← Home
The Indicator from Planet Money · June 19, 2026 · 9m

How your phone keeps you scrolling ... even when you want to stop

Show Notes

NPR's Short Wave explores why we get sucked into our phones. You pick up the device to do one thing, and suddenly 20 minutes vanish. The episode explains that phones are deliberately engineered to hold our attention, making it hard to stop scrolling.

This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.

Highlights

•
Pick up phone, lose 20 minutes
You grab your phone for a quick task and end up scrolling for far longer than you planned.
ClaudeChatGPTGemini
•
Phones engineered to capture attention
Your phone is deliberately designed to hold your attention and encourage continued use.
ClaudeChatGPTGemini

Misc

✧Fact-checked by Tyler Jones.
✧The episode features NPR's Short Wave team.
Was this useful?