The Modern World Is Changing America’s Personality For the Worse

Podcast: Plain English with Derek Thompson (LS 62 · TOP 0.1% what is this?)Episode: The Modern World Is Changing America’s Personality For the WorsePub date: 2025-08-13Get Podcast Transcript →powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarizationAccording to analysis by Financial Times writer John Burn-Murdoch, something extraordinary has happened to Americans’ personalities in the last decade. Longitudinal tests indicate that we’ve collectively become less extroverted, less agreeable, and more neurotic. The most significant thing Burn-Murdoch found is that measures of conscientiousness among young Americans appears to be in a kind of free fall. Today, John and I talk about his research. We discuss personality tests, the value of conscientiousness, and how the modern world might be scrambling our personalities by making us less interested in other people and more consumed with our own neurotic interiority. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected]. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: John Burn-Murdoch Producer: Devon Baroldi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesThe podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Ringer, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.