What Really Happened at the Washington Post (w/ Becca Rothfeld)

🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: Becca Rothfeld is a staff writer at The New Yorker, an editor at The Point, and the former nonfiction book critic at The Washington Post, where she wrote until the paper eliminated its books section amid sweeping layoffs. She explains why book reviews matter and how criticism can introduce readers to ideas they didn’t know interested them. Rothfeld also discusses the role of negative reviews, what it means for a book to be “instructively bad,” and why criticism should challenge rather than flatter its audience. She also argues that the growing use of AI risks degrading human thought, and reflects on beauty, “looksmaxing,” and the kind of intellectual and cultural life worth preserving. 📚 Becca's New Yorker Articles: 📚 Becca's Website: 📚 Becca's Book: 0:00–5:41 What Happened to the Washington Post 5:41–13:08 Why Review Books 13:08–22:02 Reviewing “Bad” Books 22:02–39:20 AI and the Death of Thinking 39:20–45:46 Looksmaxing and Beauty 45:46–50:58 Favorite Book Reviews 🦩

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What Really Happened at the Washington Post (w/ Becca Rothfeld) is an episode from Current Affairs by Current Affairs.

This episode is 00:50:49 long.

This episode was published on Mar 17, 2026.

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