In the United States, teenagers can focus on one task for only sixty-five seconds at a time, and office workers lose focus every three minutes. We tend to think of things like this as inevitable and we personalize them, we create little narratives about personal failure or a lack of willpower. But this isn't really the case. The problem is systemic, and in his latest book, Lost Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention – And How to Think Deeply Again, author and journalist Johann Hari explains why everything we think we know about this crisis of attention is wrong — and why we need an attention revolution. Johann Hari is also the author of the books Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, as well as Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions.

This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support

If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky.

You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.