An Esquire Best Book of 2024 A reflective, original invitation to recover and cultivate the human experiences that have atrophied in our virtual world. We embraced the mediated life―from Facetune and Venmo to meme culture and the Metaverse―because these technologies offer novelty and convenience. But they also transform our sense of self and warp the boundaries between virtual and real. What are the costs? Who are we in a disembodied world? In The Extinction of Experience , Christine Rosen investigates the cultural and emotional shifts that accompany our embrace of technology. In warm, philosophical prose, Rosen reveals key human experiences at risk of going extinct, including face-to-face communication, sense of place, authentic emotion, and even boredom. Considering cultural trends, like TikTok challenges and mukbang, and politically unsettling phenomena, like sociometric trackers and online conspiracy culture, Rosen exposes an unprecedented shift in the human condition, one that habituates us to alienation and control. To recover our humanity and come back to the real world, we must reclaim serendipity, community, patience, and risk.

Recommended on 1 episode:

The Breaking of the Constitutional Order

There are two pieces to this episode. First, a tour of what Donald Trump has done — and what he has backed down from doing — over the last few days. There’s a lesson there. Perhaps Democrats are starting to learn it. Then I wanted to hear the view of Trump’s first weeks back in office from someone on the right — someone who agrees with many of Trump’s policies, but also understands how the government works and who cares about our Constitution. Yuval Levin is the director of social, cultural and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute. His latest book is “American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation — and Could Again.” What struck me about our conversation is that, on the one hand, Levin is less alarmed about much of what’s happening than I am. But on the other hand, he’s a lot less impressed by what Trump is actually getting done — and how these moves are likely to work out for him — than most Democrats I know. It’s a perspective very much worth hearing.

Books recommended:

• 📕  The Rhetorical Presidency: New Edition (Princeton Classics) by Jeffrey K. Tulis, Russell Muirhead
• 📘  Why Congress (Studies in Postwar American Political Development) by Philip A. Wallach
• 📗  The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World by Christine Rosen

Yuval Levin Feb. 5, 2025 3 books recommended

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