It’s not simply the media’s bias — though, as I confessed to Unexplainable’s Meradith Hoddinott, that’s undeniably part of it. After almost 25 years in journalism, I’ve discovered that the press is essentially a watchdog, conditioned to bark loudest when issues go incorrect. However there’s additionally a deeper purpose: our personal negativity bias. People are hardwired to deal with threats, an evolutionary adaptation that after stored us alive on the savannah however now leaves us doomscrolling by way of headlines.
Within the Unexplainable episode, Meredith and I explored this psychological quirk, highlighting tales of real progress that normally slip below the radar. Like this one: regardless of fears about rising crime, the homicide fee within the US is doubtlessly on observe to hit historic lows. And regardless of the worsening results of local weather change and the proliferation of billion-dollar disasters, fewer individuals globally died from excessive climate within the first half of 2025 than in any comparable interval on report.
Why highlight developments like these, which may really feel like the alternative of reports? As a result of focusing solely on what’s damaged can blind us to what’s fixable. Reasonable optimism isn’t naïve; it’s obligatory. It fuels the assumption that issues, even monumental ones, are solvable, which in flip evokes motion. And, as I’ve found writing the Good Information publication, this optimism can act like armor, serving to us face a difficult, typically scary future with larger resilience.
It’s why Good Information felt like a pure outgrowth of our work right here at Future Excellent, the place above all we wish to seize an correct view of the world as it’s — the unhealthy and the great. So, give the episode a hear — you’ll hear us break down the science of negativity and the underappreciated energy of hope. And, after all, subscribe to Good Information.
