Eric Athas
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Author of SAYING NO TO NEW. On sale now! Deputy editor of Newsroom Development and Support at The New York Times.
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Articles by Eric Athas
The case for saying 'no' to new things
From TV commercials to our social media feeds, we’re being bombarded with new things to consume, from a new phone to new clothes, even a viral croissant at a new bakery. Author Eric Athas wants to help us be more mindful of our purchases so they align with our personal values. He’s written “Saying No to New: Why New Things are Stealing Your Time, Money, and Happiness – and How to Take Back Your Life.” Athas is an editor at The New York Times and has also worked for NPR and the Washington Post.
The case for saying 'no' to new things
From TV commercials to our social media feeds, we’re being bombarded with new things to consume, from a new phone to new clothes, even a viral croissant at a new bakery. Author Eric Athas wants to help us be more mindful of our purchases so they align with our personal values. He’s written “Saying No to New: Why New Things are Stealing Your Time, Money, and Happiness – and How to Take Back Your Life.” Athas is an editor at The New York Times and has also worked for NPR and the Washington Post.
Your Brain Wants Something New. Your Wallet Pays the Price.
1 hour ago AI companies keep pushing their models as useful tools that can boost productivity at work or even serve as personal assistants that book appointments or shop on behalf of users. But it seems like every week there’s a new story of AI screwing something up. This time, the producers of the Swedish …
Tom Hanks tem um conselho para quem vive trocando de app para trabalhar melhor
Eu estava escrevendo um livro sobre os perigos de perseguir novidades de maneira imprudente quando tive uma ideia: deveria entrevistar Tom Hanks. Eu havia lido que Hanks era um grande colecionador de máquinas de escrever, e esse objeto parecia o contraponto perfeito aos aparelhos futuristas de hoje. É pesado e pouco prático. Não tem conexão com a internet, tecla para apagar nem corretor ortográfico. Não dá para usar inteligência artificial para escrever nele.
This advice from Tom Hanks changed how I work
Eric Athas is the author of Saying No to New. I was writing a book about the perils of recklessly chasing new things when I had an idea: I should interview Tom Hanks. I had read about how Hanks was an avid typewriter collector, and the typewriter seemed like the perfect foil to today’s futuristic gizmos. It’s heavy and impractical. It has no connection to the internet, no delete key, no spell check. You can’t use artificial intelligence to write on it.
How to Make Better Decisions in a World Designed to Tempt You
Finance 1 hour ago The Richest People You’ve Never Heard Of Next Big Idea Club - Owen Zidar & Eric Zwick • 1h Below, Owen Zidar and Eric Zwick share five key insights from their new book, The Everywhere Millionaire: Who Is Really Rich in America and How They … New Zealand 1 hour ago Low productivity is NZ’s economic elephant in the room.
3 consejos para dejar comprar tantas novedades
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. 3 consejos para dejar comprar tantas novedades Antes de comprar ese nuevo dispositivo, haz un inventario de lo que tienes y necesitas. Credit...Matt Chase Eric Athas es editor de The New York Times. Este boletín está adaptado de su nuevo libro, Saying No to New.
How a ‘Novelty Audit’ Could Simplify Your Life
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. For most of my life, I was proud to call myself an early adopter. I didn’t think twice about buying a futuristic gadget or downloading a newfangled app. But in recent years, my love for the new has started to wane. I’ve felt overloaded by the gizmos, software updates and A.I.-powered everything that have made life increasingly complicated.
New York Times training editor: Take these four steps before you roll out new things
Sept. 17, 2026, 2:41 p.m. “We have a policy on our team that every new project must start with a proposal. The proposal involves six simple prompts.” When I tell someone at work that I wrote a book called Saying No to New, I usually get a similar response each time. It’s something like, “But you advocate for new things here.” It’s true. At The New York Times, I’m a deputy editor on the newsroom development and support team.
The New Thing Gap - Saying No to New
In 1995, buying a pair of sneakers cost you 30 minutes and five miles of driving. Today it takes about four seconds. New York Times editor Eric Athas spent four years reporting on what that trade did to people, and he has a name for the thing retail deleted: the new thing gap. Eric's book, Saying No to New, is out now.
The case for saying no to new gadgets
About two-thirds of Americans still read books on paper despite the convenience of ebooks. Part of what’s appealing about them is sensory: the way pages turn, the way a book feels in your hands, the smell of the paper. But there’s another advantage. A paper book doesn’t send notifications. It offers no tempting apps. The same goes for vinyl records, Polaroid photos, sand timers, and handwritten journals. Each of these enables you to deeply focus on what you’re doing.
When to Resist Tech and What to Keep
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Playback speed Ć Share post Share post at current time Share from 0:00 0:00 / Transcript š Say No to New (sometimes) A NY Times Editor on Sticking to the Tried and True I love new gadgets and gizmos, and Iām constantly trying new sites and apps. So I was intrigued by the title of Eric Athasās upcoming book, Saying No to New. Ericās an editor at the New York Times, where he helps journalists make the most of new tools. Heās also a lifelong early adopter.
By Jeremy Caplan Verified, Eric Athas Verified
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Wonder Tools: Useful tips for creative productivity
The secret to happiness doesn't come in a box
There are 135 days until my book, SAYING NO TO NEW, hits stores. You can preorder your copy today. Sign up for updates on SAYING NO TO NEW, including early access to life-changing tips. In the book, you’ll learn that our hunger for new stuff can distract us from the things in life that really matter. Including the big prize: happiness. We’ve been trained to believe that a new thing—a new car, a new sweater, or a new gadget—will bring us lasting happiness.
Rain From Hurricane Erin Expected Along Mid-Atlantic Coast
Video Large waves crashed along North Carolina’s shores, as the outer bands of Hurricane Erin inched closer to the state. Hurricane Erin was bringing tropical storm conditions to North Carolina’s Outer Banks as it turned to the north early Thursday, and conditions were forecast to deteriorate along Virginia’s coast within hours.
How to Give Busy People the Time to Innovate
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I'm not writing this to hit a weekly target
Whenever I’m thinking about ideas to send to you all, I’m reminded of a principle called Goodhart’s Law, which says: “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” In other words, when you tell people they’re being evaluated by a target they must hit, you risk pushing them to produce the wrong results in the name of reaching the target. The incentives can drive them to fixate on achieving the target, not achieving the overall goal.
What's the most meaningful way to end a vacation?
Here’s something to think about as you plan a vacation this summer: what will you do on the last day? Will you: A) Squeeze in one final new activity (try a new restaurant, explore a new trail, etc.)? B) Return to something you enjoyed earlier in the week (revisit a beach everyone seemed to like, go back to the fun ice cream shop, etc.)? This question was examined in a fascinating research paper titled, Ending on a Familiar Note: Perceived Endings Motivate Repeat Consumption.
3 ways to avoid innovation burnout in the workplace
By Eric Athas4 minute Read The last few decades have brought an onslaught of changes to the workplace. From the mobile revolution to cloud computing and, more recently, the pandemic and remote work. And now, leaders are shifting their attention to the next big thing: artificial intelligence. In the coming months and beyond, workers will find themselves engulfed by new projects. Memos will be sent. Decks will be presented. Workflows will be upended. Countless training sessions will be given.
Need help navigating change in your newsroom? Khan Academy has some ideas.
Jan. 10, 2022, 11:51 a.m. A case study of how Khan Academy changed how they worked — and what newsrooms can learn from how they tested new ideas, tackled challenges, and found success. Kim Perry and Eric Athas have worked in dozens of newsrooms leading change, including The New York Times, NPR, and public media member stations. For this piece, they looked outside of journalism to find out what news organizations can learn from other industries.
The Training Is Coming From Inside the CMS
To train a 1,700-person newsroom, The New York Times added tooltips and guidance to the CMS. By Eric Athas and Taylor Poulos In an era where storytelling is constantly evolving, how do you seamlessly train a newsroom with 1,700 journalists spread around the world? That’s a question near and dear to the Newsroom Development & Support team (or, N.D.S.), a department responsible for driving change at The New York Times.
5 Takeaways From the New Food Allergy Law
Sesame becomes a “major allergen,” joining milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans. Published April 26, 2021Updated April 27, 2021 If you have a food allergy, or your child does, chances are you spend a lot of time reading labels to figure out whether something will trigger an allergic reaction. If you’re allergic to sesame, it’s more complicated.
Tracking Which News Outlets Have Called the Presidential Race in Each State
News organizations have declared or projected winners in most states, but several battleground states have still not been called. Networks had said they planned to be more cautious than in past elections. All major networks project Joseph R. Biden Jr. has won the presidency. This page is no longer being updated; full results are here. *ABC News has said they are not projecting a winner in Wisconsin, but characterizing Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the apparent winner.
Families with food allergies struggle with bare shelves
By Eric Athas The New York Times | Apr 08, 2020 | 10:32 AM Like many Americans these days, Lisa Delmont is kept up at night by worry. But for Delmont, it’s the empty grocery store shelves that bring on dread. Her 2-year-old son, Benjamin, is severely allergic to milk, eggs, cashews, pistachios and bananas, so she has to be judicious about the items she brings home. Exposure to the wrong food could send Benjamin into anaphylactic shock, something that has happened three times since he was born.
Families With Food Allergies Struggle With Bare Shelves
As the coronavirus spreads and locked-down communities stock up, products needed by allergy sufferers are increasingly hard to come by. Scant offerings at a grocery store in Brooklyn last month. April 7, 2020, 6:11 p.m. ET Like many Americans these days, Lisa M. Delmont is kept up at night by worry. But for Ms. Delmont, it’s the empty grocery store shelves that bring on dread.
Allergies to sesame more prevalant than previously thought, says report
The finding indicates that sesame allergy is more prevalent than previously known, although still far less common than peanut allergy https://mybs.in/2X8HfO5 At least one million children and adults in the United States are allergic to sesame, an ingredient used in everything from hummus to snack bars, researchers reported on Friday. The finding indicates that sesame allergy is more prevalent than previously known, although still far less common than peanut allergy.
Sesame Allergy More Common Than Once Thought, Study Finds (Published 2019)
More than one million children and adults are allergic to sesame in the United States, scientists report. But sesame is not among the allergens that must be listed on food labels. Allergy to sesame is more frequent than once thought, but food labels are not required to list sesame among the ingredients.Credit...Jeenah Moon for The New York Times Aug.
Which Allergens Are in Your Food? You Can’t Always Tell From the Labels (Published 2019)
When you’re shopping for someone who has a food allergy, a trip to the grocery store is like a police investigation. Each product must be scrutinized. Labels are examined, each ingredient studied. My 5-year-old son, Alexander, is allergic to almonds and hazelnuts, so my wife and I spend a lot of time trying to decipher food labels. If you miss something, even one word, you risk an allergic reaction.
Dispatches From a First-Time Live-Tweeter
WUSF reporter Bobbie O'Brien live-tweeted for the first time (although you would think she has done this hundreds of times before) earlier this month. During the Florida event — a presentation by Tuskegee airmen -- O'Brien sent 27 tweets and snapped five photos, while simultaneously prepping for her radio story. She later produced the radio piece and compiled her tweets into a Storify package. After catching her breath, O'Brien was kind enough to share her experience in a Q&A with me.
Competing news outlets in Norway are building a new standalone site dedicated entirely to fact-checking
Faktisk.no is a new collaboration between newspapers Dagbladet and VG and the country’s public broadcaster NRK: “One of the first things we realized was that we had to sit outside our own organizations.” In Norway, fact-checking is growing up. The country of 5 million will soon get a site devoted entirely to fact-checking.
So you want to run a newsroom experiment
I recently chatted with the super-smart Amanda Zamora for her UT Knight Center course on social media analytics for journalists. Amanda’s the Senior Engagement Editor at ProPublica. She asked me to talk about some experiments we’ve done at NPR around audio and social media. The conversation, which is available on YouTube, inspired me to pull together some tips I’ve learned over the past few years. This isn’t everything. Just a list of things I’ve personally learned.
Von Explainers und Wow!-Sounds: Audio-Clips, die man teilt
Öffentliche Radiosender produzieren viel Audiomaterial – das aber auf Sharing-Plattformen nicht immer die Aufmerksamkeit bekommt, die ihm zusteht. Das National Public Radio (NPR: öffentliches Radio-Netzwerk in den USA) will dies beheben, was zu einer Reihe von Experimenten führte. Nun teilt Eric Athas vom NPR einige der daraus gewonnenen Erkenntnisse. Die Stationen produzierten insgesamt 44 Audioformate, die insgesamt von 500.000 Menschen gehört wurden.
4 types of audio that people share
Chances are you’ll listen to this audio – at least 56 percent of you: That’s what our experiments in making audio more sharable have shown so far. You’re more likely to listen and share interesting sound if it’s packaged with a good headline and an image – and recently we’ve discovered the type of audio matters, too. Last year I told you about the start of an experiment with NPR member stations that poked at some of the bigger questions about audio on the web: why doesn’t audio go viral?
From explainers to sounds that make you go “Whoa!”: The 4 types of audio that people share
Jan. 20, 2015, 3:05 p.m. How can public radio make audio that breaks big on social media? A NPR experiment identified what makes a piece of audio go viral. Editor’s note: Public radio produces a lot of audio — but it doesn’t always get the attention on sharing platforms that it might deserve. Our friends at NPR Digital Services want to fix that, which has led to a series of experiments. Here, NPR’s Eric Athas shares some of what they’ve found.
How To Create Audio For Social Media [VIDEO]
Audio stories are full of interesting moments, but we rarely see those moments shared widely on social media. In a webinar on September 11, 2014, we talked about how NPR Digital Services and stations are experimenting to create shareable sound. We also heard from Nashville Public Radio's Mack Linebaugh and Emily Siner about how their newsroom creates social audio. Watch the webinar below: Want to learn more about how we're experimenting with social audio?
What can make audio go viral? NPR experiments with building earworms for social media
Editor’s note: Public radio produces a lot of audio — but it doesn’t always get the attention on sharing platforms that it might deserve. Our friends at NPR Digital Services want to fix that, which led to a series of experiments. Here, NPR’s Eric Athas shares some of what they found. By now you’ve likely come across Digg’s terrific piece on viral audio. And if you haven’t ventured beyond the headline, it’s worth a read. The piece picks apart this question: How come audio never goes viral?
9 Types of Local Stories that Cause Engagement
When you come across a story about your town, city or state, what makes you want to share it? That’s a question we’ve been asking here at NPR Digital Services. There are hints about what causes sharing – we know emotion and positivity play roles. We know the headline can make or break a story’s potential. But we want to know specifically aboutlocal content. What is it about certain local stories that make them more social than others?
What kinds of local stories drive engagement? The results of an NPR Facebook experiment
When you come across a story about your town, city, or state, what makes you want to share it? That’s a question we’ve been asking here at NPR Digital Services. There are hints about what causes sharing — we know emotion and positivity play roles. We know the headline can make or break a story’s potential. But we want to know specifically about local content. What is it about certain local stories that make them more social than others?
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