In a new book, Chris Hayes argues that attention is our most endangered resource

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4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

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Summary

As a cable news host, MSNBC's Chris Hayes is in the attention business. But in today's interview, he says that he often feels like he's chasing rather than directing his audience's focus. In his new book, The Sirens' Call, Hayes argues that attention has become the information age's most finite resource, with damaging consequences for our politics, lives and collective alienation. In today's episode, Hayes joins NPR's Steve Inskeep for a conversation about the difference between attention and information, President Trump as a symbol of the attention economy, and whether MSNBC is struggling to maintain its audience.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. MSNBC host Chris Hayes is on the pod today.
0:07.7	He's got a book out titled The Sirens Call, How Attention became the World's Most Endangered Resource.
0:14.2	And that word, resource, it's an interesting one to use when talking about attention.
0:19.4	Because it's not as if there's a lack of it. In fact,
0:22.8	a lot of us are all too eager to hand our attention out willy-nilly to social media, to the
0:28.5	latest news stories, to any hot gossip we hear, either about famous people or people we know.
0:34.2	But the thing about attention is that it's fleeting. Hays talks to NPR Steve Inskeep about how
0:40.1	President Trump uses attention to further his goals and how Hayes himself thinks about the
0:46.3	attention economy as a cable news host. That's up ahead.
0:51.1	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky
0:57.3	conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on
1:03.4	the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here
1:08.7	at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:17.3	A recent skit on Saturday Night Live featured a panel of cable TV news talent.
1:23.2	Hello and welcome to MSNBC. I'm Rachel Meadow.
1:27.7	They're trying to report on the inauguration of President Trump, but each time they analyze
1:31.7	something Trump did, they are interrupted by news of something else Trump did.
1:35.3	One thing I do know is this time around, we're not going to get sucked in by every new shiny,
1:40.4	crazy statement from Trump.
1:42.1	We need to focus on what he does, not what he says.
1:45.8	I'm sorry, I have to interrupt you. We have some breaking news. Trump has apparently just told reporters
1:52.1	that he would like to quote. One of the panelists parodied in this skit is MSNBC program host Chris
	...

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