August 11, 2026
The Joy of Touching Grass (and Knobs, Buttons, and Boarding Passes)
Remember the old hotel ice machines? The kind where you'd slide your bucket under the chute and hear the avalanche of cubes crashing into it? There was something so fun and strangely gratifying about that thing.Or think about breaking an icicle off the edge of a roof. Such a gratifying feeling from such a small act.My guest has written an ode to the outsized pleasures that arise from these kinds of everyday interactions with the physical world. His name is Ian Bogost, and his new book is The Small Stuff. Today on the show, Ian argues that a fulfilling life isn't built solely by chasing the big components of happiness but also by embracing the small moments of gratification that are woven throughout ordinary life. We discuss how those moments can be found in tactile experiences like shifting a manual transmission, turning a well-made knob, or flipping through the pages of a real menu. We explore how these small opportunities for engagement — for contact, connection, and control— have been disappearing as the world becomes more digitized and automated and everything becomes a touchscreen. And Ian shares how opportunities for "sensory enchantment" can still be found in our increasingly dematerialized world.Resources Related to the PodcastIan's previous appearance on the AoM Podcast: Episode #247 — The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom, and the Antidote to Excessive IronyIan's Atlantic article "The End of Manual Transmission"Andy Rooney compilationConnect With Ian BogostThe Small Stuff websiteIan's websiteIan's faculty page0:00 Introduction0:40 Ian Bogost and 'The Small Stuff'2:25 What Kickstarted This Book6:38 Happiness, Satisfaction, and Gratification14:58 Gratification Is Everywhere — But Disappearing18:28 Dematerialization: How the World Is Losing Sensory Richness26:41 How Work Has Become Less Gratifying33:09 How to Reclaim Your Sensory Life38:35 Keep More Junk Around44:38 Talk About Small Pleasures48:17 Living Life Sideways (Orthogonality)50:03 Wrap-UpSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Also available on Apple Podcasts