Editors' Letter + Table of Contents

Dearest Reader,

If we could have your attention, just for one second, we’d like to ask you to take a breath, quiet your mind, and note what first pops into your head when you hear the word “distraction.”

Most of our initial reactions (unsurprisingly) involved technology: We’re distracted by screens, social media, and accidental internet k-holes. We’re interrupted by ads we don’t want to see, deluged by articles to read, and pulled away by the constant pinging of push notifications, status updates, and unread emails.

This is where we started for the Distraction issue 1 , but like the beginning of every time-swallowing, path-splintering rabbit hole, it’s not where we ended up...