Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society

Philosophy professor Ellie Anderson of the Overthink podcast explains the central argument of The Burnout Society: how the disciplinary society of prohibitions gave way to an achievement society of “yes we can,” why depression and burnout are the signature ailments of a culture that exploits itself, and what Han thinks we lost when we lost the capacity for deep boredom. Han himself famously refuses filmed interviews, so an explainer like this is the closest most viewers will get to hearing the book argued aloud.