Ep. 388: What’s Worrying Jon Haidt Now? + Should You Buy a Landline? (Cal just did…)

Deep Questions with Cal Newport

Cal Newport

Education, Self-improvement, Technology

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 19 January 2026

⏱️ 84 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Despite some initial skepticism, Jonathan Haidt’s crusade against kids using smartphones has been more or less completely vindicated. Which got us thinking: what’s he worried about next? In the ideas segment, Cal looks closer at three new technological harms that Haidt has begun sounding the alarm about. Then, in the practices segment, he details a somewhat eccentric technology strategy that he and his wife have deployed in their own home to keep their kids away from smartphones. Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvo Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia IDEAS SEGMENT: What’s worrying Jon Haidt? [0:04] PRACTICES SEGMENT: Should you buy a landline (Cal just did…) [50:44] QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS: Can we put the social media and video game genies back in their lamp? [1:08:55] Can an artist avoid using social media? [1:13:01] Cal responds to comments [1:16:33] WHAT CAL’S READING: Cal gives his weekly reading update [1:19:31] 20th Century Fox (Scott Eyman)In the Shadow of Man (Jane Goodall) Links:Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at calnewport.com/slowGet a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?docs.google.com/document/d/1w-HOfseF2wF9YIpXwUUtP65-olnkPyWcgF5BiAtBEy0/edit?tab=t.0x.com/kevinroose/status/2001464352491311196afterbabel.com/p/smartphone-gambling-is-a-disasterfanduel.comafterbabel.com/p/its-not-just-a-game-anymoreafterbabel.com/p/dont-give-your-child-an-ai-companionfuturism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-toys-dangerinstagram.com/reel/DO_7TzvEkzO/?hl=entincan.kidspunkt.ch/products/mp02-4g-minimalist-phonealiexpress.us/item/3256810412310495.htmlnintendo.com/us/store/products/nintendo-switch-lite-turquoise Thanks to our Sponsors: 1password.com/deepcozyearth.com (Use code “DEEP”)notion.com/calcalderalab.com/deep Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Mark Miles for mastering. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Two years ago, the NYU social scientist Jonathan Haidt exploded into the public conversation with the publication of his book, The Anxious Generation.
0:15.1	This book argued that smartphones had helped trigger a mental health epidemic in kids and teenagers. Now, this book was a massive
0:22.0	bestseller. It sold over a million copies by the end of 2024 and many more since. Now, the
0:28.4	Anxist Generation was a hit in large part because height was giving data to back up something that
0:33.7	most parents already felt intuitively. They saw what happened to their own kids
0:39.5	when they got their hands on their phones. They knew that it was a problem, and John Haidt had
0:43.6	the receipts to prove that they were right. Not everyone, however, immediately embraced
0:49.4	Heights message. Many elite journalists and academics were suspicious. They thought his message was too
0:56.7	simple and it was too neat and that it diverted attention from the types of harms like
1:00.8	structural racism and economic inequality that they were more interested in highlighting.
1:06.2	A dismissive review of the anxious generation that appeared in the journal Nature, for example,
1:10.2	claimed that Heights's argument was, quote, not supported by science, end quote, and then warned that, quote,
1:15.8	rising hysteria could distract us from tackling to real causes, end quote.
1:20.2	But these critics had a problem.
1:22.9	Height knew what he was talking about.
1:25.5	Starting in 2019, he began constructing, with the help of the demographer Gene Twenge
1:30.8	and the researcher, Zach Roush, a massive annotated bibliography of every serious paper published
1:35.7	about the impact of phones on teens.
1:40.1	In fact, I'll load this bibliography on the screen right now for people who are watching
1:43.8	instead of just listening. What I'm showing you right now for people who are watching instead of just listening.
1:45.8	What I'm showing you right now, this is just a table of contents of all the different studies that are in here.
1:52.0	These are all just categories of studies.
	...

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