I am torn between keeping up with the news and getting overwhelmed by it (which I guess is nothing uniquely autistic), also because I don’t have a natural tendency to be interested in world news.
More background: Until I was in my late 20s, I have almost never watched or listened to the news, I was very naive about the world and had almost no background information that would have helped me to put things into perspective. Things changed when I moved countries for my studies and engaged with a research group which was very political and activist (mainly pro environment, anti racism etc). I had to catch up and since my own studies tried to stay on top of the news, listen to all things politics etc The problem is: My natural tendency to avoid the news hasn’t changed and I catch myself listening to a podcast episode but not paying attention, like I get the structure but not the details. The went ok for a while but since diagnosis, I am allowing myself to engage more with things I actually like to do or to learn about (eg listening to podcasts about space, murder mystery audiobooks, books and podcasts about autism etc) all taking up time and time away from staying engaged with the news because I use podcast as my go-to way to consume these. I start to feel socially obligated to stay on top of the news (because it could come up in conversation and I feel like I pictured myself as a political person over the last years so people expect me to know some things or have an opinion even though my natural state isn’t political) whilst struggling to find time for things I am more interested in.
This could be a niche issue, but I am wondering whether and if so how others keep up with the news, whether that’s a big deal, how do you make time for it and make sure it doesn’t pull you down (as of course most things are bleak today)