Chris Hayes Offers Tips for Staying Informed About the News
Chris Hayes earns his livelihood by capturing attention: discerning what merits it, what doesn’t, and how to ensure the public directs their limited focus toward the right matters.
That seems straightforward enough. However, as I discovered during my discussion with Hayes—kicking off season two of The Big Interview podcast—it’s become increasingly complex. In 2025, the host of MS Now’s All In With Chris Hayes published The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource—a book that posits attention as the defining currency of contemporary life.
Consistent with this theme, Hayes is omnipresent wherever audiences engage: sharing opinions on TV, hosting a podcast titled Why Is This Happening?, engaging with his vast following on social media, and creating vertical videos there too. In essence, Hayes is both contemplating the attention economy from an analytical viewpoint and actively participating in it as an attention merchant.
That’s specifically why I was eager to speak with Hayes, and to do so at this moment. He has dedicated years to studying and theorizing about attention. In our current climate, it would likely serve us all to engage in some of the same reflection. I sought Hayes’ insights on how the attention economy increasingly influences everything from entertainment to elections, ICE raids, and global conflicts, as well as how both consumers and journalists can navigate their roles within that economy with seriousness and introspection.
When we met in early March, the conflict between the US and Israel and Iran was just beginning. Even in those initial stages, it had quickly become an all-consuming vortex of attention, flooded with incessant news updates, President Trump’s posts on Truth Social, and AI-generated propaganda from the Department of War. We needed to discuss it—alongside Hayes’ views on the uneasy partnership between Silicon Valley and Washington, DC, his social media approach, and what the left might be misinterpreting about AI.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
KATIE DRUMMOND: Chris Hayes, it’s a pleasure to have you on The Big Interview.
CHRIS HAYES: It’s a pleasure to be here. I’m a huge admirer of WIRED. Your team is doing phenomenal work.
Thank you!
I mention WIRED in my book. I recall asking my parents for a subscription, perhaps for Christmas. I was a devoted reader. Every single page.
I’ve been contemplating WIRED’s past, present, and future. The early WIRED had a rebellious, countercultural essence. I’d argue that the current WIRED mirrors this spirit, but now focuses its critique on the industry that emerged from the 1993 WIRED.
Absolutely. We analyze who represents the established order and who acts as the challenger, observing how that balance shifts. The essence of WIRED was akin to Whole Earth ’Lectronic Link, the original bulletin board—post-hippie cybernaut vibes. It was somewhat libertarian yet left-leaning, definitely optimistic and insurgent against prevailing power structures. Now, those in power are often those who sat alongside the president during his inauguration.
Indeed. And we certainly covered that.
So now, the insurgent energy is directed elsewhere.
We’re in New York on a Wednesday in early March. It’s astonishing to consider that just days ago, the United States and Israel initiated a full-scale attack on Iran, escalating with alarming speed. I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that this marks the second leader ousted by President Trump this year, the first being Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. The situation unfolding in the Middle East is frightening and tragic. Hundreds of lives have been lost, including US service members. Yet, it has also become another all-consuming news narrative. The pace of news is overwhelming and disorienting. As we discuss attention, I wonder how much of global conflict and war in this era hinges on the concept of attention?
Rajat Sharma
https://in.linkedin.com/in/rajat-mediaHelping D2C Brands Scale with AI-Powered Marketing & Automation 🚀 | $15M+ in Client Revenue | Meta Ads Expert | D2C Performance Marketing Consultant