Podcast · 89 episodes
Deep Questions with Cal Newport, page 2
by Cal Newport · English
Cal Newport is a computer science professor and a New York Times bestselling author who writes about the impact of technology on society, and the struggle to work and live deeply in a world increasingly mired in digital distractions. On this podcast, he answers questions from his readers and offers advice about cultivating focus, productivity, and meaning amidst the noise that pervades our lives.
All episodes, page 2
Do I Need a “Brain Gym”? | Monday Advice“Brain gym” for cognitive fitness—how to train reading, writing, thinking, and hard skills; then “gym-like” upgrades (immersive thinking and a point-system “cognitive cardio”); and predictions for an…15 Jun 2026 · 1 h · 15 chapters
Are We About to Lose Control of AI? | AI Reality CheckWhether Anthropic’s “When AI Builds Itself” report justifies fear that AI will soon achieve recursive self-improvement and humans will lose control.11 Jun 2026 · 21 min · 7 chapters
Should I Press Pause? | Monday AdviceCal Newport argues that “pressing pause” is necessary to escape digital context-shifting and regain cognitive capacity, creativity, and future-focused clarity.8 Jun 2026 · 30 min · 14 chapters
How Do I Escape the “Busyness Singularity”? | Monday AdviceThe episode argues that the main workplace threat from AI isn’t job loss but “busyness singularity”: AI will accelerate pseudo-productivity—visible activity used as a proxy for real value—making…1 Jun 2026 · 45 min · 13 chapters
Did AI Just “Solve” Math? (Let’s Take a Closer Look) | AI Reality CheckOpenAI’s claim that an LLM helped produce a counterexample to Paul Erdős’s 1946 planar unit distance conjecture, which asked for the maximum number of point pairs exactly one unit apart.28 May 2026 · 32 min · 10 chapters
How Do I Reclaim My Schedule? (w/ Laura Vanderkam) | Monday AdviceReclaiming your schedule by reframing “time scarcity” as a mindset problem and using weekly planning, “house rules,” safety nets, and intentional leisure to create time abundance (more agency and…25 May 2026 · 1 h 24 min · 36 chapters
Has AI Conquered Coding? (It’s Not So Simple…) | AI Reality CheckWhether “agentic coding” (LLMs/agents iterating on requirements, plans, and code generation) will replace human programmers and eliminate the need to learn coding.21 May 2026 · 13 min · 2 chapters
Is AI About to “Eat Everything”? | AI Reality CheckThe episode dissects METR’s “AI time horizon” chart and argues that viral claims (“AI will eat everything,” imminent ASI) misread what the chart measures.14 May 2026 · 32 min · 7 chapters
Do I Need a Digital Intervention? | Monday AdviceA “Monday Advice” episode arguing that a 14-day digital intervention—blocking mobile internet on a smartphone—can rapidly improve sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being.11 May 2026 · 41 min · 16 chapters
Is the AI Doom Fever Breaking? | AI Reality CheckThe episode argues that “AI doom fever” from major AI CEOs may be easing.7 May 2026 · 27 min · 8 chapters
Why Do Better Tools Make Me Worse at My Job? (w/ David Epstein) | Monday AdviceExplains the “theory of constraints” (Goldratt’s bottleneck idea) and applies it to why productivity tools can make people feel busier without producing more.4 May 2026 · 1 h 23 min · 28 chapters
Is AI About to Automate Every Office Job? | AI Reality CheckThe episode challenges Mustafa Suleiman’s Financial Times prediction that AI will fully automate most office “white collar” professional tasks (lawyer, accountant, project manager, marketing) within…30 Apr 2026 · 33 min · 11 chapters
How Do I Build “Cognitive Fitness”? | Monday AdviceCal Newport argues that technology is eroding “cognitive fitness” (our ability to concentrate and think deeply) and proposes a “cognitive fitness revolution” analogous to the physical fitness…27 Apr 2026 · 54 min · 18 chapters
Is AI Trending Up or Down in 2026? | AI Reality CheckAn “AI reality check” on whether 2026 is good or bad for AI so far, by revisiting three major 2026 stories and what actually happened.23 Apr 2026 · 1 h 13 min · 26 chapters
Do I Need More Discipline? | Monday AdviceWhether you need more discipline to fight distraction, and how to build a “non-instrumental” disciplined pursuit that rewires your brain and improves life overall.20 Apr 2026 · 1 h 28 min · 36 chapters
Is Claude Mythos “Terrifying”? | AI Reality CheckThe episode fact-checks Anthropic’s claims that its new LLM, Claude Mythos, is “terrifying” because it can find and exploit security vulnerabilities so effectively that Anthropic can’t release it…16 Apr 2026 · 25 min · 6 chapters
Ep. 400: Should I Embrace “Slow Technology”?“Slow technology” as a productivity and well-being counter-movement to fast, feature-rich digital tools that create exhaustion and distraction.13 Apr 2026 · 1 h 34 min · 39 chapters
AI Reality Check: Is AI Stealing Entry-Level Jobs?Whether AI is reducing the market for entry-level jobs, and whether claims that “AI is wrecking youth unemployment” are supported by data.9 Apr 2026 · 16 min · 4 chapters
Ep. 399: Is Deep Work Still Possible in 2026?Cal Newport revisits his 2016 book Deep Work and asks whether its rules for focus still hold in 2026, then outlines what he’d update: hybrid attention (deep-work remote days), AI usage rules to…6 Apr 2026 · 1 h 6 min · 24 chapters
AI Reality Check: Can LLMs “Scheme”?The episode challenges a Guardian claim that AI chatbots are “scheming” more and evading safeguards, arguing the rise is better explained by social-media reports tied to a new DIY agent tool…2 Apr 2026 · 20 min · 8 chapters
Ep. 398: How Do I Find Purpose in a Distracted World? (w/ Arthur Brooks)How to find purpose/meaning in a distracted, “age of emptiness” world shaped by post-2008 cultural shifts and smartphones/social media; meaninglessness predicts depression/anxiety, and technology can…30 Mar 2026 · 1 h 20 min · 33 chapters
AI Reality Check: Are LLMs a Dead End?The episode challenges hype around large language models (LLMs) and argues they may be a “technological dead end.” It contrasts Jan LeCun’s modular, robotics/world-model approach with the frontier…26 Mar 2026 · 31 min · 9 chapters
Ep. 397: Why Do “Productivity Technologies” Make My Job Worse?Cal Newport discusses the “digital productivity paradox”: AI and other productivity technologies can make knowledge workers busier and less effective, even when they speed up tasks and reduce mental…23 Mar 2026 · 1 h 9 min · 21 chapters
AI Reality Check: Did AI Just Become Sentient?Whether AI agents are sentient or “gone rogue,” plus how “digital ick” headlines distort reality; also Anthropic’s government lawsuit and what court filings imply about its finances.19 Mar 2026 · 24 min · 8 chapters