From Remotely, which will be published this month by Yale University Press.

We try to think of ourselves existing in history, like people waiting in line. More or less patient, but with our fingers crossed, trusting that someone will be in charge. That queue is scattered now; we are left in an unmapped zone where the facts are uncertain, and dreams struggle with numbness—isn’t that the mood of modern advertising? We would prefer to hold on to reliability. We would rather not worry, and we say that TV is there to take our minds off all the bad stuff.…