Slate's Mike Pesca on Gregg Easterbrook's The Progress Paradox, reporting on the media, and the merits of optimism. To learn more about the books we discussed in this episode, check out Nancy Mitford's Love in a Cold Climate and The Pursuit of Love, Mike Pesca's Upon Further Review, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, Joseph Heller's Catch-22, and Gregg Easterbrook's The Progress Paradox.

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