In Episode #208, journalist and cultural critic Kyle Chayka joins Osi to explore how algorithms have quietly permeated every aspect of our lives—shaping the media we consume and the environments we navigate. Additionally, they discuss how these digital forces curate our experiences for effortless consumption, dampening creativity and raising pressing concerns about the erosion of free will.

Kyle Chayka is a staff writer at The New Yorker covering technology and Internet culture. Chayka, who first contributed to The New Yorker in 2013, has also written for The New Republic, the New York Times Magazine, and Harper’s, among other publications. His reporting on tourism in Iceland was included in “The Best American Travel Writing 2020.” Chayka’s first nonfiction book, “The Longing for Less,” a history of minimalism, was published in 2020. His second book, “Filterworld,” which explores the impact of digital algorithms on culture, was published in 2024. Chayka began his career in 2010, as a visual-art critic for the Web site Hyperallergic.