Using an iPod in 2026?

What to even say about the first month of the year? The United States kidnapping a foreign president and threatening the sovereignty of an(other) ally, its thugs abducting children and killing protesters, and the release of emails with Jeffrey Epstein that include the names of so many powerful figures, including Elon Musk and Bill Gates — both of whom are trying as hard as possible to distance themselves from the pedophile. By all rights, they should be hounded out of public life, if not legally held to account, but we all know their power and wealth will ensure that doesn’t happen.

I hope you’ll forgive my pivot, but I really don’t feel there’s much more I can say about the United States right now — beyond what I wrote in early January. I hope the Trump administration is halted in its tracks and everyone involved in this lawlessness is put on trial once this is all said and done. For those of us beyond its borders, our efforts to wean off our dependence on the United States and its technologies needs to be accelerated. In light of everything that’s been going on, I’ve been heartened to see the attention on my guide to get off US tech this past month.

For me, January was defined by book edits as it slowly gets closer to the finish line and its eventual release — stay tuned for more details on that in the coming months. But in the moments where I’ve not been doing that, I’ve also been trying to figure out what a reassessed relationship with digital technology might look like for me, as I wrote about intending to do at the beginning of the year.

I found my old iPod Classic, and finally got some 30-pin charging cables to confirm it does indeed work. Now I need to order some parts to fix it up before I start trying to use a dedicated device instead of a streaming service for a more intentional listening experience. In theory, it sounds great; I’m intrigued to see how well I can manage it in practice. I might even start building a CD collection again if it goes well. I also have a PS Vita on the way from Japan, which I plan to mod once it gets here so I can play a wider variety of games. I had one years ago, but sadly sold it somewhere along the line.

On top of that, I’ve been continuing to rein in my smartphone and social media usage — to varying degrees of success — and I look forward to spending some more time experimenting once this major task is on my plate. Bluesky is the only social media app left on my phone, and I recently set a time limit on it that I intend to reduce over time. Don’t worry; I’ll be writing more about the different elements of what I’m trying out as I go — to share what I found helpful, and what wasn’t.

With all that said, there are some great stories beyond the break in this month’s roundup, including pieces about embracing friction in the face of the digital onslaught, the good chance China has of beating the United States back to the moon, and how Chinese solar panels are transforming the global energy system. Plus, plenty more great reads, labor updates, and news updates you might have missed.

Here’s hoping February doesn’t have the same scale of grim news as the past month, and that things are going well for you!

— Paris