Are books getting dumber or are we?

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the decline in reading and the rise of anti intellectualism that we’re seeing in culture. From the Shy Girl drama, the analogue trend and the banning of books…I wanted to see if there is a correlation between all of this? I hope you enjoy my ramblings in this video essay - let me know you thoughts in the comments below ❤️ support me https://buymeacoffee.com/whatraereads follow me Instagram   / what_rae_reads   tiktok   / whatraereads   goodreads   / rae   storygraph https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile... Refrences https://www.nationalgeographic.com/he... https://www.theguardian.com/commentis... https://nymag.com/intelligencer/artic... https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article.... https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-cul... https://fortune.com/2026/01/09/gen-z-... https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2... https://www.forbes.com/sites/melissad... https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/arc... https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-he... https://www.theatlantic.com/newslette... key words: video essay, booktok, booktube, anti intellectualism, poop culture