I was looking for self-help advice in Chris Hayes’ “The Sirens' Call,” an examination of the system widely monopolizing our time and eroding our focus: the attention economy. In recent years, my attention has felt continually besieged by a barrage of information,

Who cares if people have a negative reaction, so long as they have some reaction?” Hayes talked with his book about Semafor on Friday, and this is an edited version of the conversation. : When did you first realize that something had gone badly wrong in the battle for our attention?