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Phones Stole Our Lives. We Investigated How to Reclaim Them.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that the negative impact of phones on our lives is larger than we’d like to admit. Maybe it’s time to move beyond tips and hacks to explore more serious interventions. But what would these look like?

Cal NewporthostDale Davidsonguest

Nov 9, 20261h 6mWatch on YouTube

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EPISODE INFO

Released: November 9, 2026
Duration: 1h 6m
Channel: Cal Newport
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

It’s becoming increasingly clear that the negative impact of phones on our lives is larger than we’d like to admit. Maybe it’s time to move beyond tips and hacks to explore more serious interventions. But what would these look like? In this episode, Cal dispatches correspondent Dale Davidson on a world-spanning investigation of some of the more extreme solutions people have deployed to reclaim their lives from their devices. More from Cal Download Cal’s FREE guide to cultivating a deeper life: calnewport.com/ideas Learn more about Cal’s books: calnewport.com/books Listen to Cal’s podcast: thedeeplife.com/listen Chapters (0:00) Can we escape our internet hell? (4:36) Act 1 (27:37) Act 2 (41:40) Act 3 (1:06:46) Closing comments Resources Mentioned: Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/ https://internetaddictsanonymous.org/ https://www.thatpracticalmom.com/ https://hangingup.substack.com/ https://www.henrikkarlsson.xyz/ https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/phone-screen-time-prison-pg-sittenfeld-8c3b186b?st=JjqsTg&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12978896/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9d5anXG3QM https://hangingup.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips https://substack.com/@camclaren/note/c-98575673 Sponsors: https://www.incogni.com/deepquestions https://www.cozyearth.com (Use code “DEEP”) https://www.calderalab.com/deep https://www.indeed.com/podcast Credits: Thanks to Jesse Miller for production and mastering, Nate Mechler for research and newsletter, and Ben Crain and Rob Montz for video editing.

SPEAKERS

Cal Newport
host
Computer science professor and author/host of The Cal Newport Show focused on deep work and digital minimalism.
Dale Davidson
guest
Reporting correspondent featured on this episode, presenting field interviews and research on smartphone/internet addiction.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Cal Newport, featuring Cal Newport and Dale Davidson, Phones Stole Our Lives. We Investigated How to Reclaim Them. explores Reclaiming attention requires radical constraints and a more compelling analog life Cal Newport argues that standard “tips and hacks” may be insufficient because many people underestimate how damaging their relationship with phones has become.

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