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For Your Reading List Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation by Andrew Marantz
“The internet was teeming with weirdos and extremists; I tried to keep up with most of them,” writes Andrew Marantz in his new book. The New Yorker staff writer has done more than keep up — since 2011 he’s capaciously chronicled a new generation of conservative extremists like Richard Spencer and the platforms like Reddit where their ideas have circulated. Now he’s assembled all the stories. And while Marantz occasionally traffics in condescension — bemoaning how little engagement an “intricate and poignant” New Yorker story receives on Facebook — the way he demonstrates how digital platforms helped inject far-right ideas into the center of American life is insightful. Especially useful is how he grounds his account in a wide range of philosophical works showing, for instance, how the same group of Continental thinkers like French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan inspired both BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti and right-wing blogger Mike Cernovich. “The postmodernists seemed to be arguing that there was no single, absolute truth,” writes Marantz about the origins of the insight that whomever garners the most pageviews wins. Built for lighter fare, the viral delivery system was also staggeringly effective at spreading alt-right ideas. It’s a sobering reminder, even if Marantz’s ultimate suggestion — to develop a new moral vocabulary to change the American conversation — seems a little thinly sketched. Get your copy now. —Scott Lucas
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