Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani are both proof of how the ability to capture attention is power. And the attention economy isn’t reshaping just politics; it’s also reshaping the actual economy: the crypto market, A.I. venture capital, and how people, especially Gen Z, are making career decisions. @KylaScanlon has emerged as a leading theorist on the economics of attention and is herself a member of Gen Z. She is the author of the book “In This Economy?” and Kyla’s Newsletter on Substack. I asked her on the show to walk us through her theory of the attention economy.
0:00: Intro
1:17: The Gen Z economy
8:50: The AI ‘fog’ on the future
20:00: AI and consensus reality
26:40: Attention is infrastructure
36:35: How Trump embodies the algorithm
48:00: Digital ease and nihilism
56:36: Everything feels like crypto now
59:45: Optimism for the real world
1:04:25: Book recommendations
Read the full transcript here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/op...
Watch more on @EzraKleinShow
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected].
You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-...
0:00: Intro
1:17: The Gen Z economy
8:50: The AI ‘fog’ on the future
20:00: AI and consensus reality
26:40: Attention is infrastructure
36:35: How Trump embodies the algorithm
48:00: Digital ease and nihilism
56:36: Everything feels like crypto now
59:45: Optimism for the real world
1:04:25: Book recommendations
Read the full transcript here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/op...
Watch more on @EzraKleinShow
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected].
You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-...