> imagine a world where we could tune in to neutrally-moderated longform debate on policy We had something of that world. Firing Line was on air for thirty yea

> imagine a world where we could tune in to neutrally-moderated longform debate on policy We had something of that world. Firing Line was on air for thirty years, and many other countries had or have comparable programmes. It's been a long de-evolution, not a radical destruction. Every innovation in media communication was that little bit faster, that little bit more palatable, but it's a one-way street, and hard to reverse. My mother (born 1951) can't enjoy any film made after 2000, they're too frantic and they stress her. My ex-girlfriend (born 1996) couldn't enjoy any film made before 1990, they were too slow and they bored her to sleep. I have to put effort into reading books rather than relatively short essays nowadays. I don't think there can be an implosion, at this point. We need a future generation, sometime after Z, that will grow up thinking that ten-second TikTok videos are the peak of uncool and something only old stodgy zoomers can enjoy.