Dear Commons Community,

Ross Douthat provides advice today in his column entitled, How to Read in 2013?  He advises that 2013 will be an excellent year to expand our reading habits because it is non-election year in national politics and therefore the various media will be covering a broader menu of stories and topics.  He comments:

“It’s a year without a midterm election, and a year that’s as far removed as possible from the next presidential race. This means that for a blessed 365 days you can be a well-informed and responsible American citizen without reading every single article on Politico, without hitting refresh every 30 seconds on your polling-average site of choice, without channel-hopping between Chris Matthews’s hyperventilating and Dick Morris’s promises of an inevitable Republican landslide.  So use the year wisely, faithful reader. For a little while, at least, let gridlock take care of itself, shake yourself free of the toils of partisanship, and let your mind rove more widely and freely than the onslaught of 2014 and 2016 coverage will allow.”

He advises:

“First, consider taking out a subscription to a magazine whose politics you don’t share.

Second, expand your reading geographically as well as ideologically. Even in our supposedly globalized world, place still shapes perspective, and the fact that most American political writers live in just two metropolitan areas tends to cramp our ability to see the world entire.

Finally, make a special effort to read outside existing partisan categories entirely…

If these exercises work, they’ll make 2013 a year that unsettles your mind a little — subjecting the views you take for granted to real scrutiny, changing the filters through which you view the battles between Team R and Team D, reminding you that more things are possible in heaven and earth than are dreamed of by John Boehner and Harry Reid.”

Good advice but remember here in New York City we will be electing a new mayor in November!!!

Tony