Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention-How to Get It Back - The 92nd Street Y, New York
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Recanati-Kaplan Talks

Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention-How to Get It Back

Johann Hari in Conversation with B.J. Novak

Jan 25, 2022


Having trouble focusing these days? Studies show that in the United States, office workers average only three minutes while teenagers can focus on one task for only sixty-five seconds at a time. We think our inability to focus is a personal failure to exert enough willpower over our devices. The truth is even more disturbing: our focus has been stolen by powerful external forces that have left us uniquely vulnerable to corporations determined to raid our attention for profit. How can we reclaim it? Investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author Johann Hari (Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and how to Think Deeply Again) spent three years interviewing the leading experts in the world on attention and learned not only the causes of this problem but how — as individuals, and as a society — if we are determined to fight for it — to get it back. Join us to find out!

Johann Hari

Johann Hari is a writer and journalist. He has written for the New York Times, Le Monde, The Guardian and other newspapers …

Johann Hari

Johann Hari is a writer and journalist. He has written for the New York Times, Le Monde, The Guardian and other newspapers. His TED talks and NowThis viral video have been viewed almost 100 million times, and his work has been praised by a broad range of people, from Oprah Winfrey to Noam Chomsky to Joe Rogan. He was the Executive Producer of the Oscar-nominated film The United States vs Billie Holiday and of a forthcoming eight-part TV series starring Samuel L Jackson.

B.J. Novak

B.J. Novak is an actor, writer, and comedian, best known for his contributions to NBC’s Emmy Award winning comedy, The Office …

B.J. Novak

B.J. Novak is an actor, writer, and comedian, best known for his contributions to NBC’s Emmy Award winning comedy, The Office. In addition to starring as Ryan, the temp-turned-boss-turned-temp, Novak is also a co-executive producer for the hit series and has written many of the show’s most memorable episodes, including “Diversity Day,” “Sexual Harassment,” “The Fire,” “Initation,” “Boys and Girls,” “Chair Model,” “Safety Training,” “Dream Team,” and “Local Ad.”

Prior to the success of The Office, Novak gained recognition for his improvised performances on the MTV hit Punk’d. His role as Hilary Duff’s driving instructor remains one of the most well-known of the series. Previous credits also include a dramatic turn in Reign Over Me, with Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle, and an appearance in Knocked Up, directed by Judd Apatow. Novak can be seen in the World War II epic Inglourious Basterds from director Quentin Tarantino and starring Brad Pitt.

First discovered as a stand-up comedian, Novak continues to perform live and has become known as one of the most original and popular new voices in comedy. He has performed on Comedy Central and Late Night with Conan O’Brien, as well as sold out live shows at theaters throughout the country and at clubs such as Caroline’s on Broadway and the Hollywood Improv. In November 2008, his show B.J. Novak and Friends at Town Hall served as the closing night of the New York Comedy Festival. Novak currently resides in Los Angeles.

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