“For years I’ve talked about how online life degrades our attention to each other in ways that are not good for empathy because people never know if you’re paying full attention to them.”

The beloved Sherry Turkle joins the podcast, for a conversation that attempts to take stock of where we are, and who we are, as we gradually move from pandemic life into the still-unknown “new normal.” Daniel and Sherry discuss why video calls are so ineffective and poor at creating opportunities for empathy. Speaking of which, what is empathy? It makes up part of the title of Sherry Turkle’s new book, but for many it’s a very difficult concept to grasp. Daniel also compares "radical listening” in conversation to the art of playing music together and what in-person, real time reactions mean for creating the magical moments.

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Sherry Turkle is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT, and the founding director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self. Professor Turkle received a joint doctorate in sociology and personality psychology from Harvard University and is a licensed clinical psychologist. Professor Turkle writes on the “subjective side” of people’s relationships with technology, especially computers. She is an expert on culture and therapy, mobile technology, social networking, and sociable robotics.

Her newest book, The Empathy Diaries: A Memoir ties together her personal story with her groundbreaking research on technology, empathy, and ethics. Her previous book, the New York Times bestseller, Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age investigates how a flight from conversation undermines our relationships, creativity, and productivity.Professor Turkle is a featured media commentator on the social and psychological effects of technology for CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, the BBC, and NPR, including appearances on such programs as Nightline, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Frontline, Dateline, 20/20, and The Colbert Report.