Your attention span is not broken with historian Daniel Immerwahr | ReThinking with Adam Grant

In the age of social media and short-form content, many people insist that our attention spans are getting shorter. But historian Daniel Immerwahr reminds us that people have cried wolf for centuries about technology hijacking our attention. In this episode, Adam and Daniel dive into evidence that what’s changing is not our attention spans, but the objects of our focus. They also discuss moral panics of the past, compare the cognitive benefits of video games and the opera, and debate whether or not Marvel movies are a waste of time. Follow Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: adamgrant.net/) Guest: Daniel Immerwahr (Website: history.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/core-faculty/daniel-immerwahr.html) Links How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Subscribe to TED Instagram: @ted YouTube: @TED TikTok: @tedtoks LinkedIn: @ted-conferences Website: ted.com Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts The TED Audio Collective is a collection of podcasts for the curious. The TED Audio Collective videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organiz...). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com. 00:00 Intro 00:17 What's going on with our attention? 01:59 The attention crisis throughout history 07:01 Is paying attention always good? 10:50 Can attention spans be measured? 13:25 Our attention spans aren't getting shorter 20:00 Should kids be reading more novels? 24:01 Worries about the future 26:22 Are we in a moral panic? 29:26 Comic books & Marvel movies 31:49 Takeaways

Daniel ImmerwahrguestAdam Granthost

Aug 1, 202532mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: August 1, 2025
Duration: 32m
Channel: Re:Thinking with Adam Grant
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

In the age of social media and short-form content, many people insist that our attention spans are getting shorter. But historian Daniel Immerwahr reminds us that people have cried wolf for centuries about technology hijacking our attention. In this episode, Adam and Daniel dive into evidence that what’s changing is not our attention spans, but the objects of our focus. They also discuss moral panics of the past, compare the cognitive benefits of video games and the opera, and debate whether or not Marvel movies are a waste of time. Follow Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: adamgrant.net/) Guest: Daniel Immerwahr (Website: history.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/core-faculty/daniel-immerwahr.html) Links How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Subscribe to TED Instagram: @ted YouTube: @TED TikTok: @tedtoks LinkedIn: @ted-conferences Website: ted.com Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts The TED Audio Collective is a collection of podcasts for the curious. The TED Audio Collective videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organiz...). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com. 00:00 Intro 00:17 What's going on with our attention? 01:59 The attention crisis throughout history 07:01 Is paying attention always good? 10:50 Can attention spans be measured? 13:25 Our attention spans aren't getting shorter 20:00 Should kids be reading more novels? 24:01 Worries about the future 26:22 Are we in a moral panic? 29:26 Comic books & Marvel movies 31:49 Takeaways

SPEAKERS

Daniel Immerwahr
guest
Historian and professor, specializing in modern U.S. and global history.
Adam Grant
host
Organizational psychologist and host of the ReThinking podcast.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Re:Thinking with Adam Grant, featuring Daniel Immerwahr and Adam Grant, Your attention span is not broken with historian Daniel Immerwahr | ReThinking with Adam Grant explores the attention crisis is more moral panic than cognitive decline Daniel Immerwahr argues the popular claim that technology is “shrinking attention spans” is conceptually weak and historically repetitive, resembling earlier panics about novels, pianos, and other media.

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