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Cal Newport

Cal Newport

productivityfocustechnology

Computer science professor at Georgetown. Author of Deep Work and Digital Minimalism. Expert on focused productivity and tech-life balance.

Website @caborlnewport

Latest Episodes

Ep. 393: Can Movies Save Us From Our Phones?

01:08:36

Cal Newport discusses an Atlantic report revealing that film students now struggle to sit through entire movies, arguing this signals that digital tools have damaged our attention spans more severely than assumed. He proposes that deliberately practicing watching full films could serve as a therapeutic first step toward reclaiming our cognitive autonomy from phones. The episode also covers Cal's critique of a viral AI essay he finds unimpressive, a reader's note about social media and the Olympics, and an update on his next book project.

Film students' inability to watch full movies reveals the depth of smartphone damage to our attention and cognitionDeliberately practicing sustained movie watching can serve as an accessible gateway to reclaiming mental autonomyA viral AI essay generating widespread worry is less substantive and alarming than it appears

Feb 23, 2026

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