The Newsroom
This show aired in 2012, but I didn’t get to it until 2026. After finishing the first episode, I realized that the “iconic scene” I’d come across online had originated here — anchor Will McAvoy, at a Northwestern University forum, asked by a sophomore why America is the greatest country in the world, and then delivering that monologue.
The reason I want to recommend it is that the existence of OneOverX, and my own approach to creating, came in some part from The Newsroom: put things in context, be accountable to facts, don’t chase trending topics or make content just to please an audience, hold your own opinions while presenting dissenting ones.
In an age when journalism itself has become something of an ideal — when algorithms keep manufacturing “content that flatters demand and drives clicks” — I find myself missing something classical and traditional. Something stubborn, something that has been ground and refined through friction. That’s what gives me a sense of warmth.