Derek Thompson

Well, let me engage with that conjecture because I find it quite plausible. Judging from other data that you linked to in your recent report, the American Time Use Survey, going back to the last 20 years, asks people, how much time do you spend reading for personal interest? That is the verbatim language in ATUS. How much time do you spend reading for personal interest?

And leisure reading, by this definition, has declined about 30% in the last 20 years for all Americans. And then I went to break it down by age. I think the National Academies actually has a page where they break down the Bureau of Labor Statistics data by age.

And leisure reading, by this definition, has declined about 30% in the last 20 years for all Americans. And then I went to break it down by age. I think the National Academies actually has a page where they break down the Bureau of Labor Statistics data by age.

And leisure reading, by this definition, has declined about 30% in the last 20 years for all Americans. And then I went to break it down by age. I think the National Academies actually has a page where they break down the Bureau of Labor Statistics data by age.

And according to their breakdown, the largest declines in reading for pleasure isn't actually among young people at all in the last 20 years. Quite the opposite. It's seniors. And the vast majority of that decline actually seems to have happened before 2013. So when I put all of that together and think what, again, I think you set this up really beautifully.

And according to their breakdown, the largest declines in reading for pleasure isn't actually among young people at all in the last 20 years. Quite the opposite. It's seniors. And the vast majority of that decline actually seems to have happened before 2013. So when I put all of that together and think what, again, I think you set this up really beautifully.

And according to their breakdown, the largest declines in reading for pleasure isn't actually among young people at all in the last 20 years. Quite the opposite. It's seniors. And the vast majority of that decline actually seems to have happened before 2013. So when I put all of that together and think what, again, I think you set this up really beautifully.

What is an explanation that meets all of these criteria? It seems to me that in the last 20 years, both with the rise of cable television and then streaming and also smartphones, our leisure time, the texture of our leisure time is shifting from written communication to video and oral communication.

What is an explanation that meets all of these criteria? It seems to me that in the last 20 years, both with the rise of cable television and then streaming and also smartphones, our leisure time, the texture of our leisure time is shifting from written communication to video and oral communication.

What is an explanation that meets all of these criteria? It seems to me that in the last 20 years, both with the rise of cable television and then streaming and also smartphones, our leisure time, the texture of our leisure time is shifting from written communication to video and oral communication.

We just spend less of our leisure time engaging with the written word and more leisure time engaging with video and audio products. And I wonder if that has to do with

We just spend less of our leisure time engaging with the written word and more leisure time engaging with video and audio products. And I wonder if that has to do with

We just spend less of our leisure time engaging with the written word and more leisure time engaging with video and audio products. And I wonder if that has to do with

the decline in reading proficiency that we're seeing across ages, is that essentially the written word is being out-competed, and so new generations of people, young and old, are less facile with reading, and therefore are scoring lower on their reading because of this victory of video communications over written. How do you feel about that?

the decline in reading proficiency that we're seeing across ages, is that essentially the written word is being out-competed, and so new generations of people, young and old, are less facile with reading, and therefore are scoring lower on their reading because of this victory of video communications over written. How do you feel about that?

the decline in reading proficiency that we're seeing across ages, is that essentially the written word is being out-competed, and so new generations of people, young and old, are less facile with reading, and therefore are scoring lower on their reading because of this victory of video communications over written. How do you feel about that?

So I'm going to check myself and ask you, and also to a certain extent myself, this question. So what? You know, young people, older people, they're reading fewer books. They don't necessarily have the level of concentration or the drive to sit with long magazine stories or beach reads or old Russian novels or new nonfiction. They just don't really want to do that anymore.

So I'm going to check myself and ask you, and also to a certain extent myself, this question. So what? You know, young people, older people, they're reading fewer books. They don't necessarily have the level of concentration or the drive to sit with long magazine stories or beach reads or old Russian novels or new nonfiction. They just don't really want to do that anymore.

So I'm going to check myself and ask you, and also to a certain extent myself, this question. So what? You know, young people, older people, they're reading fewer books. They don't necessarily have the level of concentration or the drive to sit with long magazine stories or beach reads or old Russian novels or new nonfiction. They just don't really want to do that anymore.

They'd prefer to watch television, watch videos, maybe read but only in the chunks offered by X, Twitter, What's so wrong about that? Why should we be concerned about this outcome?