Nicholas Carr on deep reading and digital thinking
In 1964, the Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan wrote his opus Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. In it, he writes, “In the long run, a medium's content matters less than the medium itself...
29 Jun 20201h 12min
Your questions, answered
Believe it or not, we’re already halfway through 2020. What a great year so far, huh? Just a delight. That means it’s time for an AMA. Among the questions you asked: If Joe Biden is elected president...
25 Jun 20201h 21min
Which country has the world's best healthcare system?
I got my start as a blogger. But more specifically, I got my start as a health policy blogger. My first piece of writing I remember people really caring about was a series called “The Health of Nation...
22 Jun 20201h 10min
The transformative power of restorative justice
The criminal justice system asks three questions: What law was broken? Who broke it? And what should the punishment be? Upon that edifice — and channeled through old bigotries and fears — we have buil...
18 Jun 20201h 14min
Ross Douthat and I debate American decadence
In his new book, The Decadent Society, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat diagnoses America’s core problems as decadence: “a situation in which repetition is more the norm than innovation; in which...
15 Jun 20201h 33min
A serious conversation about UFOs
You may have been following — I hope you are following — the New York Times's recent UFO reporting. Videos that the Navy confirms are real show pilots seeing and marveling over craft they can't explai...
11 Jun 20201h 29min
A former prosecutor's case for prison abolition
In 2017, Paul Butler published the book Chokehold: Policing Black Men. For Butler the chokehold is much more than a barbaric police tactic; it is also a powerful powerful metaphor for understanding ho...
8 Jun 20201h 6min
Why Ta-Nehisi Coates is hopeful
The first question I asked Ta-Nehisi Coates, in this episode, was broad: What does he see right now, as he looks out at the country? “I can't believe I'm gonna say this,” he replied, “but I see hope. ...
4 Jun 20201h 32min
