This is hidden brain.
I'm Shankar Vedantam.
When Eitan Hirsh was growing up, newspapers were a central part of the family's daily routine.
My parents raised me and my siblings in a politically engaged environment.
At least I thought so.
You know, we always were.
We knew what was going on in the news.
The newspaper was delivered to our home.
After Raetan went off to college, his father kept reading, listening to the radio, staying up to speed.
And then a few years ago, Etan learned that his dad had developed a new habit.
He would lie on his bed at night and watch cable news.
Etan, now a political scientist, found this puzzling.
I've never really gotten into cable news.
It's never been something I've enjoyed.
I asked him why I was doing it, and he said, you know, it's our duty to be informed.
And I said, but you already are informed.
You know, you've already read the newspaper, you've already listened to all the radio.
What possibly more could you be getting from this?
I think in the end, it was pretty clear that he just likes politics.
A lot of people like politics.