Is the age of literacy – the primacy of the written word – ending? Put another way, are we entering a new world where frayed attention spans, technological enshittification and political polarisation drive people away from the intentional act of reading, and towards more instantly gratifying cultural forms? Like podcasts…
To discuss all this, I'm joined by by the cultural critic James Marriott and writer and co-director of Galley Beggar Press, Sam Jordison. The dominance of the iPhone, the insidious control mechanism of short-form video, the destabilising impact of endlessly socialised media; all of these things were conspiring to make us less likely to read books. The question, really, is: does it matter? Is this just a natural evolution, as technology has given us increasingly diverse and accessible entertainment outputs, that shouldn’t be fought? Or does the decline in literacy present us with a real risk – that we will lose the critical skills established over the 600 years since Johannes Gutenberg inverted his printing press?
The Ned Ludd Radio Hour is a Podot podcast.
It is hosted by Nick Hilton.
The theme music is by Apes of the State.
The cover artwork is by Tom Humberstone.
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