July 18, 2024

Living the dream with podcast and news radio journalist Julie Rose

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In this episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, host Curveball interviews Julie Rose, a seasoned radio journalist and podcast host. Julie shares her fascinating journey from working with NPR and SiriusXM to creating her own podcasts that tackle tough topics in a respectful and empathetic manner. Discover how Julie transitioned from her dream job in radio journalism to caring for her parents and eventually launching her own shows, Top of Mind and Uncomfy. Julie delves into the challenges of engaging with news that often feels overwhelming and biased, and offers insights on how to have meaningful conversations about controversial issues without feeling anxious or confrontational.
Please feel free to follow, rate, review, and share this eposode to as mny people as possible.
Connect with Julie Rose on social media: @i_am_julie_rose or email julie.rose@byu.edu.

Listen and subscribe to Top of Mind with Julie Rose here: https://lnkfi.re/TopofMind

Follow Top of Mind on social media @topofmindpod

Listen and subscribe to Uncomfy: Sticking With Moments that Challenge Us here: https://lnk.to/Uncomfy

Follow Uncomfy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncomfy.podcast/

Watch Uncomfy on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Uncomfy.Podcast

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26:51 - (Cont.) Living the dream with podcast and news radio journalist Julie Rose

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> Curtis Jackson>Welcome to the living the dream with Curveball podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate, and inspire. Today I am joined by podcast host and radio journalist Julie Rose. Julie has worked for companies like SiriusXM and NPR, but, you know, she didn't like how, you know, the news was just so crazy, and we all know that. So she decided to start her, top of mind podcast. And she just told me in the green room that she just launched another one, and they're still talking about uncomfortable stuff, but they're doing it in more of a respectful and better way. So, Julie, thank you so much for joining me today.

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> Julie Rose>It is my pleasure. That was a great introduction. You pretty much nailed it.

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> Curtis Jackson>Why don't you start off by telling everybody about yourself in your own words?

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> Julie Rose>All right. Well, I have been a radio journalist for 20 years, and I started off doing public radio reporting. So I was working for NPR, national public radio stations in Salt Lake City and in North Carolina, reporting on all the big news of the day, political and social and education and business. And I loved it. It was really, honestly, my dream job. About ten years ago, I felt like I was sort of at the, you know, I'm m like, this is it. Like, I found the thing I love to do, and it's to be a news reporter for radio. and right around that time, kind of unexpectedly, my parents back home in Utah started to need some more help. And I always knew that time would come, but I didn't know it would come as quickly as it did. So, I made the decision to leave that dream career behind and come back to Utah to be able to help my parents. And I'm so glad that I did be able to have that chance, the time to be with them. They have both since passed away. but that was a real. It was a wonderful opportunity and a blessing. And the upside of that was that as I came back to Utah, BYU radio was just beginning. Ah, a live daily radio, 24 hours of original content broadcast on SiriusXM satellite radio. And they needed some people to do some stuff, so I came on board and started hosting a daily live radio show, if you can imagine having it, having 2 hours worth of live interviews. So I would do six interviews, interviews every show. We would do that five days a week, every afternoon, and did that for seven years.

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> Julie Rose>So I spoke with more than 10,000 people on the radio, most of them live radio interviews about everything under the sun, all the news and information and what people were talking about, and really trying to have calm, thoughtful, informative conversations.

00:02:47.888 --> 00:03:19.717
> Julie Rose>the truth is, just like you alluded to in your introduction of me, I was burned out. by the end of that, I was over the news, like, so much over the news that I, you know, I'd spend. I'd come out on Friday, and I would, like, intentionally avoid all accident. No, I didn't want to look at the news. I didn't want to listen to it, I didn't want to hear anything about it, I didn't want to read it, and I would sort of be in my little bubble, and then I begrudgingly go back to work on Monday and have to, like, dig in again. And I was constantly looking forward to the next opportunity to avoid the news.

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> Julie Rose>And it was in that experience that I realized, I found out, actually, that a lot of us are like, that 40% of Americans actively avoid the news all the time, or at least some of the time. And I thought, well, does it have to be that way? I mean, I'm a journalist.

00:03:37.478 --> 00:03:40.126
> Julie Rose>Could I figure out a way to engage with the news?

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> Julie Rose>And could I figure out a way to, like, what is it that's making me not want to engage with the news? And could we create a podcast that would help people want to.

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> Julie Rose>I want to at least engage with these tough topics or have a way to engage with important issues that wouldn't leave me feeling depressed and anxious and angry, and confrontational, which is what the news felt like it was doing to me.

00:04:03.707 --> 00:05:25.887
> Julie Rose>so that's where we created top of mind, which is the podcast I've been doing for the last couple of years, where we take one topic each week, and it's an important topic, a tough topic, whether it's immigration, or, race relations, or, ah, family, gender roles in the home, all kinds of things we talk about, and we look for perspectives that are going to help us feel empathy and see that it's nuanced and challenge our own views a little bit and feel a little uncomfortable, even in the course of the episode, because we're taking the time to listen and engage with perspectives that maybe we haven't heard before or that we disagree with, and we're not trying to convince you to change your mind. We don't take a side on any issue. I just want everyone who listens to have that uncomfortable moment where they hear something that they don't agree with, and then you choose to keep listening and get to a place where you've got more empathy, more clarity, and hopefully feel a little bit more empowered. So that's what we've been up to for the last, last couple of years. That's what I've been up to. Me and my team, I say we, And I've learned so much in the process of this, of really trying to tackle this challenge that so many of us face where we want to understand, we want to engage with important topics, but it's just so hard to figure out how to do that and not just feel depressed and anxious all the time, you know?

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> Curtis Jackson>Yes, I do know.

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> Curtis Jackson>So, tell the listeners how you broke into radio journalism and podcasts, how I.

00:05:35.028 --> 00:07:39.529
> Julie Rose>Broke, how I got into it. All right, well, so I actually, I was working in public relations, and I was working in fundraising for a nonprofit, the American Diabetes association. Gosh, this is like 25 years ago at this point, and, I had just become infatuated with radio. Ah, radio journalism, radio storytelling. this was in the late nineties, early two thousands, and I was a poor recent college graduate, and I didn't have tv or cable, and so my entertainment was listening to storytelling and talk shows on the radio. And I was like, this. I mean, I was so obsessed with it that I thought, I wonder if I could do that, because that seems like an amazing job. So I, you know, through a friend of a friend, made a contact at the local community public radio station, a really tiny one in Salt Lake City. And just, you know, I bought some gear online. This was in the early, it was like pre eBay. I bought, I bought a mini disc recorder. I don't know how far you go back into the radio, world, Curtis, but this was like, before mp3 recording and digital recorders. There were these mini disc recorders, and I, bought one of those online in a little microphone and just sort of started messing around with a little bit of editing software. And, this local radio station was willing to let me be an unpaid intern and experiment. And I would go to city council meetings or cover the state fair, and if I produced something that was useful to them, then they would put it on the air, and I'd learn a little bit and then I'd learn a little bit more. And so I did that for about a year after hours, just kind of a free intern. I mean, I had a mortgage, so I couldn't just quit my job and go do this. But I, was in my late twenties, mid to late twenties at that point. But, yeah, I learned enough. And then there was an opportunity that opened up, so I started that job, and then that job led to the job in North Carolina. And then, like I said, I came back to Utah and was doing live radio. And then our management said, hey, why don't you do a podcast instead? And I said, all right, that can't be that hard, right.

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> Julie Rose>It turns out podcasting is so different from radio, and it's also really challenging in some different ways.

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> Curtis Jackson>Well, how do you feel podcasting is different than radio?

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> Julie Rose>casting is a lot more intimate, I think. there are, you know, with radio, you're sort of in the car. I think a lot of people still, I mean, the way we, most of us listened to radio was we were in our cars, right? And you're kind of in your car and you hear something, and maybe you hear, like, ten minutes worth of it, and then you got to stop and get out of your car, and then maybe you'll get back in. Right. I mean, some people might drive for hours and hours and hours, but, it always felt a little bit more like I always knew with radio that I wasn't gonna have people for a really long time, that I kind of always needed to be sort of, reminding people, here's what we're doing, and here's why we're doing it, and here's who I'm talking to, because I always figure people were joining me halfway through the conversation. Right. and it felt a little bit more like speaking to lots of people.

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> Julie Rose>Where podcasting, I've learned a, is when you're listening to a podcast, you're probably not, well, you're not. I'm sure you're not, like, turning it on and then walking away from it and then coming back to it and it's still playing, right. Like it's, on demand listening. So you turn it on and you're listening, and then when you need to go do something, you pause it, and then you come back to it, so you're fully engaged. and so it's a much more sort of comprehensive listening. I had the opportunity to tell, to really talk about complex issues in a way where I know people are sort of leaning in to listen rather than kind of leaning back and having me keep them company.

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> Julie Rose>So it's different from narrative journalism in that way.

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> Julie Rose>it's a different kind of journalism in that way where I bring you in at the beginning and I set this up, and I'm going to tell you different kinds of stories and help people share their experiences. But I also get the chance, like, I'm with you every episode, and you over time get to know me a little bit in that process. So that's been a challenge too, is to figure out how to be a journalist, but also connect directly as a host with my listeners, so that I'm a conduit, but I'm also part of the experience for them. And that's a lot different than the way I was approaching journalism.

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> Curtis Jackson>Well, what do you feel like the problem is?

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> Curtis Jackson>The main problem, of people avoiding certain news or divisive issues and discussions?

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> Julie Rose>Yeah, well, I mean, I can tell you what the surveys say. So there's this Reuters international, news, what are they called, the RNI, Reuters international news, outlet. Reuters is obviously a journalism outlet, but they have this institute, where they do these surveys. And they have been looking into this question of news avoidance for some time, both in the US and abroad. And, ah, like I said, in the US, 40% of news consumer of Americans say that they actively avoid the news, either certain topics or kind of altogether, or even just for periods of time where they're just like, I can't take it anymore. and then they ask why.

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> Julie Rose>And I mean, a lot of them are the same reasons that I could totally relate to. So, the news is depressing, it's overwhelming.

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> Julie Rose>It's all bad news all the time, right. I don't like the way it makes me feel. I feel hopeless or I feel anxious. and then another one that a lot of people say is that it's biased.

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> Julie Rose>It feels, and I think that can mean a lot of things. But I think for me, what I resonate with is the challenge of feeling like no matter where I go, most news sources are.

00:11:21.730 --> 00:11:32.466
> Julie Rose>Feel, most sources of information feel like there's some sort of underlying agenda that is telling me either my perspective is right or it's wrong.

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> Julie Rose>I don't like the way that feels. And, I also think that a lot of people feel like they don't exactly know where to get trustworthy news. So when we say biased, it means that we're not. We're told that you can't trust the news.

00:11:49.957 --> 00:12:01.086
> Julie Rose>We're told by our leading politicians that the news is biased. We're told by a lot of our favorite news outlets that other news outlets are biased, or that you can't listen to them because they don't know.

00:12:01.426 --> 00:13:53.642
> Julie Rose>And a lot of that is because the news industry has become so fractured that a lot of them have fully embraced. If you're a, progressive or a liberal, and you want to hear a liberal worldview on what's going on in the world, especially politics, then you're going to get your news from MSNBC or from the Huffington Post, for example. If you're a conservative or a Republican and you want to get your news from that worldview, because that's what you trust, then you can, you know, listen, watch Fox News, read the Washington Post editor, sorry, the Wall Street Journal editorial page. Right. So, to some extent it feels like it's become so fractured that it makes us feel like we don't really know who to trust and where to get the actual, like the full perspective from. And I think that's also part of why people avoid, because it just feels like I don't know who to believe. You know, I watch, I watch Fox and it says that this is how things are going in Washington and then I watch MSNBC and it says something completely opposite of that. And so like, I don't know, this is confusing. Maybe I'm just not going to pay attention. I think that's some of why people, avoid the news. But the biggest thing I think, honestly, is just that it feels like it's really bad news. And there is a lot of real hard news out there and a lot of times coverage, you know, news is intended, it's hard to make money, in journalism these days. And a lot of it right now has turned into sort of what's going to get the most clicks. And the fact is that what gets the most clicks is the stuff that makes you feel the biggest feelings and especially the biggest angry or scared feelings. And so, yeah, I mean, I will frankly admit that journalism has a bias for making you feel big things. And oftentimes that's bad news.

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> Julie Rose>It's not as exciting. You don't get as many clicks when you're telling a more nuanced story where there aren't clear good guys and bad guys and where, you know, there's, things are rough. But there's also people who are trying to make a difference in the world. Right. The good news stuff doesn't do as well is the bad news.

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> Curtis Jackson>Well, let's say you have somebody that you disagree with. Why would you even bother talking to that person when neither one of you are going to change your views even though you disagree?

00:14:27.052 --> 00:15:15.631
> Julie Rose>Isn't that, It's a great question. It's one that, I ask people a lot on my show and in fact, on this new podcast that we just launched, it's specifically trying to answer that question. It's called uncomfy and the whole notion is that we're talking people about a time when they encountered a perspective or a situation, a perspective that they really disagreed with, or maybe it was a situation where they really, they felt really outside of their comfort zone, and they chose to stay uncomfortable, to stay open, to stay curious, to not shut the conversation down, to not immediately get defensive and start arguing. And then we find out why. Like, what was the point? and a lot of times they'll say, and here's the thing. Here's what I've learned.

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> Julie Rose>Because, yes, in most cases, both parties are not going to change their mind. Right? So let's say it's something that I feel very, very strongly about. and I know that I'm speaking with someone who sees it in exactly the opposite way. really, if the goal of the conversation is for, is to try to convince the other person to come onto your side and change their mind, then there really is no point to having that conversation.

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> Julie Rose>Just don't, because it'll just be an argument. I mean, maybe. Maybe it'll feel good to you to, like, sort of argue. Maybe you like that kind of thing.

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> Julie Rose>Personally, I don't. So I'll avoid it in that case, which is why, honestly, Curtis, I have spent a lot of my life avoiding conversations about things that I feel strongly about, with people who also feel strongly, because I don't want to argue about it, and I don't see any other option. Like, that's what I've believed for so long. and it's only been quite recently through a lot of research and through really kind of engaging with these tough topics in my podcasts that I learned out that there's another way. I mean, you can actually have a conversation with someone who really disagrees on a topic with you and learn something.

00:16:29.642 --> 00:17:08.711
> Julie Rose>I can, I can. Let me give you an example. Is that okay? So, recently, I had a m. I did an episode on my podcast where we were talking. There was a part of the interview was about cultural appropriation. All right, so this notion of, you know, like, when is it okay to. Or when is it not okay to, I don't know, to adopt the cultural practices of someone of a different culture that's not your own, to speak in a way that is, to do a dance that's associated with another culture or to wear the clothing that's associated with another race or culture. When is it okay?

00:17:10.922 --> 00:17:27.662
> Julie Rose>is it just, I'm just appreciating, or am I actually appropriating and causing harm in some way by adopting that cultural practice, whatever it is, clothing, the way we talk, a certain kind of music, you know, whatever.

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> Julie Rose>So we were exploring this question because it comes up a lot on social media, right? Like, somebody's like, how dare you wear that kind of dress to your junior prom when you're not, you know, a member of that culture.

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> Julie Rose>That's cultural appropriation. And then you should get canceled or whatever. You see all this kind of stuff on any level.

00:17:43.392 --> 00:18:03.571
> Julie Rose>so we did this episode, and I learned some things about when is it harmful? And maybe when does it not really matter? And so I thought it was really thought provoking. Provoking. And I had a close friend reach out to me on text, who feels. Who is. Who has more conservative views than I do, although we're both probably more conservative than most people in the world, but, or at least than a lot of other Americans.

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> Julie Rose>But he knows that I'm a little bit more liberal than he is on the spectrum. And he sent me a message after that episode aired, and he was like, that was a stupid episode. I don't know why you would bother to talk about that. I think that cultural appropriation, it's over policed. And that most of the time, people, generally speaking, people are just making it all up and it's ridiculous and you shouldn't give airtime to it. I mean, he was kind of, and I felt initially sort of threatened by that. And I was like, well, I clearly have different views, but, I don't. What's the point of having this conversation? It feels to me like he's trying to just provoke me.

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> Julie Rose>Right? So my initial reaction when I got that message from him, this text was, I'm just going to ignore this. I felt like I wanted to be defensive and defend myself for having had the interview on the podcast. And then I was like, ah, he's just trying to push my buttons. I'm just going to pretend I never saw this and ignore it. And then I had this moment where I thought, well, hang on a second.

00:18:58.869 --> 00:20:05.865
> Julie Rose>I wonder if I could learn something here. Learn something about a perspective I disagree with. Maybe just learn something about this person that I care about, who's a friend of mine. all right, so maybe I can have the conversation. My whole goal here, I'm not going to try to convince him to see things my way. I'm just going to ask questions to try to better understand where he's coming from. and I'm going to try to avoid turning this into any argument, and I'm really going to focus. Like, this is the key, right? I had to go into that with this mindset of, I'm not here to convince, I'm not here to debate. I'm going to just turn on my curiosity and let it burn bright. And I'm not going to focus on the issue. I'm going to try to ask questions that aren't so much about the merits of, you know, cultural, appropriation or being concerned about it. Like, we're not going to talk about that topic so much. All of my efforts are going to be to try to understand why he feels so strongly about this. What is it that has led him to feel so strongly? So I didn't do it great from the beginning. At first, I was kind of like, I think you know, that I disagree, but, you know, I mean, I thought it was a pretty interesting conversation.

00:20:05.913 --> 00:20:26.493
> Julie Rose>I guess I'd be interested in learning a little more about why you feel so strongly about this. And then he sent back a couple of like, oh, it's this. And he's kind of still ranting, you know, and I'm like, I don't think this is going anywhere. But we sort of engaged a little bit more. And I was trying to just ask questions or sort of express in a very calm way this is how I see it. And then he would be like, no, I see it this way, this way.

00:20:26.518 --> 00:20:35.357
> Julie Rose>And I'm like, okay, well, this is how I see it. And then the moment happened where I was like, ah, this right here, this is conversations like this.

00:20:35.390 --> 00:20:49.423
> Julie Rose>Because he came all of a sudden, a couple minutes into this exchange, he said, okay, I feel really strongly about this. I'm paraphrasing, but I think the text was like, as you can tell, this is kind of a hot button thing for me. I feel pretty strongly about it because.

00:20:49.599 --> 00:21:04.385
> Julie Rose>And then he shared an experience, a personal experience to him of a time when, he had been called out online for cultural appropriation. And it was really hurtful to him, and he felt like it was unwarranted.

00:21:04.546 --> 00:21:54.529
> Julie Rose>And even as he explained the situation to me, I'm like, yeah, I could see how you would feel like that would be unwarranted, and that would be really hurtful and embarrassing. and all of a sudden, it just made more sense to me. Oh, okay. He's had this experience, and it's shaping everything he thinks about this issue. And in that moment, I realized that I had a blind spot because I had never experienced being shamed in that way. Publicly online, having coworkers sort of, you know, like, call me out and having it, having that feel really embarrassing and, you know, sort of trickle around my social media world, I hadn't experienced that. And so for me, the stakes weren't as high, but for him, they were really high because he'd lived this and he, and he still really stung for him, still. Right?

00:21:54.698 --> 00:22:11.296
> Julie Rose>So for me, okay, so what's the point? Right? So, and then, you know, so we kind of go back a little bit. I share, I express a little bit of empathy. I'm like, yeah, wow, that, you know, thanks for sharing that. That seems like that really would have been painful to you. And I guess sort of, what do you think? Think about that. And kind of what has that meant for you after the fact. Right?

00:22:11.455 --> 00:22:57.115
> Julie Rose>And then the conversation kind of wound down and he said, oh, you know, actually, thanks for chatting with me about this. Like, that was really invigorating to have this, you know, respectful dialogue, even though we disagreed. We did the top of mind thing, we did the uncomfy thing, you know. so for me, that's just one little example. I mean, I think these opportunities arise all the time. But here's a conversation that I wasn't going to engage with because it felt like it wasn't going to go well. And also, I wasn't looking to change my mind or have him change his, and I knew he wouldn't change his. But by engaging, however briefly, and staying curious, I got a lot out of that. First of all, we deepened our relationship. I experienced new empathy. and I did.

00:22:57.155 --> 00:23:41.496
> Julie Rose>And I, and I discovered a blind spot for me that, you know, that made me start to think, okay, what kind of experience would I have to have been through that would have maybe have me thinking about some of these issues a little bit differently? We all have blind spots because of the way that we've lived our lives. There are things that I simply can't relate to because I haven't lived that. And so there are certain ways of seeing the world and seeing these issues that I'm going to miss until someone is able to share their experience and I can realize, oh, I never thought of it that way, or I haven't experienced that. And I can see how that would change the way I feel about this issue.

00:23:42.516 --> 00:24:06.221
> Julie Rose>So for me, that's the point. It's that a, we have these conversations so that we can better relate to one another. In that instance, I created, I deepened a relationship. I felt new empathy. And oftentimes I find that when I engage with perspectives I disagree with in a curious way, only there to learn, I actually end up with my own views.

00:24:06.413 --> 00:24:20.705
> Julie Rose>I get clearer about my own views, I get clearer about why it is I feel the way I feel. So I can actually better express my view the next time it really matters.

00:24:22.566 --> 00:24:29.256
> Curtis Jackson>Well, how can people get the truth out of a controversial issue when, all the news outlets seem to be biased?

00:24:32.486 --> 00:24:34.986
> Julie Rose>Oh, yeah, it's a hard one.

00:24:35.455 --> 00:26:00.445
> Julie Rose>a couple of things I will say, based on my both personal experience as a news, consumer, and also having been a journalist and reported the news, I think one of the first things that's really important is to recognize that there is no such thing as a, completely, a purely objective, totally unbiased perspective report. News report like it doesn't exist because journalists are people. And the news is produced and written and recorded by people who, as I just described, have, have blind spots. Based on the lives we live now, good journalists will work really hard to be aware of their blind spots, to be aware of whatever personal biases they have. But there's always a worldview attached to any story, and it comes through now, sometimes it's going to be very, they're going to say it right up front. Okay, so if you're reading an opinion piece by a conservative or a liberal pundit, you know that they have a specific perspective or bias. Or if you're, like I said, watching Fox News or MSNBC, they are unapologetic and not at all secretive about the worldview, the political ideology that they embrace.

00:26:00.826 --> 00:26:38.334
> Julie Rose>And that that's the perspective that they're bringing to the news that they report. So they make it really easy for us to know what the bias of those off of those are. What's harder is to keep in mind that every news source is going to be shaped by, not, necessarily ideological political biases, but by, it's shaped by, the perspective and the worldview of the person who's reporting, and also by the limitation on how much time they had to report the story. So you're not going to hear every perspective they had to. Sometimes they're only going to quote the people who called them back because they were on deadline.

00:26:38.470 --> 00:26:40.741
> Julie Rose>That's going to shape the perspective of that story.

00:26:40.894 --> 00:27:09.506
> Julie Rose>Oftentimes, the news reports are also shaped by a bias. For simplicity, editors require that the story fit within a certain window of space or time. And that's going to force the reporter to have to make choices about what to include and what not to include. And oftentimes the more complex or nuanced stuff gets left on the cutting room floor because you only have so much space. So you got to tell the cleanest, quickest, most interesting story possible within that space.

00:27:10.205 --> 00:27:57.604
> Julie Rose>So if you read that story and that's the only thing you know about that issue, you're going to come away with a biased perspective in that you're going to think that that story is simpler, more cut and dried than it really is because the meteor nuanced stuff didn't fit into the space that was allowed. And then the final thing is something that I mentioned before, the bias for bad news or for conflict, for tension. It's the because journalism thrives on readership and especially either clicks or paid subscribers to some extent they're giving, they have to do stuff that's going to make you click and read or subscribe. And oftentimes that's the stuff that's the flashiest, the most click baity, the most provocative.

00:27:58.304 --> 00:28:51.923
> Julie Rose>The thing that evokes the most emotions, if it bleeds, it leads right, is the old, old acts in television news. So the first thing to recognize as a news consumer is that all, all stories have some level of, have been through a filter of a human being and an organization that has some sort of bias. And the quicker you can identify and be constantly aware of that bias the better. And the best way to do that is to ask yourself right from the start. So you know, you start, if you're trying to figure out what is the real story here, then you start with one news story, go to, you know, pick one that you, that that's trustworthy to you. and then ask yourself from the top of that story to the bottom, ask yourself, okay, what might they be leaving out of this? What other perspectives are maybe not making it in here. I wonder if there's someone who might disagree with this characterization.

00:28:53.854 --> 00:30:00.163
> Julie Rose>I wonder if it's really true that all Democrats think this or that all Republicans think this. Be really sensitive to. Oh, this feels pretty sensational. If it makes you feel really angry, be very careful because you're more easily manipulated in that moment. So we want to try to keep our rational hat on and keep our curiosity and our critical thinking really active as we consume news. So I would say read the news story and try to also focus. Don't just read the headline and assume you know everything there is to know. Don't just read the first paragraph and assume you know everything there is to know about that story. I therefore have an opinion and I know what I need to know. Take the effort to read the whole article. That first story you pick, read it top to bottom. A lot of really good, nuanced information is going to be way further down in that story, and you're going to miss it, because all the juicy stuff to get you to is right up there in the beginning, and it's there on purpose. But again, its purpose is to make you feel big things. It's not to help you understand the nuance.

00:30:00.703 --> 00:30:39.778
> Julie Rose>You got to dig deeper to get the full story. And then you want to make sure that you're balancing your news consumption. So if you really like to watch MSNBC or Fox News, make sure that you're also, on a regular basis consuming m that same kind of news. So, political news, don't just get all of your political news from one political side of the story, even though that's the one you really like and that feels the best to you. You're not getting the whole story if you're only consuming the news from one political perspective.

00:30:39.945 --> 00:31:34.604
> Julie Rose>So notice how the big news story of the day, it's fascinating to, you know, okay, well, here's this thing that just happened in Washington. All right, the NATO summit happened a couple of days ago, right? Or so as we're recording this. It was yesterday. So. All right, well, here's what Fox News is saying about the NATO summit and President Biden, and here's what MSNBC is saying about that exact same thing. Oh, interesting that they're focusing on different stuff. They're quoting different people. They're using different words for President Biden's speech and for the way things were, received. You will notice that they are going to focus on very different things because of their bias and then say, okay, what else could I find out there? Let me go find a newspaper. You know, maybe my local paper. if it's a national issue, then you're want to gonna go, you're gonna want to find a national reputable outlet, that has a newsroom that makes corrections on a regular basis.

00:31:34.763 --> 00:32:20.849
> Julie Rose>So that's also really important, that acknowledges when they get it wrong and that they tell you right there on the pages of the paper or the website when they've made mistakes and they make that easily available. That's another sign that that's a, that's a reputable news source, that they recognize that they have some biases, that they're gonna get it wrong and they acknowledge it. You want that because that lets you know that it's going to be more trustworthy. That you can trust this reporting. So I like the Washington Post or the New York Times, or maybe the Boston Globe, or the LA Times, whatever it is. Look for a big national paper, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, depending on what you're looking at. Consume your news from a variety of sources to try to piece together for yourself. The reality is that being a news consumer, hard work in this day and age.

00:32:21.269 --> 00:32:29.349
> Curtis Jackson>So tell us about, Yeah, so tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on that people need to know about.

00:32:29.849 --> 00:32:32.266
> Julie Rose>Yeah, well, absolutely. Thanks for the opportunity.

00:32:32.337 --> 00:32:43.491
> Julie Rose>So. So one thing I will say is that top of mind, the podcast I've been doing for a couple of years, is one way to try to get a range of perspectives on a top issue, all in one place.

00:32:43.675 --> 00:34:21.684
> Julie Rose>So, so it's an easy way each episode to spend an hour and know that I've done the work, my team has done the work to get all of that material together for you, on some of the big issues that are going on in the world. And the other thing that I'm really excited about is that we've just launched a companion podcast that's called Uncomfy. I mentioned it a moment ago, and this is a really fun video, podcast. You can watch it on YouTube or Spotify. Just look for uncomfy, sticking with moments that challenge us. That's our subtitle. And that kind of tells you everything there is to know about it. It's people coming on the show and telling us about one time when they did the uncomfortable thing. They chose to stay curious and open, maybe a little humble in a moment where they were challenged either by the situation or by the information. They disagreed and they stuck with it. They stayed uncomfortable, even just a little bit. We talk about how they did it, what it felt like and why they're glad they did. It's a way, hopefully, for people to see the many opportunities that we have in our daily lives, to get better at having hard conversations and also just being comfortable with a little discomfort, because that's where the growth happens, that's where the connection happens. And that's really what it's going to take for us to bridge divides and overcome some of the fear and the polarization that is so prevalent in our society today. So it's called uncomfy. Sticking with moments that challenge us. I hope people love it.

00:34:21.851 --> 00:34:26.480
> Curtis Jackson>Well, they'll actually contact info so people can keep up with everything that you're up to.

00:34:26.940 --> 00:34:35.862
> Julie Rose>Absolutely. So you can find Uncomfy podcast is out on, you know, it's on our social media. You can find it on YouTube on any podcast app.

00:34:35.885 --> 00:34:49.956
> Julie Rose>Just look for a uncomfy sticking with moments that challenge us. My other podcast, the topical podcast where we dig into tough topics, is called Top of Mind with Julie Rose. And we're on all the social media platforms, top of mind pod.

00:34:50.068 --> 00:34:52.860
> Julie Rose>All my contact information is going to be on all those platforms as well.

00:34:52.900 --> 00:35:02.320
> Julie Rose>So I'm Julie Rose, and I love hearing from listeners things that they want us to tackle. Ah. Stories that they'd like to share on the podcast. Love to have that interaction.

00:35:03.869 --> 00:35:09.597
> Curtis Jackson>Absolutely, ladies and gentlemen. So check out those two podcasts on comfy and top of mind.

00:35:09.693 --> 00:35:39.862
> Curtis Jackson>Check out everything that Julie's up to. Please be sure to follow rape review share this episode to as many people as possible, especially those who want to know how to discuss uncomfortable topics and deal with, controversial issues. If you have any guests or suggestion topics, Curtis Jackson 1978. Net is the place to send them. Jump on your favorite podcast app. Give us a follow and a review. Thank you for listening and supporting the show. And Julie, thank you so much for joining me today.

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> Julie Rose>It has been such a pleasure. Thank you so much.