Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion is a New York Times-bestselling book of essays by Jia Tolentino. The book delves into various aspects of modern life, including identity, culture, and the human condition. Tolentino examines topics such as the sexual revolution, social media, and the complexities of personal identity, offering insightful and thought-provoking reflections on the world we live in today.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is an epistolary novel written as a letter from a Vietnamese-American son to his illiterate mother. It explores themes of identity, family, love, and the struggles of being a refugee in America. The novel delves into the narrator's experiences with his family's past, his own sexuality, and his first love.
In 'Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,' Matthew Desmond provides a detailed and compassionate look at the lives of eight families in Milwaukee who are struggling to maintain stable housing. The book explores the intersection of poverty, housing, and profit in the United States, highlighting the systemic issues that contribute to eviction and its consequences on families and communities.
In *Random Family*, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc delves into the intricate lives of a Bronx family, revealing the personal narratives behind sensationalized tales of gangsters and street culture. The book follows the tumultuous romances of Jessica and Coco, two young Latina women navigating love, drugs, and coming of age amidst poverty and violence. LeBlanc's work offers a haunting and authentic portrait of a community grappling with harsh realities.
The introduction to Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion, hit me hard. In her investigation of how American politics and culture had collapsed into “an unbearable supernova of perpetually escalating conflict,” she became obsessed with five intersecting problems: “First, how the internet is built to distend our sense of identity; second, how it encourages us to overvalue our opinions; third, how it maximizes our sense of opposition; fourth, how it cheapens our understanding of solidarity; and, finally, how it destroys our sense of scale."
Yeah, me too.
My conversation with Tolentino was one of my favorites of last year -- and it has become all the more relevant in the midst of a pandemic that has collapsed most human communication into Zoom calls, Twitter feeds, and Instagram stories. This is a conversation about what happens when technology combines with the most powerful forces of human psychology to transform the nature of human interaction itself. It’s about how we construct and express our core sense of self, and what that’s doing to who we really are.
References:
The art of attention (with Jenny Odell)
Book Recommendations:
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
Please consider making a contribution to Vox to support this show: bit.ly/givepodcasts Your support will help us keep having ambitious conversations about big ideas.
New to the show? Want to check out Ezra’s favorite episodes? Check out the Ezra Klein Show beginner’s guide (http://bit.ly/EKSbeginhere)
Credits:
Producer/Editor - Jeff Geld
Researcher in chief - Roge Karma
Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Gray Area with Sean Illing 
