In this episode, I speak with tech entrepreneur and digital wellbeing advocate Jess Butcher about technology, attention, entrepreneurship, and the growing struggle to remain sane in an age of infinite content. We explore why young men can so easily become trapped between hustle culture and doomerism, and why developing agency, creating your own opportunities, and building something meaningful may be a better response to a difficult world than either burning yourself out or giving up.

Drawing on her experience building technology companies and now campaigning for healthier relationships with technology, Jess explains how the attention economy has transformed the internet into a machine for extracting our time, attention, and emotional energy. We discuss “ultra-processed content,” dopamine and rage bait, the parallels between social media and Big Tobacco, and why the business model of keeping people online can have profound consequences for mental health, relationships, creativity, and moral behaviour. We also explore why boredom, silence, walking, reflection, and simply doing nothing may be some of the most radical—and productive—things we can do in a culture obsessed with constant stimulation.

The conversation then turns to the enormous concentration of technological power in a handful of companies, the coming impact of AI, and what this means for young people and society. We discuss political polarisation, online tribalism, the loss of multi-generational community, and why young men in particular can become hungry for a “crusade” or a cause to devote themselves to. Rather than retreating from technology altogether, we explore how to use it without allowing it to use us—and how reclaiming our attention might be the first step towards reclaiming our lives.

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