The Joy of Touching Grass (and Knobs, Buttons, and Boarding Passes)

Ian Bogost argues that a fulfilling life isn't just about pursuing big components of happiness, but also about embracing the small, everyday moments of gratification that come from tactile interactions like shifting a manual transmission, using a well-made knob, or flipping through a physical menu. He explains how digitization and automation are erasing these small pleasures, leading to a loss of sensory richness. The episode explores ways to reclaim sensory life, such as keeping physical objects around and talking about small pleasures. Bogost also introduces the idea of living life sideways—finding meaning orthogonal to traditional upward trajectories.