Brain Rot: Meet the people who ditched their smartphones
All In The Mind
ABC
4.4 • 785 Ratings
🗓️ 11 October 2025
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We've all dreamt of lobbing our smartphone into the ocean and going off grid.
So what happens when you follow through with it?
For the final episode of Brain Rot, we speak to the people who decided they'd had enough.
From a French village, to Gen Z 'luddites' in New York City and a group of parents in regional Victoria, there are clubs, campaigns and even laws dedicated to a smartphone-free life.
But in 2025, how do you pull it off? And is it actually worth it?
This episode originally aired on Brain Rot, a series of the ABC podcast Science Friction. Sana will be back with all-new episodes of All in the Mind from Sunday 19 October.
Guests:
Stan Awtrey
Sportswriter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Vincent Paul-Petit
Mayor, Seine-Port, France
Lisa Given
Professor of Information Sciences, RMIT University
Steph Challis
Founder, The Phone Pledge
Jameson Butler
Co-Founder, The Luddite Club
Credits:
- Presenter: Ange Lavoipierre
- Producer: Fiona Pepper
- Senior Producer: James Bullen
- Sound Engineer: Ross Richardson
Thanks to Sam Goerling for the assistance with French translation.
This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar peoples.
More Information:
Parents unite to ban teens from smartphones amid social media minimum age review
You can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.
If you'd like to access the transcript for this episode, head to its original webpage.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music, and more. |
| 0:07.6 | Let's be honest. We have all dreamt of lobbing our smartphone into the ocean and going off |
| 0:13.4 | grid at some point. So what happens when you follow through with it? On All In The Mind from ABC Radio National, |
| 0:21.7 | it's the final episode of BrainRot, |
| 0:24.2 | a special series about your relationship with tech. |
| 0:27.3 | And we're hearing from people who've decided they've had enough. |
| 0:31.2 | From an idyllic French village to Genzi Luddites in New York City |
| 0:35.7 | and a group of parents in regional Victoria. |
| 0:38.5 | There are clubs, campaigns, and even laws dedicated to smartphone-free life. |
| 0:43.9 | But how do you actually pull it off? |
| 0:46.7 | And is it worth it? |
| 0:49.0 | On All In The Mind from ABC Radio National, this is Brainwrought, a special series about your relationship with tech. |
| 0:57.0 | And this week, the communities of people trying to ditch their smartphones. |
| 1:04.5 | Where's the last place you went that your phone couldn't come? |
| 1:08.0 | They tell people, leave your mobile phones in your car, don't bring them on the property. |
| 1:14.8 | Because what will happen is if they find you with one, whether you're using it or if it's |
| 1:21.0 | in your pocket, they will escort you from their premises, take away your badge. |
| 1:26.6 | I mean, it's, it is that strict. |
| 1:28.3 | It's not a maximum security prison. |
| 1:31.3 | And I've had friends and colleagues make a mistake of walking out with a cell phone and getting caught. |
| 1:39.3 | And it's not the White House Situation Room. |
| 1:42.3 | One guy was banned for two years because of what he did. |
... |
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