Different Values: Cultural Shifts in the U.S., Covid-19 to War in the Mideast

Kay Elksong’s Different Values: Cultural Shifts in the U.S., Covid-19 to War in the Mideast is a sharp-eyed collection of essays that takes stock of a country in flux. Written with the urgency of recent history and the perspective of cultural commentary, Elksong traces the ways American life has shifted under the weight of a pandemic, the rise of new technologies, and the ripples of global conflict. It is not a history book so much as a mirror, reflecting the questions many Americans have been asking themselves since 2020: What do we value, and how have those values changed?

The book’s strength lies in its scope. Elksong is as comfortable dissecting the role of artificial intelligence and what she calls “virtual imperialism” as she is exploring the fragile state of mental health or the altered rhythms of work. Her essays on the pandemic, in particular, cut close to the bone, examining how isolation and disruption forced people to reconsider their priorities, from family to freedom. Elsewhere, she connects the dots between U.S. culture and the wars overseas, making a persuasive case that American values do not exist in a vacuum but are shaped by global currents of power and justice.

Elksong writes with an accessible voice that makes even heavy topics such as geopolitics, technology, and cultural decline, feel approachable. The essays never lecture, though they often challenge, nudging readers to question whether the habits and assumptions of the pre-pandemic world are worth clinging to. In one essay, she argues that America’s embrace of remote work is not just a shift in labor but a shift in values, a redefinition of what people consider essential. In another, she warns of the creeping influence of AI, not with fear-mongering but with sober analysis of how identity and autonomy might be reshaped in a digitized world.

As with any collection this broad, not every piece lands with the same weight. Some essays feel more like sketches than fully developed arguments, and the transitions from topic to topic can be abrupt. Yet the cumulative effect is powerful. By the end, readers are left with a sense that Elksong has captured the restlessness of a nation still searching for equilibrium.

Different Values is timely, relevant, and often provocative. It’s the kind of book that sparks conversation rather than closes it, the kind you want to pass along just to ask, “What did you think of this one?” In an era defined by upheaval, Elksong reminds us that values themselves are not fixed; they shift, stretch, and sometimes fracture. The question she leaves hanging is whether we are comfortable with the directions in which they are moving.