After a week spent debating AI’s impact on humanity, Cal wants to turn his attention back to AI’s impact on humans. To support this shift, he brings on the writer Brad Stulberg who recently decided that he was “done” with AI. They explore whether this is a resistance movement in the making…

Video from today’s episode:  youtube.com/calnewportmedia

(4:03) Brad gave AI a real shot — then quit

(8:13) Why everything online now sounds the same

(13:22) Plank 1: Effort, struggle, and the click-of-a-button economy

(20:11) You can take a gondola to the summit, but you didn't climb it

(28:30) Plank 2: AI is an average maker

(33:39) AI swirl: pseudo-productivity turned up to 11

(49:40) Treat AI like ultra-processed food

(55:08) Getting it off your phone, and the lesson of sports analytics

(1:00:13) Team Human and the humanist resistance

https://www.horizon3.com/deep

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https://www.notion.com/cal

https://www.factormeals.com/deep50off (Use code "deep50off")

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Cal Newport takes a critical look at recent AI News.

Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia

(0:00) How Worrisome is GPT-6’s “Stealth Thinking”? 

(8:58) Reasoning models

(15:30) Astra

(21:02) The Good

(24:48) The Bad

(28:28) The Hype

Links:

Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QNsdr-Qx_I

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/secret-technique-behind-openais-astra-model-sparks-security-concerns?rc=1ycz3a

https://x.com/_NathanCalvin/status/2094957301564092914

https://x.com/sjgadler/status/2094959837691908214?s=61

https://x.com/merettm/status/2095023204993490967?s=20

https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.11473

Thanks to Jesse Miller for production and mastering and Nate Mechler for research and newsletter.

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It’s that time of year again when Cal tunes up his organizational systems for the onslaught of the fall. In this episode, Cal walks through the exact system he’s personally adopting for the next few months. He also discusses why such systems are key to thriving in our current frenetic technological world, why it’s important to continue to tweak your systems, and best practices for constructing your own setup.

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/3U3sTvo

Video from today’s episode:  youtube.com/calnewportmedia

(0:00) How I’m organizing my life this fall

(24:36) An Irish novelist talks about her use of AI

(30:11) Developing a more balanced approach to tech products

(35:04) Cal’s opinion on an AI article

(41:55) Large corporations move away from all enterprise AI

(48:46) What Cal is up to

August 2026 Books

The New Dark Age (Nigel Biggar)

Links:

Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow 

Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/ 

https://culturedcode.com/things/

https://www.timeblockplanner.com/

Thanks to our Sponsors: 

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https://www.monarch.com (Use code “DEEP”)

https://www.mybodytutor.com

Thanks to Jesse Miller for production and mastering, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Nate Mechler for research and newsletter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cal Newport takes a critical look at recent AI News.

Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia

(0:00) Does OpenAI create “secret AI civilizations”?

(1:59) What’s the deal with “agent swarms”?

(8:54) Should we be worried that the agents are plotting?

(17:39) How should we be thinking about all of this?

Links:

Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow 

https://www.dwarkesh.com/p/openai-huggingface

https://calnewport.com/has-ai-gone-rogue/

https://calnewport.com/are-we-at-war-with-ai-agent-civilizations/

Thanks to Jesse Miller for production and mastering and Nate Mechler for research and newsletter.

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Back in 2023, Cal released an episode on a lifestyle design strategy I called the Deep Life Stack. Today, almost three years later, Cal revisits this idea and replaces it with a more robust concept that he calls “The Deep Life Map.”

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/3U3sTvo

Video from today’s episode:  youtube.com/calnewportmedia

(0:00) Rethinking the Deep Life stack

(38:07) Too many interests and not enough time

(47:29) Voluntary attention regulates acute immune responses in humans

(55:34) A freelance musician and social media

(1:09:08) What Cal is up to 

August 2026 Books

An Inside Job (Daniel Silva)

Three Years in Wonderland (Todd James Pierce)

Links:

Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow 

Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/ 

Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-026-02541-1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Cal-Newport/author/B001IGNR0U

https://x.com/RyanHoliday

Thanks to our Sponsors: 

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Thanks to Jesse Miller for production and mastering, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Nate Mechler for research and newsletter.

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Cal Newport takes a critical look at recent AI News.

Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia

(0:00) Has AI “Gone Rogue”

(2:25) Observation #1 - Most Superhuman AI is well behaved

(4:28) Observation #2 - A specific type of AI system is causing these problems

(9:59) Observation #3 - This specific type of system is a bad idea

(21:25) Observation #4 - The AI companies are negligent

(27:04) Observation #5 - We can push back

Links:

Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow 

https://www.anthropic.com/news/investigating-incidents-cybersecurity-evals

https://apnews.com/article/meta-ai-hacking-anthropic-irregular-openai-0e8061437da6779be962b24ac134a514

https://x.com/_NathanCalvin/status/2080685870877757551

https://huggingface.co/learn/agents-course/unit1/agent-steps-and-structure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwAOHVBKTwg

Sponsor:

https://www.donedaily.com

Thanks to Jesse Miller for production and mastering and Nate Mechler for research and newsletter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the world of physical health, we use so-called “key performance indicators” (KPIs) to help measure and improve our fitness. In today’s episode, Cal proposes a collection of three KPIs for measuring and improving your *cognitive* capabilities – a small step toward his larger vision of a cognitive fitness revolution.

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/3U3sTvo

Video from today’s episode:  youtube.com/calnewportmedia

(0:00) How to build a cognitive training plan

(29:48) What is Cal’s opinion on information fatigue syndrome?

(37:04) Comments on the new book, “Pardon Our French: The Parisian Way to a Happier Life”

(40:17) An interesting way to think about AI and thinking

(47:37) An article about Disneyland, high quality leisure, and deep living

(57:53) What Cal is up to

August 2026 Books

The Laws of Thought (Tom Griffiths)

This is For Everyone (Tim Berners-Lee)

Into the Deep  (Bob Ballard and Christopher Drew)202

Links:

Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow

Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at

Cal’s monthly book directory: 

bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?

https://workplacepsychology.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/information-overload-when-information-becomes-noise/

https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2026/08/12/reading-between-the-lines-part-1-a-cognitive-framework-for-ai-in-scholarly-publishing/

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/18/boredom-and-its-discontents-part-ii/

https://pluralistic.net/2026/08/12/insurance-value-of-biodiversity/

https://archive.ph/WvW1F

Thanks to our Sponsors:

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https://www.vanta.com/deepquestions

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Thanks to Jesse Miller for production and mastering, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Nate Mechler for research and newsletter.

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The best way to kick your scrolling habit is to introduce more “high quality leisure” into your life. But how do you accomplish this goal? In this replay of a classic episode from February, 2024, Cal walks through six new habits – what he calls a “high quality leisure toolkit” – for rebuilding your life around more meaningful activities.

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/3U3sTvo

Video from today’s episode:  youtube.com/calnewportmedia

(0:00) Confronting Your Phone 

(13:06) What does Cal think about Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves To Death”? 

(17:45) Can you pursue high quality leisure after a day filled with deep work? 

(21:56) Can commercial breaks be used for high quality leisure? 

(25:04) Will digital minimalism work in an age of augmented reality? 

(31:26) How can a full time YouTuber practice digital minimalism? 

(38:34) How to share content online? 

(46:27) Cost-benefit analysis of technology usage 

(49:09) JRR Tolkien’s Search for Depth 

Links:

https://twitter.com/explore/tabs/trending

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/popular/hl=en

https://www.tiktok.com/foryou?lang=en

https://newcriterion.com/blogs/dispatch/the-consolations-of-fantasy

Thanks to our Sponsors: 

https://www.cozyearth.com (Use code “DEEP”)

https://www.shopify.com/deep

https://www.monarch.com (Use code “DEEP”)

Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, Kieron Rees for slow productivity music, and Mark Miles for mastering.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Only 8% of people finish their yearly goals. At the same time, the percentage of people feeling a sense of meaning of purpose in their life is falling. These two numbers are connected: the more we struggle to accomplish meaningful projects, the less meaningful our lives might feel. In this episode, Cal looks back to a classic article he wrote nearly twenty years ago to both better understand why this problem is getting worse and how we can solve it.

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/3U3sTvo

Video from today’s episode:  youtube.com/calnewportmedia

(0:00) How do I finish meaningful projects?

(39:36) A new study about children with cellphones having poorer reading comprehension 

(43:14) A nurse practitioner in search of deep work

(45:45) Using AI to improve both your work and life

(52:24) A recent Wall Street Journal article about AI and jobs

(1:00:07) What Cal is up to

July 2026 Books

Orality and Literacy (Walter Ong)

Lost (Rachel Harrington)

Sapiens (Yuval Harari)

More Everything Forever (Adam Becker)

Disneyland the Rise of Automation (Roland Bethencourt)

A Brief History of Intelligence (Max Bennett)

Links:

Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow 

Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/ 

Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?

https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/science-says-92-percent-of-people-dont-achieve-goals-heres-how-the-other-8-perce.html

https://news.gallup.com/poll/711836/gen-zers-missing-sense-meaning-purpose-life.aspx

https://calnewport.com/the-einstein-principle-accomplish-more-by-doing-less/

https://futureoftuesday.substack.com/p/techno-analog

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/owning-a-cell-phone-associated-with-poorer-reading-comprehension-schoolchildren

https://www.wsj.com/business/big-companies-are-starting-to-hire-again-defying-predictions-of-ai-wipeout-f4974e99?mod=hp_lead_pos10

Thanks to our Sponsors: 

https://www.scribe.how/deep

https://www.superhuman.com

https://www.mybodytutor.com

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Thanks to Jesse Miller for production and mastering, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Nate Mechler for research and newsletter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cal Newport takes a critical look at recent AI News.

Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia

(0:00) Does Open AI’s Astra mean AGI has arrived?

(3:07) What actually happened?

(11:35) What does this mean for mathematics?

(21:35) What does this mean for OpenAI? 

Links:

Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow 

https://x.com/polynoamial/status/2083467194663571701

https://x.com/deanwball/status/2083545756003176724?s=61

https://x.com/kevinroose/status/2083632335438905441

https://x.com/mattshumer_/status/2083595078233202919

https://x.com/polynoamial/status/2083478171975082334

https://x.com/__alpoge__/status/2083898804563243033

https://x.com/polynoamial/status/2083476852216369294

https://x.com/thomasfbloom/status/2083444983592284465

Sponsor:

https://www.donedaily.com

Thanks to Jesse Miller for production and mastering and Nate Mechler for research and newsletter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices