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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
Reading as Resistance to Brainrot
You’re subscribed to a pretty nerdy newsletter here, so I probably don’t need to tell you that reading is a great way to shore up intellectual strength, but Paul Jun’s exploration of ways to resist slop and brainrot is too good not to share. There’s this:
The game has shifted. Your parents can’t tell the difference between AI video and reality. My local bagel shop uses AI-generated images when an iPhone photo would work better. Anyone can look capable; fewer people can be capable.
That makes the old, slow disciplines worth your life.
This: “Books lengthen your attention span the way running lengthens your calves: gradually, painfully, permanently.”
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And this right here is the whole ballgame:
I’ve noticed that if you can think well, AI becomes a multiplier. If you can’t, AI just amplifies your mistakes.
The people who built strong foundational capabilities—who can read deeply, think critically, create originally—use these tools as extensions of their existing strength.
AI and infinite scroll are here to stay, and they will erode our critical thinking skills and decrease our brain activity if we let them.
Big Book Season is the Best Author Profile Season
I have never been more tempted to play hooky than on this day when I sat down to discover a New Yorker profile of Patricia Lockwood that somehow manages to exceed the already-very-high level of 👀 that one expects from a Patricia Lockwood profile and Jia Tolentino reviewing Elizabeth Gilbert’s new memoir, All the Way to the River. That is a truly ingenious pairing, and my hat is all the way tipped to the editor who assigned it. These pieces are, to put it mildly, rich texts.
Hedda Gabler Gets a Heady New Spin
Bored, rich women with time on their hands have always been bad news. It was true in 1890 when Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler first hit the stage, and it remains true in director Nia DaCosta’s new adaptation starring Tessa Thompson. Ibsen’s story about a wealthy woman who feels trapped in her marriage and ambivalent (at best) about the prospect of motherhood channels her restlessness into creating chaos in the lives of another couple. DaCosta and Thompson’s update brings Hedda’s repressed desires to the forefront by way of a lesbian love triangle, and friends, it’s going to be fun when this one hits Amazon Prime on October 29.
Overrated Romance Classics (and What to Read Instead)
The Notebook is out here taking strays, and I’m not mad about it. Here are 5 overrated romance classics (some of which aren’t even technically romances) and what to read instead.