I’m a fan of David Pakman’s politics. I’m not always a fan of his style because I think he has so much content he tries to produce that he winds up leaning into clickbait, which is both a necessary strategy in the modern internet landscape and, in my opinion, irresponsible. That didn’t stop me from reading The Echo Machine because I think the bulk of his content is excellent and makes good, clear criticism of modern conservatism while advocating for social democracy. More of that, please.
The Echo Machine details how echo chambers exist, how America became riddled with them on both the right and to a lesser degree the left, and what we can do to fix it. The answer is: yeesh. A lot of this stuff is deep seated and wasn’t particularly news to me, but I’m overly politically engaged to the point where I need to take breaks on occasion. Given the breadth of the subject and how much content Pakman has, I was surprised that this audiobook clocked in at under 8 hours. To be totally honest though: that’s why David Pakman works. The book cuts through bullshit, it makes solid points, and it does it in a concise way.
This is a great book to recommend to anyone who is currently trying to understand this moment in American history.