Person
Every book Darrin Burnett recommended on podcasts
Darrin Burnett's appearance on The Ezra Klein Show presents him as a science and technology studies scholar deeply engaged in the history of science, human attention, and the mechanics of belief. In his reading recommendations, Burnett highlights Natasha Dow Schüll's Addiction by Design as a critical study of modern behavioral loops, and pairs it with Peter Galison and Lorraine Daston's Objectivity to examine historical shifts in scientific visualization and truth. As a wild card recommendation, he offers Herman Melville's lesser-known novel The Confidence-Man to explore how belief is constructed and manipulated by charismatic figures. Throughout the conversation, Burnett weaves in numerous theoretical and literary texts to contextualize the concept of human attention. He references Thomas H. Davenport and John C. Beck's The Attention Economy alongside Jonathan Crary's Suspensions of Perception to trace the historical origins of attention in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Furthermore, he brings in Bernard Stiegler's Taking Care of Youth and the Generations for a philosophical view of attention as waiting, and cites Henry James's novel The Wings of the Dove to provide a literary perspective. Through these works, Burnett maps out the complex interplay between technology, history, philosophy, and human focus.
Books recommended by Darrin Burnett
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Addiction by Design
Addiction by Design by Natasha Dow Schüll is a 2012 cultural anthropology and science-and-technology studies book that investigates the machine-human interface of gambling, focusing specifically on how modern video poker and slot machines are engineered to induce hypnotic states of flow and compulsive behavior in players.
Recommended“uh it's called addiction by Design Natasha dul is a science and technology studies scholar”
Where to get it
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Objectivity
Objectivity by Lorraine Daston and Peter L.
Recommended“a second book that I love and that also comes out of my field and that I think is a deep and hard but beautiful and important book for thinking about the history of science would be the book objectivity by Peter Gallison and Lorraine daston”
Where to get it
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The Confidence Man
Herman Melville's final novel The Confidence Man is a darkly satirical and deeply philosophical work set aboard a Mississippi River steamboat on April Fool's Day, examining human gullibility, trust, and deception.
Recommended“but I'm going to invoke his much stranger book The cont man which is a book about how belief happens and who the people are who can make us believe”
Where to get it
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Jim Fixx's second book of running
Jim Fixx's second book of running by James F.
Discussed“he wrote the book Running in what was it 77 before that regular people didn't go jogging”
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Suspensions of Perception
Discussed“in a book called suspensions of perception published around 2000 he made a super challenging argument about where that language of attention comes from”
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Taking Care of Youth and the Generations
Discussed“the recently deceased French philosopher Bernard eer in a beautiful and difficult book called taking care of the youth and the generations centers that book on attention”
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The Attention Economy
Discussed“two Biz School theorists Davin Porton Beck do a book called um the attention economy I think it's 2001”
Where to get it
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The Wings of the Dove
Discussed“in the early 20th century novel wings of the dove the American novelist Henry James describes a really beautiful and intense scene”
Where to get it
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your Mind Is Being Fracked | The Ezra Klein Show | 2024-05-31 | 9 |
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“it's by Herman Melville of course the author of Moby Dick a book I also love”