Why people recommend it
Stolen Focus by Johann Hari explores the modern crisis of diminishing attention spans and the various societal forces that degrade human focus. Jonathan Haidt recommended the book on The Ezra Klein Show while discussing human attention and screen habits. On ChooseFI, the host brought up the book to examine different types of attention and why people struggle to maintain focus. Steven Bartlett praised the volume on The Diary Of A CEO as an amazing sequel of sorts to Lost Connections, while Chris Williamson promoted the work on Modern Wisdom as a great read regarding blue light and energy levels. Bas Rutten also endorsed the text on The Joe Rogan Experience, noting how it helped him understand his own mind. David Perell discussed the book with the author on How I Write to explore the core research questions, and Angela Duckworth mentioned on No Stupid Questions that she was beginning to read it to understand attention loss.
Who recommended it
- Angela Duckworth Discussed
- Steven Bartlett Recommended
- Chris Williamson Recommended
- David Perell Discussed
- Jonathan Haidt Recommended
- Bas Rutten Recommended
- Alfie Brown Discussed
Angela Duckworth — 2 mentions
“and one of the books that I started reading but I haven't gotten too far into it is called stolen Focus”
“I do feel kind of robbed, and one of the books that I started reading but I haven't gotten too far into it is called Stolen Focus. Have you heard about this book? It's by, I think, he's a journalist named Johann Hari?”
Steven Bartlett — 2 mentions
“in lost connections you talk about junk values ”
“but stolen focus is a ”
Chris Williamson — 2 mentions
“Arnold, you're the governor of California. Like you should Anyway, anyway, Stolen Focus, why you can't pay attention. Johann's new book will be linked in the show notes below. It's awesome, man.”
“so this is in johann hari's stolen focus which is coming out in the new year it'll be really good i've read half of it”
David Perell — 1 mention
“So, walk me through, let's talk about uh stolen focus. So, walk me through the different questions there and give me the question and the answer.”
Jonathan Haidt — 1 mention
“Johan Harry has this wonderful book stolen focus and I believe he's right when he says if we adults clear it out”
Bas Rutten — 1 mention
“and now I know why I read the you know the the stolen Focus book for Yan Harry you know that's a really good book by”
Alfie Brown — 1 mention
“so yeah he's got a new book out called stolen focus and it's about why we're more distracted why our attention is is being robbed of us and stuff”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 1
“fantastic book by the way but another writer Johann Hari definitely mentioned in a book called stolen Focus why you can't pay attention good is the different types of focus”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- Lost Connections
- Atomic Habits
- Chasing the Scream
- Deep Work
- Hooked
- How to Win Friends and Influence People
Other mentions (6: passing, ad reads, own books)
“um with stolen focus my book about attention I wanted to understand why our attention was getting so much worse.”
“obviously i talk about this a lot in the book stolen focus about this there are changes we can all make in our lives”
“that really ”
“the first group let's say you could do it with my book you give one group of people my book on the ipad like your ipad there”
“i think there are obvious and i know you know this much better than i do ”
“So, yeah, the the the although I stressed my goal is not that we not be on the internet it's that we have an internet that is not designed to maximally invade or ruin our attention. Um and essentially I'm sure um some people are going to describe my book as anti-tech and it I am not anti-tech at all.”