Social media, the attention economy and the health of American democracy with Chris Hayes

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of social media and the attention economy on American politics and democracy.

On this episode: as part of the Watson School’s programming for Brown University’s Commencement and Reunion Weekend, Dean John Friedman spoke with MS NOW’s Chris Hayes ‘01 about how social media and the attention economy have reshaped American politics, how politicians should react to these seismic changes in political media, and what this means for the 2026 mid-term elections and beyond. Chris Hayes is a journalist and the Emmy Award-winning anchor of “All In with Chris Hayes,” which airs weekdays at 8:00 p.m. on MS NOW. He is the anchor of the MS NOW Original podcast “Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast,” and author of, most recently, “ The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource .” This conversation has been edited for clarity. Watch the full, unedited conversation on our YouTube channel. Transcript coming soon to our website.

People in this episode

Host: John Friedman

Guest: Chris Hayes

Topics covered

• social media
• attention economy
• American democracy
• politics
• mid-term elections

Keywords

• social media
• attention economy
• American democracy
• politics
• mid-term elections
• Chris Hayes
• John Friedman

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Brown University, MS NOW, Watson School

Books & works: The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource

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