Podcast · 89 episodes
Deep Questions with Cal Newport, page 4
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 4
Ep. 374: This is Your Brain on PhonesWhy phone overuse feels irresistible, explained via a “short-term motivation system” that treats cues to check your phone as “votes” for actions with the highest expected reward.13 Oct 2025 · 1 h 40 min · 31 chapters
Ep. 373: The Internet’s Best Advice for Reinventing Your LifeCal Newport (Deep Questions) assembles an “all-star reset plan” by extracting one best, practice-oriented idea from five popular “life reset” videos online.6 Oct 2025 · 1 h 39 min · 35 chapters
Ep. 372: Decoding TikTok’s AlgorithmThe episode examines the U.S. government’s role in a proposed TikTok deal and argues that TikTok’s “algorithm” is better understood as a large recommender system architecture, not a tweakable…29 Sep 2025 · 1 h 29 min · 35 chapters
IN-DEPTH: Focus like a Nobel Prize Winner (w/ Brian Keating)Focus and “problem selection” for producing Nobel-level work, using Brian Keating’s career and his book How to Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner (based on interviews with Nobel laureates).25 Sep 2025 · 1 h 5 min · 25 chapters
Ep. 371: Is it Finally Time to Leave Social Media?Cal Newport argues that “curated conversation platforms” (Twitter, Blue Sky, Threads, Facebook) are fundamentally harmful and that the most reasonable response for most people is to quit social media…22 Sep 2025 · 1 h 20 min · 22 chapters
Ep. 370: Deep Work in the Age of AIAI’s impact on knowledge work, focusing on a July 2025 METR study that found AI use made experienced open-source developers about 20% slower.15 Sep 2025 · 1 h 13 min · 25 chapters
Ep. 369: Why Are We Getting Dumber? A Debate.The episode argues that measured IQ scores have declined since roughly the late 2000s/early 2010s (“reverse Flynn effect”), and debates why.8 Sep 2025 · 1 h 35 min · 30 chapters
IN-DEPTH: The Game of Life (w/ Tim Ferriss)Tim Ferriss and Cal Newport discuss Tim’s tabletop card game Coyote and what it takes to design, prototype, test, manufacture, and distribute a “fast casual” social game; they also connect the…4 Sep 2025 · 1 h 57 min · 48 chapters
Ep. 368: I Want Work-Life Balance. Am I Doomed to Mediocrity?Debate sparked by a Wall Street Journal op-ed by 22-year-old entrepreneur Emil Barr arguing “work-life balance” will keep ambitious young people “comfortably mediocre.” Cal Newport uses Barr’s claims…1 Sep 2025 · 1 h 30 min · 36 chapters
Ep. 367: What if AI Doesn’t Get Much Better Than This?The episode argues that AI’s near-term impact is being overstated.25 Aug 2025 · 1 h 39 min · 35 chapters
Ep. 366: How to Reinvent Your Life in 4 Months (Classic Episode from August, 2023)A “classic” Deep Questions episode on reinventing your life in four months using Cal Newport’s Deep Life Stack (discipline, values, control, vision) timed from September through January.18 Aug 2025 · 1 h 19 min · 26 chapters
Ep. 365: What Technology Wants (and How to Push Back)How “additive” technologies (meant to add value) become “extractive” technologies (meant to extract attention/data), why people get stuck anyway, and how to push back to reclaim attention.11 Aug 2025 · 1 h 5 min · 24 chapters
Ep. 364: Metrics 101Cal Newport explains his “metrics 101” system for tracking action toward a “deep life,” then recounts how he failed during a busy week and how he redesigned the practice to be sustainable.4 Aug 2025 · 1 h 11 min · 25 chapters
Ep. 363: Escaping the Digital DoldrumsCal Newport’s final episode of Deep Questions focuses on “escaping the digital doldrums”—a sleepwalking, screen-mediated dullness he argues comes from living in abstract, ping-driven experiences that…28 Jul 2025 · 1 h 11 min · 23 chapters
Ep. 362: The Texting DilemmaCal Newport (Deep Questions) argues that texting/messaging is a major, often overlooked driver of smartphone habit and “addiction,” largely via social stress.21 Jul 2025 · 1 h 13 min · 23 chapters
Ep. 361: Do You Need an App Blocker?Whether you should use phone/app blockers, which ones to choose, and what outcome you’re aiming for.14 Jul 2025 · 1 h 2 min · 23 chapters
Ep. 360: One-Page Productivity“One-Page Productivity” proposes a short, twice-to-once-a-year “productivity maintenance mode” to recover from the burnout caused by running demanding digital time-management systems.7 Jul 2025 · 59 min · 23 chapters