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Why Earnestness is Everywhere

Critics at Large | The New Yorker

Thu Apr 23 2026

Summary

Critics at Large | The New Yorker

"Why Earnestness is Everywhere"

Date: April 23, 2026
Hosts: Alex Schwartz, Vinson Cunningham, Nomi Fry

Episode Overview

This episode digs into the cultural resurgence of earnestness—sincerity, directness, and heartfelt vulnerability—across contemporary art, entertainment, and daily life. Prompted by a listener’s email, the hosts explore how a lack of irony and the embrace of real feeling appear everywhere from blockbuster movies to everyday news, analyzing what has changed in society and why so many are craving this new wave of honesty. Two new books—Lena Dunham’s memoir, Famesick, and Ben Lerner’s novel, Transcription—illustrate the trend, anchoring a lively, thoughtful discussion.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Rise of Earnestness: Examples in Culture

[01:52–05:07]

Listener Prompt: The genesis of the conversation comes from listener Lewis, who noticed a wave of earnestness in the culture.

"He was basically making the case that earnestness, sincerity, a lack of irony... is what's resonating in our culture right now." —Vincent Cunningham [01:55]
Artemis 2 Mission:
- Alex Schwartz is captivated by the astronauts' awe and emotional responses, remarking on their childlike wonder and heartfelt reflections about humanity and Earth.
  
  “The way we are responding to what we were seeing out the window, it’s just like we’re a bunch of little kids up here.” —Artemis 2 astronaut (quoted by the hosts) [02:54]
- The mission’s message: Earth’s fragility and the interconnectedness of all life are recurring themes ("Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe..." [07:04]).
Project Hail Mary:
- The film’s success (starring Ryan Gosling) suggests a “hunger for a sincere story about connection and hope.” —Nomi Fry [03:37]
- Gosling's character as a middle school science teacher reinforces a theme of humble service and belief in the next generation.
“Love on the Spectrum”:
- This dating show stands out for its lack of artifice and “rife with earnestness,” differing from other reality dating TV focused on competition and drama.
  
  “It’s just about trying to find a connection and expressing yourself as you are.” —Alex Schwartz [04:24]
Alyssa Liu at the Olympics:
- Her expressive, joyful skating and unselfconscious passion are described as resonating deeply with audiences.

Contrasting Earnestness vs. Cynicism

[06:11–15:07]

Differences in Space Missions:
- Compare NASA’s earnest Artemis 2 mission to the “embarrassment” of elite Blue Origin space tourism (Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez), which was criticized as frivolous and self-serving [09:36].
- Old-school, government-run missions garner praise for their humility and sense of shared purpose.
Shifting Portrayals of Service:
- Ryan Gosling’s evolving roles (from troubled teacher in "Half Nelson" [11:44] to a selfless astronaut in "Project Hail Mary") mirror broader trends—moving from cynicism to sincere, altruistic narratives.
Space Travel as a Battleground:
- Vincent notes that space exploration has long been a “great theater of conspiracy thinking,” referencing flat-earther and moon-landing deniers [13:07]. The new earnest approach undercuts those narratives.

Defining Earnestness

[19:13–22:06]

Difference from Saccharine:
- Alex: “Saccharine is lies telling lies... earnestness is about trying to be clear about priorities for what matters.” [20:31]
- Nomi: Contrasts “hijacking of sincerity by the corporation,” as with the “Disneyfication” or branding of positivity [20:42].
Earnestness as Counterculture:
- The current embrace of earnestness is seen as a reaction to “cynics, liars, and shitposters”—an antidote to a culture obsessed with profit and performative irony [19:24].

Historical Cycles of Earnestness & Cynicism

[22:06–24:44]

Obama Era:
- Past waves of earnestness (e.g., Obama’s election, "Beyoncé’s Lemonade") were rooted in hope after difficult times, suggesting that earnestness cycles arise in response to hardship.
Early 2000s “Twee” Culture:
- The early 2000s (Death Cab for Cutie, “Garden State”) marked another era of “dissociation”—using sweetness and nostalgia to cope with post-9/11 unease [24:24].

Two Portraits of Earnest Literature

Lena Dunham: Famesick

[25:19–28:44]

Memoir Summary:
- Tracks Dunham’s rapid rise to fame at a young age (creator of “Girls,” health struggles, becoming a lightning rod for her generation).
- Marked by a new, unguarded sincerity—“the tone... is quite earnest and maybe different than what we have come to expect from Lena Dunham” —Nomi Fry [25:23].
Jokes as Deflection:
- Dunham’s writing formerly used constant humor to deflect pain (“a kind of three-card mani where it hides the pain…” —Vincent [28:44]), but the memoir’s lack of such jokes signals a mood shift toward direct self-exposure.

Ben Lerner: Transcription

[30:27–37:07]

Novel Summary:
- Focuses on a writer in middle age, grappling with the meaning of legacy, family, and candor as he interviews a dying mentor—yet fails to record the conversation.
- Simpler, more open writing style than Lerner’s previous metafiction; the themes of illness, familial love, and mortality evoke deep emotional resonance.
Memorable Points:
- The “Ernest-O-Meter”: Nomi jokes about measuring the book’s emotional sincerity.
- “The closer you get to issues of life and death... it gets much closer to the bone... By the end of it, I was crying.” —Nomi Fry [35:16–35:28]
Earnestness as Human Universality:
- “One way to define earnestness might be, you know, it’s the quality that reinforces our sameness with other people. Irony... are ways of saying, ‘No, I’m different than that.’” —Vincent Cunningham [36:22]

Is Earnestness Generational?

[37:56–44:11]

Millennial Cringe & Gen Z:
- “Millennial cringe means your parents were boomers and they led you to believe there was a real future for yourself... you were into avocado toast.” —Vincent Cunningham [38:46]
- Gen Z’s initial disdain is evolving: “Now that the world has turned out to be bad... Gen Z is trying to be like, okay, so what’s left?” —Nomi Fry [41:12]
- “I’m cringe, but I am free.” (Popular Gen Z meme/ethos) —referenced by Nomi Fry [42:52]
Cycles and Passages:
- Alex notes everyone goes through their own generational revolt, eventually becoming the establishment for the next wave—a universal cycle [44:11].

Vulnerability, Parenting, & the Power of Connection

[45:01–48:43]

Children’s Books as Earnest Texts:
- Alex shares being moved while reading William Steig’s Amos and Boris to her child, reflecting on the book's emotional power and the themes of vulnerability and interdependence [45:08].
Parenthood and Transmissibility:
- Vincent connects modern anxiety to middle age and the existential challenge of passing on values in “unfathomable” times.
  
  “There are these special moments where, hey, civilization is not a guarantee... Sometimes I cry at a children’s book, and it is precisely because, oh man, these things that I took as just bedrock when I was a child suddenly seem to be totally in question.” —Vincent Cunningham [47:06]

Earnestness as a Response to Turbulent Times

[48:33–49:38]

Earnestness ≠ Complacency:
- “Earnestness in this way is not an offshoot of complacency. It’s kind of the opposite of complacency.” —Alex Schwartz [48:33]
- Earnestness is best when it acknowledges challenge and danger, not when it’s a veneer for the status quo.

Notable Quotes & Moments

“You are cringe and you are free.” —Nomi Fry [50:38]
“Mass catharsis event. Earnestness. There it is.” —Alex Schwartz, describing the TV show “Heated Rivalry” [17:12]
“The joke is the picking up of the cup, and there’s no pain under it... It’s a deflection.” —Vincent Cunningham on Lena Dunham’s humor style [28:44]
“I posted it on my Instagram and said something about, ‘We must embrace the world.’ And I thought to myself, what an earnest fuck I am.” —Alex Schwartz, on sharing Nobel laureate László Krasznahorkai’s speech [50:08]

Timestamps of Key Segments

01:52: Intro: Why earnestness is the episode’s focus
02:36–05:07: First round of cultural examples (Artemis 2, Project Hail Mary, TV, sports)
06:11–11:44: Deep dive on Artemis 2’s meaning, contrast with Blue Origin
13:07: Space travel as theater of conspiracy, resurgence of sincerity
15:07: “Love on the Spectrum” as pure earnestness in reality TV
19:13–22:06: Defining earnestness, contrast with saccharine & corporate “sincerity”
22:06–24:44: Earnestness in recent history: Obama era, 2000s “twee” culture
25:19–28:44: Lena Dunham’s Famesick and the tone shift to heartfelt honesty
30:27–37:07: Ben Lerner’s Transcription, parenthood, and emotional openness
37:56–44:11: Earnestness as generational response; “millennial cringe,” Gen Z’s embrace of vulnerability
45:01–48:43: Earnestness through parenthood, vulnerability, and children’s media
48:33–49:38: Distinguishing real earnestness from complacency

Conclusion

The episode traces earnestness from viral pop culture to new literature, historical swings, and the everyday experience of vulnerability in parenting, arguing that sincerity is not naïve or regressive but a much-needed social resource. It’s both an antidote to widespread cynicism and a way of acknowledging our shared fragility and need for meaning. The hosts leave listeners with a sense of hope and an invitation to risk being earnest, even at the cost of cringing a little.

“You are cringe and you are free.” —Nomi Fry [50:38]

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Transcript

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Alex Schwartz (1:35)

This is Critics at Large, a podcast from the New Yorker. I'm Alex Schwartz.

Nomi Fry (1:39)

I'm Nomi Fry.

Vincent Cunningham (1:40)

I'm Vincent Cunningham. Each week on this show, we make sense of what's happening in the culture right now and how we got here. How you doing?

Alex Schwartz (1:50)

Doing good.

Nomi Fry (1:51)

Doing well, Doing well.

Vincent Cunningham (1:52)

You know who else is doing well? Our listeners, who are always, whenever we get an email, it's like they're just throwing 100 mile an hour fastballs. That's a baseball reference. It's spring, everybody. But today's episode. There you go. Today's episode idea came to us from a listener, Lewis. Thank you. Lewis wrote in suggesting that we do an episode about the return of earnestness. And I mean, it just rang a bell with all of us. He was basically making the case that earnestness, sincerity, a lack of irony, whatever you want to call it, is what's resonating in our culture right now. And once we started thinking about this idea, we started noticing it everywhere. I mean, what are some examples of this?

Alex Schwartz (30:27)

Yeah. So Transcription is Ben Lerner's fourth novel. And in each of his novels he's had a protagonist who sometimes is named Adam, who is basically a hymn like figure. That person started out in his first novel, leaving the Atoja station as a young aspiring poet who was in Madrid in an arts fellowship and had a very callow way of operating in the world. And transcription may not literally be about the same character, though basically it is, but it's about that kind of person who's now in his mid-40s and at the start of the book is going to record an interview with a mentor, a big important mentor figure for him in what is understood to be probably the last interview this person is going to give. He's doing it for a literary magazine. He. He's nervous about it and Right before the interview, he drops his phone, which is also his recording device, in water that's accumulated in his hotel sink, and breaks his phone. And rather than come clean about this, for some reason, when he goes to the house of Thomas, his mentor, he goes along with the charade that he is recording and everything's fine. After some attempts at deflecting and saying, let's really start this tomorrow. And this is just a pre interview, then the conversation begins. And we get that conversation, which, of course, as the reader knows, cannot be literally transcribed from what happened. It's a fiction, nonfiction. Then in the middle of the book, there is an interlude that takes place in Spain with people who knew Thomas. And the final section of the book is a long conversation that he has with Thomas son, who describes huge difficulties that he's having with his daughter, who's about 8 or 9 and has stopped eating. So that's what transcription is to me. What's so distinctive about it is this narrator figure who's appeared in the Ben Lerner novels goes through. We see him go through this trajectory of growing up in all the books. That person has kind of gone through the callow stage of young adulthood and the shooting for sincerity stage of early mid adulthood and has shown us this glibness of being a teenage boy trying to impress everybody and lying to everybody, essentially at the same time in his third book. And so here we get that person who's a dad. Like, this character has his own child who's going through issues, and he has to be the stable figure who provides some kind of baseline for this child in distress. And he's also trying to engage in these relationships with his wife, with his self, an idea of his past because he's going back to the site of his past in college. All these things. This guy is very sincere in a way that the earlier characters were not. And the writing is much simpler, I think, especially than the last couple of books that Ben Lerner has written. So I'd love to know what you guys thought about the book. Did you read it? Did you enjoy it? Did you sense these themes as well?

Vincent Cunningham (46:11)

Like, you don't understand. I totally know exactly what you mean. And I think, you know, I take what you say about, you know, the cyclical nature of the relationship between children and adults. But I do think that certain moods set in as responses to all kinds of stimuli that make this eternal fact, the fragile nature of our existence here, more or less sort of in stark relief. I was thinking on this wise, about the education of Henry Adams, grandson of John Quincy Adams and great grandson of the second American president, John Adams. And it's about him and his generations struggle to reckon with the 20th century, the onset of industrial power, all these things that their education, their sort of colonial and provincial kind of Brahmin education did not prepare them for. They're these total fussy aesthetes who all of a sudden, nothing in the culture corresponds to how they were raised to be. They're just people without a home. You know, And I do think there are these special moments where, hey, civilization is not a guarantee. The bonds that we Build with other people, are, yes, part of our nature, whatever you call our nature, but also are conditioned by politics and the social life and all these other things. And, you know, sometimes I cry at a children's book, and it is precisely because, oh, man, these things that I took as just bedrock when I was a child suddenly seemed to be totally in question. And I do think there's something special about the nature of our lives today that brings all these things into question. And I think it's something about handing something over to our children, which, again, every generation must do, but at a moment when there's all these tectonics beneath us that we don't understand, at these moments of radical uncertainty where it seems harder and therefore more scary to pass the baton, which is why, you know, middle age is a part of what we're talking about. It's like, okay, something is. There's a turning of the dial, which there always must be. But I'm doing it under circumstances that are unfathomable to me, and I'm so scared for you.

Summary

Critics at Large | The New Yorker

"Why Earnestness is Everywhere"

Date: April 23, 2026
Hosts: Alex Schwartz, Vinson Cunningham, Nomi Fry

Episode Overview

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Rise of Earnestness: Examples in Culture

[01:52–05:07]

Listener Prompt: The genesis of the conversation comes from listener Lewis, who noticed a wave of earnestness in the culture.

"He was basically making the case that earnestness, sincerity, a lack of irony... is what's resonating in our culture right now." —Vincent Cunningham [01:55]
Artemis 2 Mission:
- Alex Schwartz is captivated by the astronauts' awe and emotional responses, remarking on their childlike wonder and heartfelt reflections about humanity and Earth.
  
  “The way we are responding to what we were seeing out the window, it’s just like we’re a bunch of little kids up here.” —Artemis 2 astronaut (quoted by the hosts) [02:54]
- The mission’s message: Earth’s fragility and the interconnectedness of all life are recurring themes ("Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe..." [07:04]).
Project Hail Mary:
- The film’s success (starring Ryan Gosling) suggests a “hunger for a sincere story about connection and hope.” —Nomi Fry [03:37]
- Gosling's character as a middle school science teacher reinforces a theme of humble service and belief in the next generation.
“Love on the Spectrum”:
- This dating show stands out for its lack of artifice and “rife with earnestness,” differing from other reality dating TV focused on competition and drama.
  
  “It’s just about trying to find a connection and expressing yourself as you are.” —Alex Schwartz [04:24]
Alyssa Liu at the Olympics:
- Her expressive, joyful skating and unselfconscious passion are described as resonating deeply with audiences.

Contrasting Earnestness vs. Cynicism

[06:11–15:07]

Differences in Space Missions:
- Compare NASA’s earnest Artemis 2 mission to the “embarrassment” of elite Blue Origin space tourism (Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez), which was criticized as frivolous and self-serving [09:36].
- Old-school, government-run missions garner praise for their humility and sense of shared purpose.
Shifting Portrayals of Service:
- Ryan Gosling’s evolving roles (from troubled teacher in "Half Nelson" [11:44] to a selfless astronaut in "Project Hail Mary") mirror broader trends—moving from cynicism to sincere, altruistic narratives.
Space Travel as a Battleground:
- Vincent notes that space exploration has long been a “great theater of conspiracy thinking,” referencing flat-earther and moon-landing deniers [13:07]. The new earnest approach undercuts those narratives.

Defining Earnestness

[19:13–22:06]

Difference from Saccharine:
- Alex: “Saccharine is lies telling lies... earnestness is about trying to be clear about priorities for what matters.” [20:31]
- Nomi: Contrasts “hijacking of sincerity by the corporation,” as with the “Disneyfication” or branding of positivity [20:42].
Earnestness as Counterculture:
- The current embrace of earnestness is seen as a reaction to “cynics, liars, and shitposters”—an antidote to a culture obsessed with profit and performative irony [19:24].

Historical Cycles of Earnestness & Cynicism

[22:06–24:44]

Obama Era:
- Past waves of earnestness (e.g., Obama’s election, "Beyoncé’s Lemonade") were rooted in hope after difficult times, suggesting that earnestness cycles arise in response to hardship.
Early 2000s “Twee” Culture:
- The early 2000s (Death Cab for Cutie, “Garden State”) marked another era of “dissociation”—using sweetness and nostalgia to cope with post-9/11 unease [24:24].

Two Portraits of Earnest Literature

Lena Dunham: Famesick

[25:19–28:44]

Memoir Summary:
- Tracks Dunham’s rapid rise to fame at a young age (creator of “Girls,” health struggles, becoming a lightning rod for her generation).
- Marked by a new, unguarded sincerity—“the tone... is quite earnest and maybe different than what we have come to expect from Lena Dunham” —Nomi Fry [25:23].
Jokes as Deflection:
- Dunham’s writing formerly used constant humor to deflect pain (“a kind of three-card mani where it hides the pain…” —Vincent [28:44]), but the memoir’s lack of such jokes signals a mood shift toward direct self-exposure.

Ben Lerner: Transcription

[30:27–37:07]

Novel Summary:
- Focuses on a writer in middle age, grappling with the meaning of legacy, family, and candor as he interviews a dying mentor—yet fails to record the conversation.
- Simpler, more open writing style than Lerner’s previous metafiction; the themes of illness, familial love, and mortality evoke deep emotional resonance.
Memorable Points:
- The “Ernest-O-Meter”: Nomi jokes about measuring the book’s emotional sincerity.
- “The closer you get to issues of life and death... it gets much closer to the bone... By the end of it, I was crying.” —Nomi Fry [35:16–35:28]
Earnestness as Human Universality:
- “One way to define earnestness might be, you know, it’s the quality that reinforces our sameness with other people. Irony... are ways of saying, ‘No, I’m different than that.’” —Vincent Cunningham [36:22]

Is Earnestness Generational?

[37:56–44:11]

Millennial Cringe & Gen Z:
- “Millennial cringe means your parents were boomers and they led you to believe there was a real future for yourself... you were into avocado toast.” —Vincent Cunningham [38:46]
- Gen Z’s initial disdain is evolving: “Now that the world has turned out to be bad... Gen Z is trying to be like, okay, so what’s left?” —Nomi Fry [41:12]
- “I’m cringe, but I am free.” (Popular Gen Z meme/ethos) —referenced by Nomi Fry [42:52]
Cycles and Passages:
- Alex notes everyone goes through their own generational revolt, eventually becoming the establishment for the next wave—a universal cycle [44:11].

Vulnerability, Parenting, & the Power of Connection

[45:01–48:43]

Children’s Books as Earnest Texts:
- Alex shares being moved while reading William Steig’s Amos and Boris to her child, reflecting on the book's emotional power and the themes of vulnerability and interdependence [45:08].
Parenthood and Transmissibility:
- Vincent connects modern anxiety to middle age and the existential challenge of passing on values in “unfathomable” times.
  
  “There are these special moments where, hey, civilization is not a guarantee... Sometimes I cry at a children’s book, and it is precisely because, oh man, these things that I took as just bedrock when I was a child suddenly seem to be totally in question.” —Vincent Cunningham [47:06]

Earnestness as a Response to Turbulent Times

[48:33–49:38]

Earnestness ≠ Complacency:
- “Earnestness in this way is not an offshoot of complacency. It’s kind of the opposite of complacency.” —Alex Schwartz [48:33]
- Earnestness is best when it acknowledges challenge and danger, not when it’s a veneer for the status quo.

Notable Quotes & Moments

“You are cringe and you are free.” —Nomi Fry [50:38]
“Mass catharsis event. Earnestness. There it is.” —Alex Schwartz, describing the TV show “Heated Rivalry” [17:12]
“The joke is the picking up of the cup, and there’s no pain under it... It’s a deflection.” —Vincent Cunningham on Lena Dunham’s humor style [28:44]
“I posted it on my Instagram and said something about, ‘We must embrace the world.’ And I thought to myself, what an earnest fuck I am.” —Alex Schwartz, on sharing Nobel laureate László Krasznahorkai’s speech [50:08]

Timestamps of Key Segments

01:52: Intro: Why earnestness is the episode’s focus
02:36–05:07: First round of cultural examples (Artemis 2, Project Hail Mary, TV, sports)
06:11–11:44: Deep dive on Artemis 2’s meaning, contrast with Blue Origin
13:07: Space travel as theater of conspiracy, resurgence of sincerity
15:07: “Love on the Spectrum” as pure earnestness in reality TV
19:13–22:06: Defining earnestness, contrast with saccharine & corporate “sincerity”
22:06–24:44: Earnestness in recent history: Obama era, 2000s “twee” culture
25:19–28:44: Lena Dunham’s Famesick and the tone shift to heartfelt honesty
30:27–37:07: Ben Lerner’s Transcription, parenthood, and emotional openness
37:56–44:11: Earnestness as generational response; “millennial cringe,” Gen Z’s embrace of vulnerability
45:01–48:43: Earnestness through parenthood, vulnerability, and children’s media
48:33–49:38: Distinguishing real earnestness from complacency

Conclusion

“You are cringe and you are free.” —Nomi Fry [50:38]