The Trillion Dollar Battle For Your Attention, with Peter Schmidt and D. Graham Burnett

Intelligence Squared

News Commentary, Arts, News, Society & Culture

4.2 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 February 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Our attention is under attack. A handful of powerful tech companies are extracting and monetising our focus, reshaping our inner lives and threatening the foundations of democracy. Many proposed solutions rely on individual willpower but can we really outsmart supercomputers on our own? In this episode, we’re joined by Peter Schmidt of the Strother School of Radical Attention and D. Graham Burnett, Professor of the History of Science at Princeton University, two of the authors of Attensity! A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement. Written collectively by 25 academics, activists, and artists known as the Friends of Attention, all royalties from Attensity! Are donated to charity. In this episode, they speak with Conor Boyle, Head of Programming at Intelligence Squared, to explore the origins of the trillion-dollar battle for our attention and how we might begin to reclaim our minds. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:59.9	Apply with £100,000 annual income or £100,000 savings or investments with HSBC UK or Premier status abroad.
1:03.5	Welcome to Intelligence Squared, where great minds meet.
1:05.8	I'm producer Mia Sorrenti.
1:08.4	Our attention is under attack. A handful of powerful tech companies are extracting and monetising our focus,
1:13.3	reshaping our inner lives and threatening the foundations of democracy. Many proposed solutions
1:18.4	rely on individual willpower, but can we really outsmart supercomputers on our own?
1:24.6	In this episode, we're joined by Peter Schmidt of the Strother School of Radical Attention
1:29.4	and Dee Graham Burnett, Professor of the History of Science at Princeton University.
1:33.5	They are two of the authors of Attensity, a manifesto of the Attention liberation movement.
	...

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