What happens if people stop reading, and the video game Big Walk

We've known for a while now that reading for pleasure has been on the decline. But in her essay for The Atlantic, Rose Horowitch argues that we are entering into an age of post-literacy, with enormous implications for life as we know it. Rose Horowitch joins Commotion guest host Amil Niazi to explain what she now understands about why reading matters as much as it does – and what happens when we stop. 

Plus, ever since the pandemic, an emerging genre of multiplayer video games has taken off: Friendslop. These are games made by small independent studios working on smaller budgets, and they focus on cooperation and socialization rather than combat. Today on Commotion, digital journalist Jonathan Ore talks with guest host Amil Niazi about Big Walk, a game that seems to be taking the genre in a different direction.