As information sources have become abundant and attention spans have shortened in the age of AI, we take on the lost art of reading.
Join us to explore why reading rates are falling, how that shift affects judgment and opportunity, and how interdisciplinary books help us see patterns across history, economics, and technology. To help us, Alisa Rusanoff, CEO of Eltech AI, joins us to share her perspective on reading, debate volume versus depth, and offer practical ways to reclaim attention and read with intention.
Reading has never been cheaper, yet it’s slipping from our daily lives. That tension frames a conversation that moves from personal book stacks to national literacy trends and the hidden costs of attention erosion. The data is sobering: adult and teen reading for pleasure is down, and early declines predict lower literacy and narrower life options. Still, there’s leverage in small steps—one completed book places you ahead of most adults, and a steady practice compounds into sharper models of the world.
In this episode, we explore reading as a builder of mental models. Whether it’s thermodynamics informing decision entropy or macroeconomics clarifying policy whiplash, books give names to patterns hiding in plain sight. Interdisciplinary texts train the brain to connect signals across domains. That integrative habit grows more valuable as AI automates linear tasks. Language models can draft and summarize, but they don’t replace the human synthesis that spots weak ties between finance, culture, technology, and law. Reading across genres creates the cognitive mesh where original insight forms.
Many practical takeaways anchor this episode. Start small: one book this year moves you up the distribution; four builds momentum; ten reshapes perspective. Choose quality over volume—books that challenge and connect fields. Pair biographies with macro texts, science with philosophy, and fiction with history. Read, then reflect: jot the claim, the evidence, and the counterpoint; ask how the idea fits your work or family decisions. Finally, protect attention like capital. Set phone‑free reading windows, use paper or distraction blockers, and treat audiobooks as on‑ramps. The goal isn’t to read more trivia; it’s to think more clearly in a loud world.
Dr. Sid Mangalik
Dr. Andrew Clark
Alisa Rusanoff
Susan Peich
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