Reclaiming Conversation
The Power of Talk in a Digital Age
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
Reclaiming Conversation
Buy Now for £12.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kirsten Potter
-
By:
-
Sherry Turkle
About this listen
Renowned media scholar Sherry Turkle investigates how a flight from conversation undermines our relationships, creativity, and productivity - and why reclaiming face-to-face conversation can help us regain lost ground.
We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection.
Preeminent author and researcher Sherry Turkle has been studying digital culture for over 30 years. Long an enthusiast for its possibilities, here she investigates a troubling consequence: At work, at home, in politics, and in love, we find ways around conversation, tempted by the possibilities of a text or an email in which we don’t have to look, listen, or reveal ourselves.
We develop a taste for what mere connection offers. The dinner table falls silent as children compete with phones for their parents’ attention. Friends learn strategies to keep conversations going when only a few people are looking up from their phones. At work, we retreat to our screens although it is conversation at the water cooler that increases not only productivity but commitment to work. Online, we only want to share opinions that our followers will agree with - a politics that shies away from the real conflicts and solutions of the public square.
The case for conversation begins with the necessary conversations of solitude and self-reflection. They are endangered: These days, always connected, we see loneliness as a problem that technology should solve. Afraid of being alone, we rely on other people to give us a sense of ourselves, and our capacity for empathy and relationship suffers. We see the costs of the flight from conversation everywhere: Conversation is the cornerstone for democracy and in business it is good for the bottom line. In the private sphere, it builds empathy, friendship, love, learning, and productivity.
But there is good news: We are resilient. Conversation cures.
Based on five years of research and interviews in homes, schools, and the workplace, Turkle argues that we have come to a better understanding of where our technology can and cannot take us and that the time is right to reclaim conversation. The most human - and humanizing - thing that we do.
The virtues of person-to-person conversation are timeless, and our most basic technology, talk, responds to our modern challenges. We have everything we need to start, we have each other.
Turkle's latest book, The Empathy Diaries (3/2/21) is available now.
©2015 Sherry Turkle (P)2015 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
“In a time in which the ways we communicate and connect are constantly changing, and not always for the better, Sherry Turkle provides a much needed voice of caution and reason to help explain what the f*** is going on.” (Aziz Ansari, author of Modern Romance)
What listeners say about Reclaiming Conversation
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Carrying case isn’t impressive
- 25-03-21
Highly recommended for everyone
It’s an amazing book which totally changed my perception towards technology. Perhaps I’d recommend it to everyone who wants to learn the forgotten art of conversation.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nick Winkelman
- 25-02-20
Hope & Despair
If you care about the future of humanity, then I suggest you read this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 18-11-20
Very relevant knowledge
I enjoyed everything about this book. Constantly mindblown and shocked of the information provided. If I could, I would force everyone to learn this information.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- NJH
- 12-02-24
Explains SO much. . .
This is a very very important book explaining so much of what it is that we have lost in our era of smart phones.
As a parent of 20 somethings I finally found the scientific research that illustrates my discomfort with my lack of connection with them, and theirs with me. . . Esp those born in this millennium.
They don’t even know what they don’t know, and that makes me sad for the generations of children coming that won’t know the connection with their elders that I enjoyed as a child. Thank you Sherry.
Please can you produce an abridged version that is a powerful and short book that can be shared. This book is too long for me to give to anyone to read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- K. Goldschmitt
- 14-06-16
Better as a TED talk or podcast
I found this to be a very repetitive book with a few really compelling points. Turkle seems to buy into the premise that Autism is about a lack of empathy in her statements that our love for technology is turning the next generation into a bunch of autistics. The same goes with her statements about engineers as administrators. I find that and her comments about 'normal' social interactions to be off-putting. What I like is the evidence she provides that our addiction to our devices are making meaningful connection more difficult. And I will also implement some of her suggestions as a friend, partner, teacher, and colleague.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful