Ross Douthat

IN HIS APRIL essay “An Age of Extinction Is Coming. Here’s How to Survive,” New York Times columnist Ross Douthat argues that falling birth rates and fraying cultural institutions signal a civilizational bottleneck— and that mastering our digital tools may be the only way through it. Douthat joined Reason’s Just Asking Questions podcast in April to discuss demographic collapse, technological alienation, and whether the American suburbs might be more resilient than they seem.

- Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe

Q: What are some of the biggest telltale signs that lead you to believe we’re facing an age of extinction?

A: Digital existence is really hard on basic modes of cultural transmission and also the literal reproduction of the species. These two things are connected. The way we live digitally tends to distract us from the forms of creation and educational transmission of literature, art, religion—all the human culture that people take for granted.

It also tends to distract us and separate us from the real-life ways of hanging around with other people—making friendships, going on dates, finding romance, having sex, and having kids—that allow for the very literal continuation of the human species.