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Personal Landscapes

Ryan Murdock

Ryan Murdock talks with the world’s most original writers, publishers and travelers to get the story behind great books about place.

www.personallandscapespodcast.com
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  • 22 episodes
  • Avg 1 hr 14 min
  • English
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • May 27, 2025 · 1 hr 41 min

    Germany’s Broken Republic

    Germany’s post-war recovery was an economic miracle. The country was on the rise in a good way. And then it all started going wrong. The signs of trouble were visible long before the covid pandemic pushed us over the brink. Journalists Will Wilkes and Chris Reiter have spent decades reporting on Germany’s problems, and they lay it all out in their new book Broken Republik. We spoke about Germany’s worrying lack of national identity, its reliance on structure to manage interpersonal relations, and why it has Europe’s worst social mobility. Personal Landscapes relies on the support of listeners like you to keep going. Please consider joining my Member's Club on Substack https://www.personallandscapespodcast.com/p/start-here You’ll be supporting an independent ad-free podcast that publishes carefully curated conversations like this one, backed by decades of reading.Find me on: Instagram YouTube X Follow my travels — and buy my books — on ryanmurdock.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.personallandscapespodcast.com/subscribe

  • May 13, 2025 · 53 min

    Kyle Chayka on how the internet flattened culture

    Digital platforms promised us personalization but their algorithms homogenized culture to a bland lowest common denominator instead. They don’t just influence what we consume, they also determine what is produced as artists shape their output to fit what gets seen and what gets shared. My guest today traced this creeping, machine-guided curation as it infiltrated the furthest reaches of our digital, physical, and psychological spaces. And he has a few ideas for escaping it that might surprise you. Kyle Chayka joined me to talk about how digital algorithms work, why they flatten culture and how to take back control of our own taste. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.personallandscapespodcast.com/subscribe

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