That’s the danger of never straying from bubbles.
Whether it was toxic fandom or low viewership, Disney quietly pulled the plug on a second season of “The Acolyte”.
Here’s an example in reverse.
Another friend of mine has a son, and they joined a group of us at a pool party. Randomly, the new live-action “Lilo & Stitch” movie came up – I have no idea how.
This young man lost his mind talking about how “woke” the new version was, bringing up plot points that had enraged the same conservative bubble. I was unaware of the backlash and didn’t have much to add, so I asked, “When did you see the movie?”
He replied, “I haven’t.”
Since my wife keeps an eye on me when hot-button topics come up, I had to sneak in a follow-up: “If you didn’t see it, how do you know so much about it?”
He said he had read a breakdown of the “woke” moments on Facebook.
There goes that bubble.
Full disclosure, I have no idea if Stitch is woke or not, but the online outrage didn’t slow down the little blue alien. The movie has already grossed over a billion dollars at the box office, making it one of the biggest hits of 2025.
This isn’t a red problem or a blue problem. This is a we problem. Tribes are good. Being tribal is not.
We all have our comfort foods, but let’s not stick only with our comfort podcasts, social media accounts, or TV networks. Every once in a while, mix it up. I’m not saying you have to totally change what you watch or enjoy, but poke around.
If you always watch CNN, turn on Fox News a couple of times a week. If you only read the New York Post, flip through the New York Times once in a while.
Let’s pop some bubbles. And grow.
