On The Lost Art of Watching Movies | Cal Newport

Cal Newport explains if movies can save us from our phones in episode 393 of the Deep Questions podcast.

Buy Cal Newport's latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow

Last month, the Atlantic reported that film students are now struggling to sit through entire films. In this episode, Cal argues that this is both an issue and an opportunity. The fact we can’t watch full movies indicates the impact of digital tools on our brains is worse than we assumed. But in this problem we also find a solution: maybe teaching ourselves to become better movie watchers can be the first step to reclaiming our own minds. Cal then dissects a viral AI essay that seems to have everyone worried (spoiler: Cal’s not impressed), reads a reader note about social media and the Olympics and gives an update on his next book project.

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February Books:

Attensify
The Lost Island (Eilis Dillon)

Links:
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/
Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/college-students-movies-attention-span/685812/
https://fortune.com/2026/02/11/something-big-is-happening-ai-february-2020-moment-matt-shumer/

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0:00 Can Movies Save Us From Our Phones?
31:23 Something Big is Happening
49:33 Digital Minimalism and the Olympics
56:04 Cal gives his weekly reading update

Connect with Cal Newport:

🔴Visit Cal's BLOG and website: https://calnewport.com/blog/
🔴Check out Cal's books: https://calnewport.com/writing/
🔴Check out The Deep Life: https://thedeeplife.com

About Cal Newport:
Cal Newport is a computer science professor at Georgetown University. In addition to his academic research, he writes about the intersection of digital technology and culture. Cal's particularly interested in our struggle to deploy these tools in ways that support instead of subvert the things we care about in both our personal and professional lives.

Cal is a New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including, most recently, A World Without Email, Digital Minimalism, and Deep Work. He's also the creator of The Time-Block Planner.

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