# Why Earnestness is Everywhere

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/critics-at-large-the-new-yorker-6612611/why-earnestness-is-everywhere
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/critics-at-large-the-new-yorker-6612611/why-earnestness-is-everywhere.md
Podcast: [Critics at Large | The New Yorker](https://stenobird.com/podcast/critics-at-large-the-new-yorker-6612611)
Published: 2026-04-23T09:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_5868_a1f3c0d1-91d9-41bc-aded-e9766dfc99f0&uf=https%3A%2F%2Fpublicfeeds.net%2Ff%2F5868%2Fcritics-at-large
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/pdrl.fm/cf3795/tracking.swap.fm/track/uJwtcKQUPuqBQPfusm59/dovetail.prxu.org/5868/a1f3c0d1-91d9-41bc-aded-e9766dfc99f0/tnycriticsatlarge_042326_earnestness_v2.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/critics-at-large-the-new-yorker-6612611/episodes/why-earnestness-is-everywhere
Duration seconds: 2881

## Resource

Cynicism is widely considered a defining quality of our conspiracy-addled, irony-poisoned age. But audiences and creatives alike now seem ready to cast it aside in favor of an attitude that’s long been out of style: earnestness. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz trace this trend from the outer-space buddy comedy “Project Hail Mary” to the real-life Artemis II mission, whose crew has spoken movingly about Earth as a “lifeboat” in the middle of a vast, mysterious universe. The hosts also consider two buzzy new books—Lena Dunham’s “Famesick,” and “Transcription,” by Ben Lerner—which find their authors turning to earnestness in midlife, after precocious beginnings. In this era of political, economic, and environmental precarity, younger generations, too, have come to celebrate big feelings, rather than living in fear of seeming cringe. “We’ve just seen too much awful stuff, and it's impossible to ironize,” Cunningham says. “The only sane response to that is to kind of sober up and say, ‘All right, what resources do humans still have?’ ” Read, watch, and listen with the critics: “Project Hail Mary” (2026) “The Pitt” (2025-) “Love on the Spectrum” (2022-) “Heated Rivalry” (2025-) “ Famesick ,” by Lena Dunham “Girls” (2012-17) “ Transcription ,” by Ben Lerner “ Climbing Cringe Mountain With Gen Z ” (The New York Times ) “ Amos & Boris ,” by William Steig László Krasznahorkai’s Nobel Prize lecture New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts . Critics at Large is a weekly discussion from The New Yorker which explores the latest trends in books, television, film, and more. Join us every Thursday as we make unexpected connections between classic texts and pop culture. Learn ab…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/critics-at-large-the-new-yorker-6612611/episodes/why-earnestness-is-everywhere/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/critics-at-large-the-new-yorker-6612611/why-earnestness-is-everywhere.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.