Also, returning to this horror, it’s such an odd and dismaying assumption that I (or anyone) would only have work to talk about with other people.

Man, I’ve read like a million books*. I have loads to talk about that has absolutely nothing to do with work. I can chatter for hours without once thinking about my career. Are most people’s brains so empty they can only talk about work with their friends? Just…how? Have so many really been so overwhelmed by neolib prerogatives? I don’t want to believe that but the evidence points the other direction.

*In reality, it’s around 10,000-20,000 books, though I’ve not kept an exact count.