Societal Shifts and Individual Alienation

Sean Illing talks with Chris Hayes, author, commentator, and host of All In With Chris Hayes on MSNBC. They discuss his recent essay in the New Yorker about fame and the internet, why we seek attention from strangers online, and how some German philosophers might offer guidance for our predicament.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews Writer, Vox

Guest: Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes), host, All In With Chris Hayes on MSNBC

References: 

• "On the Internet, We're Always Famous" by Chris Hayes (New Yorker; Sept. 24)
• “We Should All Know Less About Each Other” by Michelle Goldberg (New York Times; Nov. 1)
• Plato, Phaedrus (c. 370 BCE)
• Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman (Penguin; 2005)
• G.W.F. Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit (1807)
• Introduction to the Reading of Hegel: Lectures on the "Phenomenology of Spirit" by Alexandre Kojève (1947; tr. 1969)
• The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads by Tim Wu (Vintage; 2017)
• Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment by Robert Wright (Simon & Schuster; 2018)

Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.

Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts

This episode was made by: 

• Producer: Erikk Geannikis
• Editor: Amy Drozdowska
• Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
• Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall
• Vox Audio Fellow: Victoria Dominguez

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices