Alana Newhouse - Why Everything Is Broken and How to Fix It

This week on The Hope Axis, I’m very happy to welcome Alana Newhouse. Alana is a journalist, editor, and founder of Tablet Magazine, and the author of the influential 2021 essay “Everything Is Broken.” In this conversation, we revisit the idea of brokenism a few years later and talk about how people who are intelligent and well-read enough to despair all day might still find a small ray of hope. Hope you enjoy.

For the full transcript of our conversation, click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HaBI_AINhbkwXo2aXaVfiUd1qvMTcc1J/view?usp=drive_link

Important Links: 

X (Twitter) – https://x.com/alananewhouse 

Tablet Magazine – https://www.tabletmag.com/contributors/alana-newhouse    

LinkedIn –      / https://www.linkedin.com/in/alana-newhouse-25214716a 

The New York Times – https://www.nytimes.com/by/alana-newhouse 

Website - https://www.alananewhouse.com/ 

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/alana.newhouse/?hl=en 

Show Notes: 

(0:00:00) Introduction

(0:02:01) "Everything Is Broken" - The Backstory

(0:15:36) The Diagnosis and the Dinner that Changed Everything

(0:28:01) What It Means to Be a Part of Community

(0:35:19) The Internet Has Shrunk the World

(0:38:09) Alana's Concept of Flatness

(0:46:17) Long-form Content Exercises Your Brain

(0:49:24) The Legibility Crisis

(0:56:19) Critical Reception of Media and News

(0:59:28) The Future of Journalism

(1:08:12) Extremes, Media and Antisemitism

(1:13:25) 2030 Predictions and End Notes

Books, Essays & References Mentioned:
“Everything Is Broken” — Alana Newhouse

Jürgen Habermas

Tablet Magazine

The New York Times

Bluesky

Donald Trump

COVID-19 pandemic

Legibility crisis

Public sphere fragmentation