Adam Grant

speaker

2,364 appearances 12 recordings 1 series first heard May 2026 last heard 11 Aug

Adam Grant’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 12 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 5.

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And, you know, in the TikTok generation, you know, attention spans supposedly are shrinking.

Not so fast, says a big meta analysis, a study of studies, dozens of studies, thousands of people.

If you look at tests of concentration over a three decade period, adults and children have not gotten worse.

Uh they're just as good.

In some cases, they're even better.

So, what's going on there?

I start digging into the research, and it turns out it's not our ability to pay attention that's suffering.

It's our motivation.

We're used to looking for the next shiny object.

And the good news is that people are fully capable of focusing for extended periods of time if you sustain their interest.

And frankly, that explains something that's mystified me for a long time, which is why are these like teenagers who supposedly can't pay attention

anything.

Binging eight hours of a show on Netflix, that requires sustained attention.

Why are they sitting playing video games for 14 hours at a time?

That requires sustained attention.

And I think what's distinctive about video games and great shows is they are motivating.

They spark our interest.

They maintain our interest.

And I think we need to get better at that.

Well, I think there's a nuance here that often gets missed, which is yes, watching TV is passive attention.

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