Futurepast

In Futurepast, Gasda argues that technology, privatization, and the culture of narcissism have systematically dismantled the social, spiritual, and physical infrastructure that made human life meaningful—from neighborhoods and churches to tools, rituals, and the capacity for attention itself. The book draws on Lasch, Illich, Mumford, Alexander, and others to show that what we've lost wasn't inevitable collateral damage of progress but the result of specific choices about how we deploy tools, design spaces, and organize economies. The latter half of the book proposes re-enchantment through a return to convivial tools, sacred architecture, village-scale community, and the recovery of practices (from silence to sacrifice to grace) that reconnect us to the body, the land, and each other.

Known for his timely chronicles of modern American extremity (Dimes Square, Doomers, Zoomers), Matt has distinguished himself for writing seriously while bridging generational and institutional divides. He’s been profiled and reviewed in the New York Times and New York magazine, writes for UnHerd, Compact, Spectator, American Affairs, and Air Mail, publishes for thousands on his personal Substack, and was named in Cultured magazine’s list of the 100 most influential cultural figures (alongside Kaveh Akbar, Torrey Peters, Percival Everett, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie).