In the 1980s and 1990s, mixtapes were all the rage. For many people, putting a collection of songs that themselves spoke to the listener was the next best thing. Some songs just say everything right.

Comedian Steven Wright deadpanned, “I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering.” With that quip, he encapsulated the universal human experience of mind wandering. Our minds are never idle.

This is an edited transcript of an episode of “The Ezra Klein Show.” You can listen to the conversation by following or subscribing to the show on the NYT Audio app, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, ...