How Do I Reverse Brain Rot?

In his recent New York Times essay, Cal argued for a “cognitive fitness” revolution to resist the onslaught of digital tools degrading our ability to think. But how does one actually strengthen their brain? In this episode, Cal details a sustainable cognitive fitness routine built around five key components.  More from Cal Download Cal’s FREE guide to cultivating a deeper life: calnewport.com/ideas Learn more about Cal’s books: calnewport.com/books Listen to Cal’s podcast: thedeeplife.com/listen Chapters 0:00 How Do I Build “Cognitive Fitness”? | Monday Advice 30:51 Message from a social media influencer 33:02 Reaction to Amy Timberlake interview 38:01 Putting Cal’s advice into practice 41:20 What I read 43:45 What I’m doing Resources Mentioned: Book: The Noonday Devil (by Jean-Charles Nault: translated from original French) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdvqpqHSQas https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/opinion/technology-mental-fitness-cognitive.html https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-inquiry/what-kind-of-writer-is-chatgpt https://i0.wp.com/www.americamagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/MertonCover.jpeg-427330.jpeg?w=992&ssl=1 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/opinion/sunday/steve-jobs-never-wanted-us-to-use-our-iphones-like-this.html https://anjalibanerjee.com/paws-and-platen/from-typewritten-draft-to-published-page Sponsors: https://www.calderalab.com/deep https://www.vanta.com/deepquestions https://www.shipstation.com/deep https://www.zapier.com/deep Credits: Podcast Production: Jesse Miller Newsletter/Research: Nate Mechler Theme Music: Jay Kerstens