It's Not Your Fault You Can't Pay Attention. Here's Why.
About this episode
Journalist Johann Hari, author of 'Stolen Focus,' argues that collapsing attention spans are not a personal failing but the product of powerful forces — above all, a tech business model that profits by hijacking our focus. Drawing on interviews with scientists, Hari surveys the evidence: how smartphones, social media, and constant surveillance fragment concentration; how sleep deprivation, stress, and the decline of mind-wandering and free play erode it; and why individual fixes like digital detoxes cannot solve a systemic problem. He and Klein discuss what a collective response would look like — from banning surveillance advertising to redesigning schools and workplaces — and whether a society that cannot pay attention can still think clearly, deliberate, or sustain democracy.