The last time we recorded was on June 1st, and since then, a lot has happened: immigration protests erupted in Los Angeles, Elon Musk got fired, a war broke out between Israel and Iran, the U.S. launched direct strikes on Iran, and we had both the G7 and NATO summits. While Trump dominated the headlines, it feels like Gaza has been forgotten. And these are just the global stories; we’re not even touching on what’s happening in our own countries.
We are bombarded with news. Every day, every week. We try to keep up, but by next week, something louder and shinier will replace today’s news.
At this speed, it starts to feel like we do not need to read the news anymore. We just scroll through our social media feeds. An endless stream of notifications. Dependent on adverstising revenue, the mainstream media follows as simmilar logic: a strange blend where tragedy and advertising live side by side in a cruel manner. We read about people being murdered in Gaza, and then scroll down to see cat videos, recipe articles, and ads for some beach paradise.
Both social media platforms and the mainstream press are fluent in the language of the attention economy. Journalists, politicians and comentators are caught in the same attention trap: chasing the next scandal, crafting hot takes, feeding the algorithm with controversy, likes, clicks, views.
Opting out is challanging. Platformization—the growing influence of digital platforms—collides with a culture of acceleration. It’s not just how fast we consume information; it’s how deeply we depend on these platforms to try to understand the world.
According to the 2024 Digital News Report from the Reuters Institute, only 22% of respondents say that news websites are their main source of news. People are generally more drawn to visual information such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. The report shows that 66% of respondents access news through short videos of just a few minutes—or less—at least once a week. As the map below demonstrates, in many countries, TikTok has become the primary news source.
PROPORTION THAT USED TIKTOK FOR NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK
Top ten markets are all in the Global South
Source: Reuters Institute, 2024, p.12
In the UK, half of adults report not regularly reading for pleasure. This is a reality around the world. A 2024 survey in Brazil revealed that, for the first time, the country has more non-readers than readers: 53% of respondents hadn’t read a single book. Nearly half (46% ) said they don’t read because they don’t have time. Additionally, how we consume information online may be influencing our reading habits. In classrooms, professors are noticing the decline of reading endurance. Anything over five pages becomes too much for students.
Meanwhile, as we are bombarded by the fast pace of news —where quantity trumps quality—, our own sense of time is negativelly disrupted, disrespected, disregarded. Time itself feels hijacked.
Thinking takes time, and accelerationism suggests we are running out of time to think. So in this episode, we take a step back and try to slow down. We talk about accelerationism—what it is, how it's shaping us, and what it’s doing to our ability to think, to rest, to resist. And, most importantly, we explore small acts of dissent to reclaim our time and our minds.
Reading Recommendation
A Quick-and-Dirty Introduction to Accelerationism by Nick Land
ACCELERATE: The Accelerationist Reader by Robin Mackay and Armen Avanessian
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