It’s another Sunday, so there’s another episode of CBS Sunday Morning on my DVR.
As I’ve noted, I have cut back on my consumption of news. I’ve decided that mainlining alarmist coverage of aberrant events just isn’t good for my mental health or my perspective on reality. CBS Sunday Morning is one of the few news shows that I still make a point of watching. It doesn’t focus on the outrages and catastrophes of the last 24 hours as most news programming does, or the bizarre and menacing topics that are fodder for many news magazine shows.
The program typically opens with a “cover story” on a serious and even weighty topic. Today it was the ways in which the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated economic inequities in the United States. There’s always a profile of someone in the performing arts, and interviews with various newsmakers, authors and celebrities — today those included Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, Paris Hilton, former FBI agent Peter Strzok, and Steve Martin.
On any given Sunday, the program’s 90 minutes might include stories about the arts, design, science, technology, or money. And there’s always an inspiring (or mawkish, depending on your tastes) human interest story about someone’s triumph over adversity or exceptional act of kindness. It’s a little bit like reading one story from each of the sections of a fat Sunday newspaper.
Some stories feature a decidedly off-beat take on a serious subject, like today’s piece about how some homeowners this year have become obsessive about lawn care (“this Covid summer’s alternative to baking sourdough bread”) and a look at the challenges of smiling while wearing a mask.
I like the show because it’s really well-produced, and because it’s thoughtful and takes its time. I record it on my DVR and watch it in pieces over the course of the week — while eating a sandwich, for example, or folding laundry.
I know for a fact that CBS Sunday Morning is not everyone’s cup of tea because my wife doesn’t care for it. Something about the correspondents’ measured delivery strikes her as somehow affected or pretentious. But for me, the show is an oasis in an otherwise frenzied and histrionic media ecosystem.
My blood pressure goes down when I see Sunday Morning on the tube, as I used to when visiting my parents. So comforting to enter an apocalypse-free zone that nonetheless covers a few current affairs.