Lists feel especially suited to the digital age, but humans have been creating lists for a long time.

So why are we drawn to lists?

This hour, we look at the art and the utility of the list. And we talk to people who have created some lists we’ve especially enjoyed.

GUESTS:

Matthew Dicks: A West Hartford elementary school teacher and the author of Twenty-One Truths About Love
Dan Kois: Editor and writer at Slate, where he recently wrote the list “The 50 Greatest Fictional Deaths of All Time”
Ann Powers: NPR Music’s critic and correspondent
Liam Young: Author of List Cultures: Knowledge and Poetics from Mesopotamia to BuzzFeed

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Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.

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List making, listicles, lists of lists: An hour devoted to list culture