George Saunders

And we went back and forth for a few rounds.

So I think the number of interactions a day that we now have that have that kind of strange –

conditionality of impersonality it it skyrocketed and i think it it's corrosive that to me is the major through line of my life actually not just the last few years but from 1958 to now i think somehow we're devaluing human to human contact which is really the only thing that there is thank you so much for taking all the time i really i really enjoyed it and i'm looking forward to you to speaking to you again on friday sounds good a few days

Sometimes even like there'll be a student who has a shining moment of real sincerity or earnestness or something in the story that the sort of hipster in them has been keeping out.

And just slightly put your hand and go on that and say, you know, as an older person, this is really resonant to me.

This really is beautiful.

Hi, George.

Hey, David.

Good to see you again.

Oh, probably.

Well, actually, honestly, I'm really interested in what it does to an individual at a given time.

That's really about as far as I mean to sort of preach.

Sometimes I think it sounds like I'm saying literature can cure us.

It can't.

It never has.

Ah.

So I think for me, it's always saner to go down to the incremental level and say, well, on a given day, if a given person reads a given Chekhov story, something will happen.

Now, I also kind of would poke at if I've ever used the phrase better person, I retracted because I don't know that it makes you solidly.

perpetually a better person.

Yeah, I think that's true.