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We’ve never had more wealth, more data, or more ways to be entertained. So why doesn’t it feel like progress?
Sean’s guest today is Brad DeLong, an economic historian at UC Berkeley and author of Slouching Towards Utopia. They talk about the difference between getting richer and living well, and why the real hinge of the 21st century might be attention rather than growth. DeLong explains how AI could make life easier or simply make us more distracted, why the world’s progress continues even as American politics falters, and what smart policy could do for the people left behind by technological change.
Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling)
Guest: J. Bradford DeLong, economic historian and author of Slouching Towards Utopia
We would love to hear from you. To tell us what we thought of this episode, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show.
And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube.
Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members
This episode was supported by a grant from Arnold Ventures. Vox had full discretion over the content of this reporting.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
By Vox4.5
1060610,606 ratings
We’ve never had more wealth, more data, or more ways to be entertained. So why doesn’t it feel like progress?
Sean’s guest today is Brad DeLong, an economic historian at UC Berkeley and author of Slouching Towards Utopia. They talk about the difference between getting richer and living well, and why the real hinge of the 21st century might be attention rather than growth. DeLong explains how AI could make life easier or simply make us more distracted, why the world’s progress continues even as American politics falters, and what smart policy could do for the people left behind by technological change.
Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling)
Guest: J. Bradford DeLong, economic historian and author of Slouching Towards Utopia
We would love to hear from you. To tell us what we thought of this episode, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show.
And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube.
Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members
This episode was supported by a grant from Arnold Ventures. Vox had full discretion over the content of this reporting.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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