Stolen Focus

Burnout with Dax Shepard
Burnout with Dax Shepard
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  • Mental Health
  • Weekly series

Do you feel like your brain is permanently broken? Are you struggling to read a single page of a book, operating with 50 open browser tabs, and constantly refreshing Slack while drowning in mental exhaustion? You didn't lose your focus. Your focus was deliberately stolen from you by multi-billion-dollar algorithms engineered to hack your nervous system for corporate profit. Welcome to The Burnout Podcasts, where we are staging a radical mutiny for your mind. This season, we are diving deep into the absolute blueprint of the modern attention crisis: "Stolen Focus" by Johann Hari. Hosted by Edith (the sharp, no-nonsense strategist who treats big tech design like an act of psychological warfare) and Alan (the frantic, chronically distracted desk-dweller who treats his phone like an extra limb), we blow the whistle on surveillance capitalism. We show how modern office hyper-connectivity, sleep deprivation, and unmanaged workplace anxiety aren't career necessities—they are explicit drivers of severe cognitive fatigue. We don't do boring academic book reviews. We provide a laugh-out-loud funny, data-driven toolkit to rescue your attention span, down-regulate your overstimulated nervous system, and reclaim deep work. Stop letting tech monopolies monetize your sanity. Explore our 3-season archive, take what serves you, leave what doesn't, and take back control of your cognitive destiny.

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Season 1

  1. Episode 1

    S1E1 | Why Your Brain Is Being Sold for Spare Parts | Stolen Focus | Johann Hari

    Do you feel like your brain is permanently broken? Are you struggling to read a single page of a book, operating with 50 open browser tabs, and constantly refreshing Slack while drowning in mental exhaustion? You didn't lose your focus. Your focus was deliberately stolen from you by multi-billion-dollar algorithms engineered to hack your nervous system for corporate profit. Welcome to The Burnout Podcasts, where we are staging a radical mutiny for your mind. This season, we are diving deep into the absolute blueprint of the modern attention crisis: "Stolen Focus" by Johann Hari. Hosted by Edith (the sharp, no-nonsense strategist who treats big tech design like an act of psychological warfare) and Alan (the frantic, chronically distracted desk-dweller who treats his phone like an extra limb), we blow the whistle on surveillance capitalism. We show how modern office hyper-connectivity, sleep deprivation, and unmanaged workplace anxiety aren't career necessities—they are explicit drivers of severe cognitive fatigue. We don't do boring academic book reviews. We provide a laugh-out-loud funny, data-driven toolkit to rescue your attention span, down-regulate your overstimulated nervous system, and reclaim deep work. Stop letting tech monopolies monetize your sanity. Explore our 3-season archive, take what serves you, leave what doesn't, and take back control of your cognitive destiny.

    S1E1 | Why Your Brain Is Being Sold for Spare Parts | Stolen Focus | Johann Hari

  2. Episode 2 • Subscribers Only

    S1E2 | The #1 Reason Your Brain Feels Permanently Broken | Stolen Focus | Johann Hari

    Welcome to the Podcast! You sit down to do the important thing. You check one notification — just one, just for a second — and somehow forty minutes later you're back, blinking, with no idea what you were doing. You think this is normal. This episode is about the staggering hidden cost of "just for a second." Edith breaks down the "switching cost effect": every time Alan glances at a ping, he isn't losing a few seconds — he's losing the long climb back into the work, a recovery that can eat over twenty minutes before he's fully back in. Multiply that across a day of interruptions and the math is genuinely alarming. Alan defends his glorious "rapid-fire" work style right up until Edith lands the comparison that ends the argument: a brain in constant switching mode performs at roughly the impairment level of a drunk driver. He's been proud of operating at the cognitive equivalent of three drinks deep — and calling it productivity. The fog isn't a character flaw. It's the bill for a habit he was sold. READ ALONG WITH US: Grab your copy of Stolen Focus by Johann Hari and follow along: https://a.co/d/0h9XpRAO READY TO FIX YOUR LIFE? Listening to the podcast is step one. But if you are ready to stop making excuses, stop self-sabotaging, and actually do the work, it is time to step into our world. Visit: https://theburnoutpodcasts.com/ to access our exclusive resources and work directly with us. Here is how we can help you completely overhaul your life: 1. High-Ticket 1:1 "Life Alignment" Coaching — This is our premium, highly exclusive private mentorship for individuals who are ready to stop playing small. Over 6 to 12 weeks, we will seamlessly weave together Vedic astrology to decode your relationship patterns, and Ayurvedic principles to build custom physical and mental recovery protocols. This is deep, personalized guidance to fix your life. Note: This is by application only. We strictly filter for clients who are 100% ready to invest in their transformation. 2. The "Inner Circle" Mastermind — Want to grow alongside an elite community? The Inner Circle is our curated, 3-to-6-month group program capped at just 10 to 15 people. We tackle specific themes like navigating toxic relationships and bouncing back from profound burnout via monthly group Zoom calls and a private community channel. Join the waitlist on our site — doors open only a few times a year! 3. The "Deep Dive" Strategy Intensive — You don't want a 12-week program; you want immediate clarity right now. This is a one-time, 2-hour "Life and Relationship Audit." Bring us your most chaotic dilemma — a failing relationship, a major life transition, or an acute mental block — and we will spend two hours completely tearing it down and giving you a step-by-step roadmap to fix it. Book directly on our site to secure your intensive session. 4. Premium "Unfiltered" Audio Subscriptions — Love the podcast but want the messy, raw, behind-the-scenes advice? Upgrade to our Premium Unfiltered Feed! Submit your messy relationship dramas or life dilemmas anonymously through our website, and we will give you the unfiltered, no-holds-barred advice that is way too edgy for the main public podcast. Upgrade your listening experience for the price of a latte directly on our site. FOLLOW US & SUBSCRIBE: Don't forget to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Website: https://theburnoutpodcasts.com/ Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide or self-harm, please reach out to a qualified mental health professional or a crisis support line in your country. You do not have to face this alone.

    S1E2 | The #1 Reason Your Brain Feels Permanently Broken | Stolen Focus | Johann Hari

  3. Episode 3 • Subscribers Only

    S1E3 | Why Multitasking Is a Total Corporate Lie | Stolen Focus | Johann Hari

    Welcome to the Podcast! You wear it like a badge — "I'm great at juggling." Spreadsheet open, chat pinging, video playing, three conversations live at once. You feel like a machine built for the modern world. This episode is the inconvenient truth about the machine you actually are. Edith ruthlessly dismantles the myth of the human "multi-processor." There's no juggling, she explains — there's only rapid, lossy switching, your attention skidding between tasks and shedding quality at every handoff. What feels like doing four things at once is really doing four things badly, in sequence, while convincing yourself you're a superhero. Alan insists his ability to run TikTok and a budget at the same time is a genuine talent, and Edith lets him hang himself with it before showing the wreckage: the "juggling" is manufacturing cognitive fatigue and quietly severing the slow, associative connections where his actual creativity used to live. The superpower was a leak the whole time. READ ALONG WITH US: Grab your copy of Stolen Focus by Johann Hari and follow along: https://a.co/d/0h9XpRAO READY TO FIX YOUR LIFE? Listening to the podcast is step one. But if you are ready to stop making excuses, stop self-sabotaging, and actually do the work, it is time to step into our world. Visit: https://theburnoutpodcasts.com/ to access our exclusive resources and work directly with us. Here is how we can help you completely overhaul your life: 1. High-Ticket 1:1 "Life Alignment" Coaching — This is our premium, highly exclusive private mentorship for individuals who are ready to stop playing small. Over 6 to 12 weeks, we will seamlessly weave together Vedic astrology to decode your relationship patterns, and Ayurvedic principles to build custom physical and mental recovery protocols. This is deep, personalized guidance to fix your life. Note: This is by application only. We strictly filter for clients who are 100% ready to invest in their transformation. 2. The "Inner Circle" Mastermind — Want to grow alongside an elite community? The Inner Circle is our curated, 3-to-6-month group program capped at just 10 to 15 people. We tackle specific themes like navigating toxic relationships and bouncing back from profound burnout via monthly group Zoom calls and a private community channel. Join the waitlist on our site — doors open only a few times a year! 3. The "Deep Dive" Strategy Intensive — You don't want a 12-week program; you want immediate clarity right now. This is a one-time, 2-hour "Life and Relationship Audit." Bring us your most chaotic dilemma — a failing relationship, a major life transition, or an acute mental block — and we will spend two hours completely tearing it down and giving you a step-by-step roadmap to fix it. Book directly on our site to secure your intensive session. 4. Premium "Unfiltered" Audio Subscriptions — Love the podcast but want the messy, raw, behind-the-scenes advice? Upgrade to our Premium Unfiltered Feed! Submit your messy relationship dramas or life dilemmas anonymously through our website, and we will give you the unfiltered, no-holds-barred advice that is way too edgy for the main public podcast. Upgrade your listening experience for the price of a latte directly on our site. FOLLOW US & SUBSCRIBE: Don't forget to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Website: https://theburnoutpodcasts.com/ Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide or self-harm, please reach out to a qualified mental health professional or a crisis support line in your country. You do not have to face this alone.

    S1E3 | Why Multitasking Is a Total Corporate Lie | Stolen Focus | Johann Hari

  4. Episode 4 • Subscribers Only

    S1E4 | Plot Twist — Infinite Scroll Is Rewiring Your Mind | Stolen Focus | Johann Hari

    Welcome to the Podcast! It's 2 a.m. You meant to look at your phone for five minutes. Your thumb keeps moving on its own, and the feed keeps refilling, and there is no bottom to it — and somewhere underneath, a small voice asks why you can't make yourself stop. This episode answers that voice. Edith reveals the deliberate engineering behind the infinite scroll — a design built specifically to remove the natural "stop cues" that used to let you finish something and walk away. A book ends. A page ends. The feed was designed never to, precisely so you never get the cue to leave. Alan realizes his mindless midnight scrolling isn't a failure of willpower against a neutral tool — it's the predictable result of a machine engineered to convert his "life time" into "screen time," one frictionless flick at a time. The horror isn't that he can't stop. It's that he was never supposed to be able to. READ ALONG WITH US: Grab your copy of Stolen Focus by Johann Hari and follow along: https://a.co/d/0h9XpRAO READY TO FIX YOUR LIFE? Listening to the podcast is step one. But if you are ready to stop making excuses, stop self-sabotaging, and actually do the work, it is time to step into our world. Visit: https://theburnoutpodcasts.com/ to access our exclusive resources and work directly with us. Here is how we can help you completely overhaul your life: 1. High-Ticket 1:1 "Life Alignment" Coaching — This is our premium, highly exclusive private mentorship for individuals who are ready to stop playing small. Over 6 to 12 weeks, we will seamlessly weave together Vedic astrology to decode your relationship patterns, and Ayurvedic principles to build custom physical and mental recovery protocols. This is deep, personalized guidance to fix your life. Note: This is by application only. We strictly filter for clients who are 100% ready to invest in their transformation. 2. The "Inner Circle" Mastermind — Want to grow alongside an elite community? The Inner Circle is our curated, 3-to-6-month group program capped at just 10 to 15 people. We tackle specific themes like navigating toxic relationships and bouncing back from profound burnout via monthly group Zoom calls and a private community channel. Join the waitlist on our site — doors open only a few times a year! 3. The "Deep Dive" Strategy Intensive — You don't want a 12-week program; you want immediate clarity right now. This is a one-time, 2-hour "Life and Relationship Audit." Bring us your most chaotic dilemma — a failing relationship, a major life transition, or an acute mental block — and we will spend two hours completely tearing it down and giving you a step-by-step roadmap to fix it. Book directly on our site to secure your intensive session. 4. Premium "Unfiltered" Audio Subscriptions — Love the podcast but want the messy, raw, behind-the-scenes advice? Upgrade to our Premium Unfiltered Feed! Submit your messy relationship dramas or life dilemmas anonymously through our website, and we will give you the unfiltered, no-holds-barred advice that is way too edgy for the main public podcast. Upgrade your listening experience for the price of a latte directly on our site. FOLLOW US & SUBSCRIBE: Don't forget to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Website: https://theburnoutpodcasts.com/ Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide or self-harm, please reach out to a qualified mental health professional or a crisis support line in your country. You do not have to face this alone.

    S1E4 | Plot Twist — Infinite Scroll Is Rewiring Your Mind | Stolen Focus | Johann Hari

  5. Episode 5 • Subscribers Only

    S1E5 | The Secret Voodoo Doll Big Tech Built of You | Stolen Focus | Johann Hari

    Welcome to the Podcast! Somewhere on a server is a version of you — your searches, your pauses, your weak moments, your 1 a.m. impulses — assembled into a model that knows your buttons better than you do. This episode is about the little effigy with your name on it, and who's holding the pins. Edith describes the digital "voodoo doll": the predictive profile algorithms build from your behavior to forecast exactly what will keep you hooked, and exactly when you're most likely to break. It doesn't need to read your mind. It just needs enough of your past to bet correctly on your next weak moment. Alan is genuinely unsettled to learn that the searches he assumed were private are the raw material being used to frack his attention with surgical precision — not advertising at him, but a model of him, refined daily to be more persuasive than his own self-control. He didn't lose the game. He didn't know there was a doll on the table. READ ALONG WITH US: Grab your copy of Stolen Focus by Johann Hari and follow along: https://a.co/d/0h9XpRAO READY TO FIX YOUR LIFE? Listening to the podcast is step one. But if you are ready to stop making excuses, stop self-sabotaging, and actually do the work, it is time to step into our world. Visit: https://theburnoutpodcasts.com/ to access our exclusive resources and work directly with us. Here is how we can help you completely overhaul your life: 1. High-Ticket 1:1 "Life Alignment" Coaching — This is our premium, highly exclusive private mentorship for individuals who are ready to stop playing small. Over 6 to 12 weeks, we will seamlessly weave together Vedic astrology to decode your relationship patterns, and Ayurvedic principles to build custom physical and mental recovery protocols. This is deep, personalized guidance to fix your life. Note: This is by application only. We strictly filter for clients who are 100% ready to invest in their transformation. 2. The "Inner Circle" Mastermind — Want to grow alongside an elite community? The Inner Circle is our curated, 3-to-6-month group program capped at just 10 to 15 people. We tackle specific themes like navigating toxic relationships and bouncing back from profound burnout via monthly group Zoom calls and a private community channel. Join the waitlist on our site — doors open only a few times a year! 3. The "Deep Dive" Strategy Intensive — You don't want a 12-week program; you want immediate clarity right now. This is a one-time, 2-hour "Life and Relationship Audit." Bring us your most chaotic dilemma — a failing relationship, a major life transition, or an acute mental block — and we will spend two hours completely tearing it down and giving you a step-by-step roadmap to fix it. Book directly on our site to secure your intensive session. 4. Premium "Unfiltered" Audio Subscriptions — Love the podcast but want the messy, raw, behind-the-scenes advice? Upgrade to our Premium Unfiltered Feed! Submit your messy relationship dramas or life dilemmas anonymously through our website, and we will give you the unfiltered, no-holds-barred advice that is way too edgy for the main public podcast. Upgrade your listening experience for the price of a latte directly on our site. FOLLOW US & SUBSCRIBE: Don't forget to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Website: https://theburnoutpodcasts.com/ Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide or self-harm, please reach out to a qualified mental health professional or a crisis support line in your country. You do not have to face this alone.

    S1E5 | The Secret Voodoo Doll Big Tech Built of You | Stolen Focus | Johann Hari
  • 5 Episodes

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About

Do you feel like your brain is permanently broken? Are you struggling to read a single page of a book, operating with 50 open browser tabs, and constantly refreshing Slack while drowning in mental exhaustion? You didn't lose your focus. Your focus was deliberately stolen from you by multi-billion-dollar algorithms engineered to hack your nervous system for corporate profit. Welcome to The Burnout Podcasts, where we are staging a radical mutiny for your mind. This season, we are diving deep into the absolute blueprint of the modern attention crisis: "Stolen Focus" by Johann Hari. Hosted by Edith (the sharp, no-nonsense strategist who treats big tech design like an act of psychological warfare) and Alan (the frantic, chronically distracted desk-dweller who treats his phone like an extra limb), we blow the whistle on surveillance capitalism. We show how modern office hyper-connectivity, sleep deprivation, and unmanaged workplace anxiety aren't career necessities—they are explicit drivers of severe cognitive fatigue. We don't do boring academic book reviews. We provide a laugh-out-loud funny, data-driven toolkit to rescue your attention span, down-regulate your overstimulated nervous system, and reclaim deep work. Stop letting tech monopolies monetize your sanity. Explore our 3-season archive, take what serves you, leave what doesn't, and take back control of your cognitive destiny.

Information

  • Channel
    Burnout with Dax Shepard
  • Creator
    Johann Hari
  • Episodes
    5
  • Seasons
    1
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Burnout Podcasts
  • Show Website
    Stolen Focus
  • Provider

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