{"id":521401,"date":"2026-06-27T15:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T15:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/521401\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T15:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T15:40:14","slug":"the-guardians-kai-wright-refuses-to-buy-a-new-phone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/521401\/","title":{"rendered":"The Guardian\u2019s Kai Wright refuses to buy a new phone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kai Wright is the co-host of Stateside with Kai and Carter<\/a> over at the Guardian. But Wright has been bringing his unique insights to listeners for years. He\u2019s also hosted Notes From America<\/a>, The United States of Anxiety<\/a>, and Indivisible<\/a>. He\u2019s a Peabody Award-winning journalist who has profiled powerful men, explored what it means to be American, and chronicled the AIDS epidemic.<\/p>\n

When he\u2019s not diving deep on sex, race, and politics, he\u2019s gardening, listening to John Coltrane, and steadfastly refusing to buy a new phone. Wright was kind enough to give us a glimpse into his daily routine, how he unwinds, and offer some simple but powerful advice.<\/p>\n

What is your most indispensable tool?<\/p>\n

Which is the most underappreciated?<\/p>\n

Wheelbarrow. Seriously, though. Haul around enough dirt and rocks, and you will come to appreciate the brilliant utility of this basic design.<\/p>\n

What is one thing you wish you could change about your phone?<\/p>\n

I wish I could have bought one smartphone and never ever had to buy another one again, forever. Why must it constantly go obsolete? (Of course, I haven\u2019t actually bought a new phone in I dunno how many years; I just take my partner\u2019s hand-me-downs. So I\u2019m complaining on cranky principle.)<\/p>\n

How many tabs do you have open right now?<\/p>\n

In the window I\u2019m using right this moment, I have 10 tabs open. Yes, this is quite a reasonable number, thank you. I do have 11 more windows open, however, and cannot bring myself to account for what\u2019s in them.<\/p>\n

Which was the most disappointing gadget you\u2019ve ever owned?<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t name brands, but I promise you can make a coffee machine too complicated. I\u2019m trying to get caffeinated so I can become a functioning human. I don\u2019t want an engineering challenge.<\/p>\n

What is one thing you wish you had created?<\/p>\n

I wish I had thought of The Memory Palace – which is still, to me, podcasting at its best. Short, sweet, deeply human histories of our world. One person, telling you a well-written story.<\/p>\n

What creation are you most proud of?<\/p>\n

Can I say my whole, entire garden? It\u2019s an exercise in constantly learning and applying the knowledge and trying again, and I hear from veteran gardeners that you never actually figure it out. Perfect.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best piece of advice you\u2019ve ever received?<\/p>\n

Live an honest life. Meaning, try your best to tell yourself the truth, and make choices accordingly.<\/p>\n

What do you do when you\u2019re feeling stuck?<\/p>\n

Listen to John Coltrane records.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the last piece of physical media you bought?<\/p>\n

What would the tagline for your biopic be?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat had happened was\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the last GIF or meme you used?<\/p>\n

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See All Report<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kai Wright is the co-host of Stateside with Kai and Carter over at the Guardian. But Wright has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[61,1635,60,3667,1650,1094,80],"class_list":["post-521401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ie","tag-interview","tag-ireland","tag-policy","tag-politics","tag-report","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}