10: Cal Newport: Automate Tedium, Protect Thought

Cal Newport joins David and Chris to explore the line between automating tedious work and outsourcing thought. They discuss jagged robot capabilities, cognitive surrender, digital minimalism, and protecting human judgment.

Guest Starring:
Cal Newport (relay.fm/people/calnewport)

Links and Show Notes:
Credits

Intentional AI

Chris Bailey (chrisbailey.com)

David Sparks (macsparky.com)

The Editor

Jim Metzendorf (twitter.com/jmetzendorf)

The Fixer

Kerry Provanzano (twitter.com/ciaokerryciao)

YouTube Queen

Dana Hurley

Support Intentional AI with a Relay Membership (relayfm.memberful.com/checkout?plan=147990)
Submit Feedback (relay.fm/intentional/feedback)
Focused Podcast YouTube Channel (youtube.com/@FocusedPodcast-relayfm)
Cal Newport’s Books (calnewport.com/writing)
The Deep Life — Cal Newport (penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722894/the-deep-l…)
The Economics of Bicycles for the Mind (papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=53…)
Has AI Already Killed How-To Nonfiction? — Tim Ferriss (tim.blog/2026/06/12/has-ai-already-killed-nonf…)
Life 3.0 — Max Tegmark (penguin.co.uk/books/288272/life-30-by-tegmark-…)
Deep Questions with Cal Newport (thedeeplife.com)
Mac Power Users 865 — Teddy Svoronos (relay.fm/mpu/865)
Thinking—Fast, Slow, and Artificial (papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=60…)
How AI Is Reshaping Human Intuition and Reasoning — Wharton (knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast/ripple-eff…)
Why A.I. Didn’t Transform Our Lives in 2025 — Cal Newport (newyorker.com/culture/2025-in-review/why-ai-di…)
On Digital Minimalism — Cal Newport (calnewport.com/on-digital-minimalism)
It’s Time to Investigate the AI Labs — Cal Newport (calnewport.com/its-time-to-investigate-the-ai-…)