RSS Used in a Non-tech Quip

On March 5, 2026, City Journal published an entertaining and thoughtful essay by Ilya Shapiro titled Two Decades in the Swamp. I recommend the essay as a general matter, but here we will focus on just one small part of it. Mr. Shapiro, while discussing public health guidance in the early stages of a certain incident from 2020:

Public-health guidance shifted so often it needed its own RSS feed.

Ilya Shapiro

I do not recall having seen RSS feeds used as a punchline before, and certainly not in a non-tech commentary article. Bravo, Mr. Shapiro. While I fear that many City Journal readers may not fully grasp the line, I can assure Mr. Shapiro that one did. If you do not get it, I encourage you to read my Introduction to RSS and Other Feed Formats.

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