The Right Track: Hi, and welcome 👋

Nicole Russell Paste BN

Hi and welcome to the first issue of The Right Track, a newsletter where I’ll cover the topics that interest the right: from conservative values and the 2024 election to family and religion.

I’m Nicole Russell, columnist at Paste BN. I’ve been covering politics, law and culture in the great state of Texas for about six years, where I live with my four kids and two dogs. Before that, I lived in Washington, D.C. (don’t hold it against me!) where I covered the news. I’ve written for a variety of publications including the Washington Examiner, the Federalist, the Atlantic and the Daily Beast.

Here, you can expect to find columns and conversations from myself and my colleagues that center on a conservative worldview, including topics like gun and abortion policy to everyday issues facing parents and people of faith. Liberty will always be the litmus test.

Conservatives make up about 40% of the country (that’s larger than self-identified liberals or moderates). I want you to feel like you have a home here, reading me, talking about our views, policies and hopes for a better America. Anything you want me to cover? People you want me to talk to? Loved or hated my last column? Send me a note: nrussell@gannett.com

Here’s what I’ve been thinking about this week:

Social media has taken control of our lives. I'm worried about what that means for us.

Recently, I noticed that while I’m notoriously anti-social media for children, including my own kids, I sometimes really get sucked into X and Instagram, or doom-scrolling, as the pros call it. Enough that I’ve had to change the settings of one app so I’m not on it too long.

In fact, sometimes I’ve caught myself scrolling enough – or, let’s be honest, working via my smartphone – that I’ve worried my kids will be tell their therapist about it 20 years from now, “She was a great mom, but when I think of her in my mind’s eye, she’s looking at her phone, not at my face.”

Oof. I’d hate that. I want to be present. Both now, and in my kids’ recollection of me.

Now that my kids are older and far more engaged and engaging, I’ve realized: nobody wants to have a conversation with someone else, especially a loving parent, if their face is locked in on a screen. I decided to try to delve into this cognitive dissonance in a recent column to uncover why so many adults like myself are slightly addicted to our screens, even though we know they’re not good for us, and in fact, we might even keep tabs on them for our kids.

I want to use my phone wisely, to complete the responsibilities I have, and even to relax, but I do want the people in my life who are most important to me, to know they are loved, cared for, and that they have my attention. I can’t do that if I’m always looking at my screen.

What about you? Do you struggle using your phone too much, even though you caution your own family to use it less? Do you have any tricks and tips? Do you have the same cognitive dissonance in other areas of your life that are small and yet, still important? I’d love to hear about them at nrussell@gannett.com.

Here's what else I'm thinking – and writing – about:

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