Andrew Marantz on the Longform podcast brings up the idea of tension on many occasions.
As a journalist, or more generally, an artist, it’s not about absolutes and extremes. It’s about holding multiple priorities that are all in conflict with one another.
How do you hold free speech and hate speech and trolling all in conflict and find ways forward that work?
As a journalist there is an ever present quest for truth, but how do you balance truth with the reality of people using your writing as a platform to amplify their immoral message?
Good art isn’t about a hard rule without nuance or consideration for the human condition. In fact, good art is made right at the intersection, where it’s a fuzzy and unclear what is right and wrong.
Art is nuance and balance. Both require tension.