Sean talks with writer Christine Emba about the strange and increasingly anti-social world young people are inheriting online. They discuss the rise of “looksmaxxing,” the manosphere, Gen Z’s retreat from dating and sex, and how the internet has transformed what might have been normal insecurities into a permanent state of anxiety and self-optimization. Along the way, they explore loneliness, intimacy, masculinity, social media, and what happens to a society when human connection starts to feel unbearable.
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Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling) Guest: Christine Emba (@ChristineEmba)
00:00 Intro 01:47 The world of looksmaxxing: incels, bone smashing, and drugs 12:18 The digital doom loop: anxiety, optimization, and the death of dating 21:20 The growing gender divide of Gen Z 28:25 When digital substitutes replace real connections 38:27 Is the internet designed to destroy human connection?
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