Reclaiming Conversation

The Power of Talk in a Digital Age

By: Sherry Turkle

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

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)

Awesome Book!.. I really enjoyed this Audiobook!.

Will change the way look at your phone & hopefully change the way you are most likely letting your phone decrease your ability to communicate effectively in our relationships

Very powerful!

It’s time to awake up to the sadness of missed communication and the loss of human interactions.

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.

Required reading, audio should have chapters

This book is very important to read, as it addresses a critical issue in our lives and relationships.

My only complaint is that the audio lacks chapter markers or headings in the recording. So I could never know where I was in the structure of the book. Good luck searching later for a key quote!

Information Nation

A bit dated now, and lacking in a lot of the original content I was hoping for. Still a good listen, if you’re looking for a nice pass time.

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.

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.

Mind Blown

Such an amazing look at our use of technology and how it can be driving us apart from what we need most as a society and individual. I am deeply grateful for this book.

Loved the book

A cogent analysis of what is loss when technology is given a preeminent position in our lives.

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.