Listen to Episode 643 of Slate’s The Gist:

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There is virtue in delight! We chanced upon new building materials, better computer software, and a global economy by frittering away our time. On The Gist, author Steven Johnson says our flights of fancy may have driven most of human progress. Johnson’s new book is Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World.

For the Spiel, the passings of 2016.

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