About this episode
Sean Illing talks with Tom Nichols about the decline of respect for expertise in society and its implications.
Almost a decade ago, Tom Nichols warned that Americans were losing respect for expertise. He didn’t expect things to get this bad. Sean talks with Nichols about his 2017 book “The Death of Expertise” and what’s happened since: why people don’t just distrust experts but actively push back against them, how the internet turns bad ideas into communities, and why a society that can’t agree on basic facts can’t function for long. They also dig into the deeper causes: loneliness, narcissism, and the weird psychology of living in a world where everything “just works.” Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling) Guest: Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com 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. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: Sean Illing
Guest: Tom Nichols
Topics covered
- expertise
- trust
- internet culture
- psychology
- society
- loneliness
Keywords
- expertise
- trust
- internet
- psychology
- society
- loneliness
- narcissism
- bad ideas
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Vox
Books & works: The Death of Expertise
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