This week we are building February's Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume.

Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, bruja, Bad Bunny super-fan, and Executive Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center; and Steven Renderos, DJ, culture critic, and Executive Director of MediaJustice.

Find the full navigator chart here. You can also watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube.

Stories we referenced in this episode:

Chris draws our attention to the emergence of "competitive authoritarianism":
Ring walks back from "Search Party," which was featured in a super creepy Super Bowl commercial, Nancy Guthrie's offline Nest camera footage, and the community-powered surveillance we didn't sign up for.
Colbert says CBS blocked interview with James Talarico, but now the video has over 8 million YouTube views.
Benito Bowl is a rich text.
Prairieland 19 trial kicks off and immediately gets declared a mistrial; how this case might be a bellwether for the state of protest to come.
Is something big happening with AI, or is Matt Shumer just trying to get us to join his weird cult?
The MAHA Boys are hitting the gym in this bizarre sensory nightmare of an ad, featuring Kid Rock (and apparently Kid Rock's home gym?).

Want more?

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The Attention Economy Navigator, February 2026 w/ Chris Fields Figueredo and Steven Renderos