I'm basically an economic policy historian (3 books on development of energy policy and markets). Published and perished, so made my way as a litigation economist, management consultant and regulatory lawyer.
I'm primarily a pragmatist, who is an historian by inclination but self-taught (never took a single course in history and only sat in on seminars on public choice) - but the best way to learn a subject is to write about it.
Take the tough stuff in college, economics, finance, engineering, law, etc. because once you get out it's hard to find the time and patience to teach yourself these subjects. History, political science, foreign relations, the humanities, etc. are much easier to pick up on your own unless you desire to master the lingo that will impress a PC dissertation committee.
I don't watch cable news (my wife is a MSNBC addict, I hate most of their talking heads b/c of their smug, PC attitudes, though Michael Steele is a hoot, kind of a black James Carville). NYT, New Yorker (cartoons and investigative reporting), Wash Post and CNN online (stopped my subscription to the WSJ when Murdoch eliminated investigative reporting, editorial page was always populated by troglodytes, but it used to have first rate reporting, now it's just a better version of USA Today). My favorite source of news is The Economist, a dense read but covers the world, and heads and shoulders above any US weekly.
My favorite political writers are Mark Twain, H.L. Mencken, E.E. Schattsneider and Richard Hoftstadter.
I'm at heart an optimistic cynic, I don't get too upset b/c I know enough American history to see real progress, as bad as the MAGAs are, it ain't 50,000 KKK members on the Washington Mall, a Civil War, etc. There may be questionable police killings of black men, but no more lynch mobs. No more jail time for gay sex, women have access to contraception, and poor people don't have to use outhouses.