Overview of Ew, are we post-literate?
This Vox/Today, Explained episode asks whether modern life is becoming “post-literate” — less centered on reading and more shaped by short-form video, podcasts, social media, and AI-generated or voice-based communication. The first half, with Eric Levitz, explores the idea of digital orality: a return to communication styles that resemble pre-literate societies, where ideas spread through repetition, performance, and memorable phrasing. The second half, with Adam Clark Estes, focuses on the rise of little videos and how algorithmic feeds may be shrinking attention spans, disrupting memory, and making it harder to think deeply or stay focused.
Digital orality: what changes when reading declines?
What “orality” means
The episode draws on Walter Ong’s Orality and Literacy to explain communication in oral societies:
- Information survives by being spoken and repeated
- Speech tends to be formulaic, memorable, and rhythmic
- Messages are often face-to-face, combative, and tied to social status
- Abstract thinking is harder when ideas are always embedded in immediate social context
Why this feels familiar today
The hosts argue that parts of the internet resemble oral culture again:
- Viral content rewards catchy, repeatable phrasing
- Social media often favors performance over sustained argument
- Podcasts, YouTube, emojis, and video-first communication reintroduce tone, expression, and presence that text once minimized
Reading, deep thinking, and liberal democracy
What reading uniquely enables
The discussion emphasizes the difference between merely decoding text and deep reading long-form writing. Deep reading is presented as important because it:
- Encourages private, sustained thought
- Helps people form abstract concepts and general rules
- Supports scientific reasoning, law, religion, and liberal democratic institutions
The concern
The episode notes a common worry that declining reading habits may weaken:
- Attention to nuance
- Commitment to abstraction
- Shared civic reasoning
- The mental habits that support democracy
But the segment also pushes back on overly simple explanations:
- Being well-read does not prevent authoritarian or illiberal beliefs
- Political dysfunction is unlikely to be caused by media change alone
Politics, populism, and the limits of the theory
The episode explores the idea that digital orality may help explain modern populism, especially through Donald Trump’s communication style:
- Nicknames and epithets (“Crooked Hillary,” “Sleepy Joe”)
- A combative, performative tone
- Messaging designed to be repeated and spread
Still, Eric Levitz argues the case is speculative:
- Many influential anti-democratic thinkers are highly educated and widely read
- Illiberal politics cannot be reduced to a lack of literacy
- Media change may matter, but it is not a complete explanation
Little videos: why they’re so hard to stop watching
The algorithmic pull
Adam Clark Estes explains that short videos are everywhere, not just on TikTok:
- Social feeds
- Spotify
- Shopping sites
- Entertainment platforms
They work because they are designed to keep users engaged:
- Algorithms learn what surprises and hooks you
- The endless scroll creates a slot machine effect
- Each new clip can trigger a small dopamine reward
Attention span and memory effects
The episode cites research suggesting serious cognitive costs:
- Attention spans may have dropped from about 2.5 minutes to 47 seconds
- TikTok users spend, on average, about 108 minutes a day on the app
- TikTok-style scrolling may impair prospective memory — the brain’s ability to remember what you were about to do
- Heavy social media use is also linked with anxiety and depression, especially among young people
What to do about it
Practical advice from the episode
The biggest recommendation is not total abstinence, but intentional interruption:
- Take breaks when you realize you’re stuck in a scroll loop
- Notice when you’re bored or procrastinating
- Picture your desired outcome for the day before opening the app
- Make your phone “more boring,” such as using grayscale
A broader mindset shift
The episode suggests that because technology is becoming more compelling, people may need to become more deliberate about:
- Limiting their own screen time
- Reclaiming time for reading or other non-screen activities
- Choosing activities that support focus and reflection, such as books, gardening, being outdoors, or spending time with family
Key takeaways
- The internet is shifting from text-heavy culture toward video, voice, and performance
- This “digital orality” may resemble older oral communication patterns
- Deep reading still matters because it supports abstraction, reflection, and civic life
- Short-form video is highly addictive because it is optimized for engagement
- The effects on attention, memory, and mental health are real concerns, though not necessarily irreversible
- The most realistic response is to be more intentional about how we use our devices