Kyle Chayka on how the internet flattened culture

Kyle Chayka [Photo by Josh Sisk]

Digital platforms promised us personalization but their algorithms homogenized culture to a bland lowest common denominator instead.

They don’t just influence what we consume, they also determine what is produced as artists shape their output to fit what gets seen and what gets shared.

Ever wonder why trendy cafes all look the same no matter what city you visit?

Are you tired of the relentless sameness that has cursed books, art, music and film since the early 2010’s?

I read paper books and watch old films — the only time I bother with something new is when a trusted friend recommends it — but my life is afflicted with it, too.

We are all trapped in Filterworld, even those of us who aren’t addicted to smartphones.

My guest today traced this creeping, machine-guided curation as it infiltrated the furthest reaches of our digital, physical, and psychological spaces.

And he has a few ideas for escaping it that might surprise you.

Kyle Chayka is the author of Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture and The Longing for Less: Living with Minimalism. He’s a a staff writer at The New Yorker covering technology and Internet culture, and his work has appeared in The New Republic, the New York Times Magazine, and Harper’s, among other publications.

You can read more about him on his website, and follow him on Substack, Instagram and X.

We spoke about how digital algorithms work, why they flatten culture and how to take back control of our own taste.

These are the books we mentioned in the podcast:

• Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture

We also mentioned:

• The Criterion Channel

• Idagio

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