The Ezra Klein Show

How to Discover Your Own Taste


Listen Later

Being on the internet just doesn’t feel as fun anymore. As more of our digital life is driven by algorithms, it’s become a lot easier to find movies or TV shows or music that fits our preferences pretty well. But it feels harder to find things that are strange and surprising — the kinds of culture that help you, as an individual, develop your own sense of taste.

This can be a fuzzy thing to talk about. But Kyle Chayka, a staff writer at The New Yorker, has written a whole book on it, the forthcoming “Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture.” We talk about how today’s internet encourages everything to look more the same and is even dulling our ability to know what we like. And we discuss what we can do to strengthen our sense of personal taste in order to live a richer, more beautiful life.

Mentioned:

Quartets: Two: II. Warmth” by Peter Gregson

Ambient 1: Music for Airports by Brian Eno

Book Recommendations:

In Praise of Shadows” by Junichiro Tanizaki (essay)

Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees by Lawrence Weschler

The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected].

You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” is produced by Rollin Hu. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Annie Galvin, Rollin Hu and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. And special thanks to Carole Sabouraud.

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Ezra Klein ShowBy New York Times Opinion

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

10,706 ratings


More shows like The Ezra Klein Show

View all
The Book Review by The New York Times

The Book Review

3,836 Listeners

Popcast by The New York Times

Popcast

1,414 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

37,666 Listeners

The Political Scene | The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

3,704 Listeners

The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,475 Listeners

Modern Love by The New York Times

Modern Love

8,716 Listeners

Inside The Times by The New York Times

Inside The Times

135 Listeners

FiveThirtyEight Politics by ABC News, 538, FiveThirtyEight, Galen Druke

FiveThirtyEight Politics

19,993 Listeners

The Gray Area with Sean Illing by Vox

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

10,599 Listeners

The Run-Up by The New York Times

The Run-Up

2,064 Listeners

Pod Save America by Crooked Media

Pod Save America

85,329 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,584 Listeners

Radio Atlantic by The Atlantic

Radio Atlantic

2,115 Listeners

Change Agent by The New York Times

Change Agent

1,445 Listeners

Caliphate by The New York Times

Caliphate

12,625 Listeners

Charm City by The New York Times

Charm City

300 Listeners

Matter of Opinion by New York Times Opinion

Matter of Opinion

7,440 Listeners

The Bulwark Podcast by The Bulwark

The Bulwark Podcast

10,297 Listeners

Strict Scrutiny by Crooked Media

Strict Scrutiny

5,279 Listeners

1619 by The New York Times

1619

31,565 Listeners

The Latest by The New York Times

The Latest

469 Listeners

The Candidates by The New York Times

The Candidates

52 Listeners

Jungle Prince by The New York Times

Jungle Prince

2,258 Listeners

The Choice by New York Times Opinion

The Choice

380 Listeners

Rabbit Hole by The New York Times

Rabbit Hole

6,641 Listeners

Hard Fork by The New York Times

Hard Fork

5,324 Listeners

Day X by The New York Times

Day X

1,489 Listeners

The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart by Comedy Central

The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

8,979 Listeners

Offline with Jon Favreau by Crooked Media

Offline with Jon Favreau

2,120 Listeners

The Interview by The New York Times

The Interview

1,335 Listeners

The Run-Up (2016) by The New York Times

The Run-Up (2016)

7 Listeners

The Argument by New York Times Opinion

The Argument

15 Listeners

The Opinions by The New York Times Opinion

The Opinions

270 Listeners