Author Ethan Zuckerman explores the current state of digital media, the effects of globalization on culture, and what can be done to “rewire” our modes of thinking in an age where everyone and everything can become so easily intertwined. Ethan rifles through dozens of real world examples to support his arguments.

I really enjoyed Ethan’s explanations of bridge figures, xenophiles, local maxima, and the use of serendipity on the web, and how they can be helpful tools for integrating cultures and increasing cosmopolitanism across societies.

Ethan is someone that I hold in high esteem, whose contributions to the web are both controversial and incontrovertible. The serendipitous events of a short trip to western Massachusetts are what brought me to learn about Ethan, and after reading this book I wouldn’t prefer it had happened any other way.