It's a reflection of the wider society and (as others have pointed out) the media environment. HN can't be immune from macro trends.

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

We've been here before. It will likely subside, as past swings and fluctuations have. It always takes longer than it feels like it should, but in retrospect turns out to be shorter than it felt like it did.