Author Michael Harris says that life in 2024 is too much — a deluge of stimulus. He examines why that's the case in this essay for Montecristo, and heads to a Tokyo listening bar in an effort to still the noise and rediscover the practice of sustained attention. "Needle touches vinyl, and a grief-stricken Nina Simone sings, 'Ne me quitte pas'," he writes. "To hear that beacon of a voice and to be moved, and yet to refrain from any critique or review, is our goal. For once to hold back our vulgar additions."