Reclaiming Conversation

The Power of Talk in a Digital Age

By: Sherry Turkle

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

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 Audio

Critic reviews

"Low-key urgency flows steadily beneath Kirsten Potter's appealing interpretation of this important audiobook about our diminishing ability to connect with people in intimate ways. Her clear phrasing, full of texture and sonority, makes listeners want to hear every syllable and comprehend every idea." ( AudioFile)

“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)

So good, I had to stop listening.

What made the experience of listening to Reclaiming Conversation the most enjoyable?

I thought I was buying an audio book about conversation (hints for conversation starters at parties, etc.). That was my mistake. This book details how families, parents, teens, young adults are so distracted by phones and apps that they can't have a face to face conversation. I liked hearing how families are dealing with the digital onslaught.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Couldn't take it anymore. It is a long book and I really didn't want to hear anymore about families and couples that fight, eat dinner, spend time with each other while constantly being on their phones. I hate to see it in real life and so found it too irritating to listen to for the whole book.

Have you listened to any of Kirsten Potter’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

I can't believe families have fights on text, group text apps. I am worried about us.

Any additional comments?

Ugh. In a way I guess I am glad to know this info, but I really wish I didn't.

Obvious and redundant

While I typically enjoy writings such as these, I found this book to be incredibly obvious and horribly redundant chapter to chapter. The message and information contained is both important and practical, but was drawn out to 50+ chapters in what could have just as easily been fully elucidated in more concise form.

Important Book for our times, but repetitive.

Turkle's work and perspective are vital for our time, this book was a bit tough to get through in audio form as it's very repetitive.

Repetitive

Couldn't finish it. Too boring. Horribly repetitive. Wasted hours hoping the author would say something new, but no luck.

Very important conclusions in an unpalatable form.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Listening was a challenge. I think the topic is vitally important but the author's attitude toward alternative views was too disdainful and condescending. I will persist and listen through to the end hoping I can carry forward some of her arguments without the tone of infinite certainty.

Would you be willing to try another book from Sherry Turkle? Why or why not?

Probably not.

Was Reclaiming Conversation worth the listening time?

No.

repetitive but interesting

I think this could have been about half the length. The book seemed repetitive with references to the same things too often. I liked how the book brought up how much we ignore people and situations to be 'in our phone' and online and how we use it to avoid silence and are therefore making it more difficult to just socialize and get to know each other as strangers in society.

Redundant Book

This book says the same thing over and over again, "people are so attached to their phones and gadgets that their life suffers in some typically unnecessary way as a result of phone abuse". Whether that be from loss of interaction will workers, families, or nature something comes at a price of relying upon and attaching to the phone and gadgets.

Introversion is an Issue?

Articulates a number of concerning consequences that arise from increased technology use. However, in some chapters, the author seems to imply that artsy extroversion is inherently superior to logically minded introversion.

As a young individual in the workforce, I loved it

What a fun way to look through that lense. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommended it to many people at work.

Well worth reading

Very timely very thought-provoking and everyone under 30 and over 30 should read it. While it gets a little repetitive at times, its main points are extremely important at this point in our existence. Finding the balance between relationships with real people and using our technology for our good is not an easy task

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.

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.

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.

Hope & Despair

If you care about the future of humanity, then I suggest you read this book.