Magic and Loss
The Internet as Art
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Narrated by:
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Candace Thaxton
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Virginia Heffernan - introduction
About this listen
Just as Susan Sontag did for photography and Marshall McLuhan did for television, Virginia Heffernan (called one of the "best living writers of English prose") reveals the logic and aesthetics behind the Internet.
Since its inception, the Internet has morphed from merely an extension of traditional media into its own full-fledged civilization. It is among mankind's great masterpieces - a massive work of art. As an idea, it rivals monotheism. We all inhabit this fascinating place. But its deep logic, its cultural potential, and its societal impact often elude us.
In this deep and thoughtful book, Virginia Heffernan presents an original and far-reaching analysis of what the Internet is and does. Life online, in the highly visual, social, portable, and global incarnation, rewards certain virtues. The new medium favors speed, accuracy, wit, prolificacy, and versatility, and its form and functions are changing how we perceive, experience, and understand the world.
©2016 Virginia Heffernan (P)2016 Simon & SchusterListeners also enjoyed...
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The Story Paradox
- How Our Love of Storytelling Builds Societies and Tears Them Down
- By: Jonathan Gottschall
- Narrated by: Joshua Kane
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Humans are storytelling animals. Stories are what make our societies possible. Countless books celebrate their virtues. But Jonathan Gottschall, an expert on the science of stories, argues that there is a dark side to storytelling we can no longer ignore. Storytelling, the very tradition that built human civilization, may be the thing that destroys it.
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A bit of a mixed bag with some amazing discussion
- By Justin on 04-27-22
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The Nineties
- A Book
- By: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman, Dion Graham
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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It was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while another was plausibly decided by Ralph Nader. Landlines fell to cell phones, the internet exploded, and pop culture accelerated without the aid of technology that remembered everything. It was the last era with a real mainstream to either identify with or oppose. The ’90s brought about a revolution in the human condition, and a shift in consciousness, that we’re still struggling to understand.
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A Very White Middle-class Take On The Nineties
- By Umar Lee on 02-10-22
By: Chuck Klosterman
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The Formula
- How Algorithms Solve all our Problems…and Create More
- By: Luke Dormehl
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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A fascinating guided tour of the complex, fast-moving, and influential world of algorithms - what they are, why they’re such powerful predictors of human behavior, and where they’re headed next. Algorithms exert an extraordinary level of influence on our everyday lives - from dating websites and financial trading floors, through to online retailing and internet searches - Google's search algorithm is now a more closely guarded commercial secret than the recipe for Coca-Cola.
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Not about algorithms. Not an original book.
- By Landon Rordam on 12-02-14
By: Luke Dormehl
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Thinking Machines
- The Quest for Artificial Intelligence - and Where It's Taking Us Next
- By: Luke Dormehl
- Narrated by: Gus Brown
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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When most of us think about artificial intelligence, our minds go straight to cyborgs, robots, and sci-fi thrillers where machines take over the world. But the truth is that artificial intelligence is already among us. It exists in our smartphones, fitness trackers, and refrigerators that tell us when the milk will expire. In some ways the future people dreamed of at the World's Fair in the 1960s is already here. We're teaching our machines how to think like humans, and they're learning at an incredible rate.
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Mostly platitudes with no depth
- By Gary on 03-24-17
By: Luke Dormehl
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American Sketches
- Great Leaders, Creative Thinkers, and Heroes of a Hurricane
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Cotter Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In this collection of essays, Walter Isaacson reflects on the lessons to be learned from Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton, and various other interesting characters he has chronicled as a biographer and journalist. The people he writes about have an awesome intelligence, in most cases, but that is not the secret of their success.
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Not Really Sketches
- By DAVID on 11-04-11
By: Walter Isaacson
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The Glamour of Grammar
- By: Roy Peter Clark
- Narrated by: Roy Peter Clark
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Early in the history of English, glamour and grammar were the same word, linked to enchantment and magical spells. Now grammar brings to mind language bullies and bored-out-of-their-skulls students. Roy Peter Clark, one of America’s most influential writing teachers, wants to change that by putting the glamour back into grammar.
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Wasteful
- By ABID on 12-05-13
By: Roy Peter Clark
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The Geography of Genius
- A Search for the World's Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley
- By: Eric Weiner
- Narrated by: Eric Weiner
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Geography of Genius, acclaimed travel writer Weiner sets out to examine the connection between our surroundings and our most innovative ideas. He explores the history of places, like Vienna of 1900, Renaissance Florence, ancient Athens, Song Dynasty Hangzhou, and Silicon Valley, to show how certain urban settings are conducive to ingenuity.
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Very, very disappointing
- By Tamara Greer on 06-08-16
By: Eric Weiner
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The Image, 50th Anniversary Edition
- A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America
- By: Daniel J. Boorstin, Douglas Rushkoff - afterword
- Narrated by: Timothy Danko
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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First published in 1962, this wonderfully provocative book introduced the notion of "pseudo-events" - events such as press conferences and presidential debates, which are manufactured solely in order to be reported - and the contemporary definition of celebrity as "a person who is known for his well-knownness". Since then Daniel J. Boorstin's prophetic vision of an America inundated by its own illusions has become an essential resource for any listeners who wants to distinguish the manifold deceptions of our culture from its few enduring truths.
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Boorstin’s deep Conservative mindset reaches through every example in this book.
- By Christine on 10-12-20
By: Daniel J. Boorstin, and others
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Wonderland
- How Play Made the Modern World
- By: Steven Johnson
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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From the New York Times best-selling author of How We Got to Now and Extra Life, a look at the world-changing innovations we made while keeping ourselves entertained. This history of popular entertainment takes a long-zoom approach, contending that the pursuit of novelty and wonder is a powerful driver of world-shaping technological change. Steven Johnson argues that, throughout history, the cutting edge of innovation lies wherever people are working the hardest to keep themselves and others amused.
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It will delight you
- By T. Leach on 02-09-17
By: Steven Johnson
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Technically Wrong
- Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech
- By: Sara Wachter-Boettcher
- Narrated by: Andrea Emmes
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Buying groceries, tracking our health, finding a date: whatever we want to do, odds are that we can now do it online. But few of us ask how all these digital products are designed, or why. It's time we change that. Many of the services we rely on are full of oversights, biases, and downright ethical nightmares. Chatbots that harass women. Signup forms that fail anyone who's not straight. Social media sites that send peppy messages about dead relatives. Algorithms that put more black people behind bars.
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Pretty good but not complete
- By Casey on 10-29-17
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Turned On
- Science, Sex and Robots
- By: Kate Devlin
- Narrated by: Kate Devlin
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Sexual activity is central to our very existence; it shapes how we think, how we act and how we live. With advances in technology come machines that may one day think independently. What will happen to us when we form close relationships with these intelligent systems? Sex robots are here and here to stay, and more are coming. This audiobook explores how the emerging and future development of sexual companion robots might affect us and the society in which we live. It explores the social changes arising from emerging technologies and our relationships with the machines that may someday care for us and about us.
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Nuanced, Smart, and Compassionate
- By Karen on 01-20-19
By: Kate Devlin
What listeners say about Magic and Loss
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Don
- 07-18-16
Thought-provoking and amusing read.
This book shines a new light on the Internet and our increasingly digital world. By virtue of her intelligent analysis of the potential this inevitable frontier holds, Heffernan challenges us to make the most of our online life, celebrate the creative and collaborative opportunities it presents, and assuage our concerns about "too much screen time" by getting out more in the real world. The Audible version is nicely read - fun to listen too. I still plan to read my hard copy, too!
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- S. Ira Grossman
- 08-22-16
A surprisingly deep story
What made the experience of listening to Magic and Loss the most enjoyable?
I thought the story was to be only about the Internet but it turned in to a very personal and wonderful story about a woman's search and resolution. My focus became more intense as the book wound down.
What other book might you compare Magic and Loss to and why?
None come to mind.
What does Candace Thaxton and Virginia Heffernan - introduction bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Not sure.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
As the story became a personal journal I became more involved.
Any additional comments?
No
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- Fine Arts Dad
- 07-22-16
Over the head of this technologist
Would you try another book from Virginia Heffernan and/or Candace Thaxton and Virginia Heffernan - introduction ?
Ms. Thaxton is a wonderful narrator and wouldn't hesitate to listen to her again. Ms.Heffernan has an interesting perspective that I do not share so I disagreed with her around every corner. Her journalistic accuracy and reportage is excellent and to the point, I like her voice but not her vision. I would like to read her again but will be circumspect of the material.
Would you recommend Magic and Loss to your friends? Why or why not?
Sadly not, she has a unique vision that I do not share and in large part I cannot agree. I concur with much of her story but few of her conclusions. If you understand and agree with her perspective you'll love her book.
What does Candace Thaxton and Virginia Heffernan - introduction bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
I watched an interview with Ms Heffernan and enjoyed her conversation so much I decided to read the book. I respect her vision but feel otherwise.
Was Magic and Loss worth the listening time?
Not for me...I just couldn't connect with the material.
Any additional comments?
I'm in my 60's and a technologist and lived through and experienced much of what Ms. Heffernan has but with a different perspective. My vision has more in common with Kevin Kelly and his new book. (Also on Audible)
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- Ex
- 07-13-16
original but a touch over my head
a mix of memoir and cultural and technological criticism that is unlike anything else I've read on the latter two subjects.
still a touch too philosophical (read: up its own ass) for my tastes and (at times) comprehension.
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- Maija Kovari
- 08-22-19
Title is misleading
Ends up being a description of the writers personal spiritual journey and relationship to God. Some interesting quotes and thoughts.
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