The Analog Hour

The Courage Crisis: Why Making Friends as an Adult Is So Hard

Was it always this hard to make friends? In school, connection felt effortless. Then we graduated - and suddenly it wasn't as straightforward as it used to be. Adele Bloch says our increasing sense of isolation can't simply be labeled as a loneliness crisis. Instead she calls it: a courage crisis. Adele is a community builder, coach, and founder of Dining with Strangers and The Board Walks SF - a weekly Saturday morning walk series she hosted for over 100 consecutive weeks in San Francisco, bringing strangers together for deep, meaningful conversation. After years of hosting 300+ events and coaching people through social and relationship blocks, Adele has developed a practical, warm framework for rebuilding connection as an adult - starting with one simple question: what type of connection are you actually missing? In this conversation: * "Ambient social connection" - what it is and why we've lost it * Why we're in a courage crisis, not just a loneliness crisis * The phone as social crutch - and how to get through "five seconds of courage" * The four friendship buckets: do stuff friends, comfort friends, deep talk friends, ambient connection * Connection as a muscle: it's not something you have or don't have This Week's Analog Assignment: Think about Adele's four friendship buckets. Which one are you missing most? This week, take one step toward filling it. Go to one event. Text someone you've been meaning to see. Say hello to your barista/neighbor/the person you lock eyes with on the subway and actually mean it. Just one rep. Connect with Adele: * Website: adelebloch.com [http://adelebloch.com] * Instagram: @adeleblochjourney * Twitter/X: @adele_bloch * The Board Walks: theboardwalks.com [http://theboardwalks.com]

$15 Trillion vs. You: the Fight to Reclaim our Humanity

How many times have you promised yourself you'd put your phone down more - only to find yourself doom-scrolling at midnight again? Peter Schmidt wants you to know it's not a personal failing, that our ever increasing levels of distraction is by design. He is co-founder of the Strother School of Radical Attention, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit dedicated to "attention activism" - pushing back against the exploitation of human attention by coercive digital technologies. The attention economy is now a $15 trillion industry with one goal: capturing, quantifying, and commodifying your attention. Every time you pick up your phone, you're facing the most sophisticated predictive technology ever built, designed by some of the smartest people in the world, with one purpose: keeping your eyes on that screen. In this conversation: * Why phone addiction is NOT a personal failing - it's a $15 trillion power asymmetry * Why social media isn't a town square - "it's a shopping mall where the staff are quietly mugging you" * Why attention isn't just your attention span, it's your ability to love * The one thing you can do this week to start reclaiming your attention This Week's Analog Assignment: Get together with your people. In person. Put your phone away. Every time we connect independently of these platforms, we carve out a space that big tech can't touch. Connect with Peter & the School: * Strother School of Radical Attention [https://www.schoolofattention.org/] * Seminars & enrollment: schoolofattention.org/enroll [http://schoolofattention.org/enroll] * The Empty Cup [http://schoolofattention.substack.com] (School of the Attention's Substack) * Friends of Attention book: Attensity! A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/782387/attensity-by-the-friends-of-attention/] (Crown, 2026) * Peter's website: petercschmidt.com [http://petercschmidt.com]

The Arby's Test: Why America Feels Divided But Isn't (Quite)

If you want to figure out someone votes Republican or Democrat, one of the best questions you can ask is: Do you eat at Arby's? Many of us feel as if America is fracturing - liberals and conservatives living in completely different worlds. But economist Emir Kamenica's research reveals something counterintuitive: we're not actually drifting apart culturally. We may feel divided and often, we are - but not in the ways we think. This episode covers: * Why Arby's predicts voting * Baby names: Kurt vs. Liam * Grey Poupon, iPhones, and consumer markers of identity * Income inequality is up, but cultural distance between rich and poor is stable * Can we rebuild? Reasons for hope About Professor Emir Kamenica: Emir Kamenica is the Douglas G. Baird Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. His research with Marianne Bertrand on cultural distance and political polarization uses decades of consumer behavior data to measure how American culture has - and hasn't - fractured along political lines. Find us: analoginadigitalworld.net [http://analoginadigitalworld.net] | @analoginadigitalworld (IG)

What Our Phones Stop Us From Doing

A parent trying imperfectly to look at his kids instead of his screen. Instagram eating into reading time. Everything seeming urgent when it's not. The simple act of listening to the world go by. This week, no expert interview - just real people answering four honest questions about their phones: * When did you get your first smartphone? * What daily phone habit would have shocked you 10 years ago? * Ever tried unplugging? * What does your phone stop you from doing? The average American checks their phone 205 times a day. Over 43% of us admit we're addicted. In these confessions, you'll hear what we're missing: presence, books, conversation, silence, the sounds of life. This Week's Analog Assignment: Push aside all that your phone offers and identify what it's taking away. Take it back. The Analog Hour: analoginadigitalworld.net [http://analoginadigitalworld.net]

Why We Can't Tell Fact from Opinion Anymore

When you scroll through news online, can you tell what's fact and what's opinion? If you're struggling, you're not alone - and it's not your fault. Lynn Walsh is an Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist, former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, and former ethics chair. In 2016, at the peak of "fake news" claims, Lynn started taking phone calls from Americans who'd lost faith in journalism. What she learned during those conversations changed the trajectory of her career. In this episode, Lynn explains: * The labeling problem that's impacting trust in the media * How sensationalism and bias complaints reveal deeper misunderstandings * What happens when good journalists go independent * Why we're all "committing acts of journalism" - and the responsibility that goes with that * Practical steps to rebuild trust and restore faith in the media This Week's Analog Assignment: The next time you're about to share something online, pause and ask yourself: Is this accurate? Do I trust this source? Is this news or opinion? If you're not sure, either don't share it - or add context. Connect with Lynn Walsh: on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnkwalsh] and at Trusting News [https://trustingnews.org/] Resources: * Everyone Should Help Minimize Harm [https://newscreatorcorps.org/2025/11/creators-minimize-harm/] * SPJ Code of Ethics [https://www.spj.org/spj-code-of-ethics/] * FAQ About Journalism Ethics [https://www.spj.org/journalism-ethics-faq/] Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and find out more: analoginadigitalworld.net [http://analoginadigitalworld.net]