The Smartphone Addiction (243)

Let’s talk for a moment about getting lost. Nineteen years ago this week, Steve Jobs stood on a stage and promised to reinvent the phone. And he sure did. Later tonight, I will return to that moment, but for now, I want to talk to you about what happened after we take that instrument and device and put it in our pockets.

Think about how this—the smartphone—has altered our daily routine, our daily life habits, and the way we communicate. When you think about your day, you realize that the phone is the first thing you touch when you wake up, and suddenly, it’s the last thing you touch before you fall asleep. We follow it, trust it, obey it. We know where the phone is at all times, and if we lose sight of it for one split second, that becomes a priority—we start looking for it all over.

We often do not know where we are. We rely on screens more than a landmark. We follow routes instead of instincts. When was the last time you looked up in the sky for direction? I remember that from my army days. Or when was the last time you walked without knowing where you would end up? I think that time moved faster than we really noticed, because we chase efficiency all day. And we move around and travel without really arriving.

I want to take you back to a different way of finding your way. A few weeks back on The Best of 2025 program, I spoke about “mining” for music. I spoke about how I spent years scanning the dial—late night, early mornings—from KCRW in Santa Monica, to Nostalgie in Belgium, to late-night radio shows in Europe. I was not searching for hits; I was searching for a feeling, for a vibe.

And that’s how really mining works. You dig without knowing what you will find or where you’re going to end up. You listen past the hits and the Top 40. You stay long enough for something unexpected to appear. The phone somewhat prevents us from really being present or getting lost. The phone solved uncertainty for us; it removed the wrong turns. It answered questions before curiosity had time to even surface. It told us where to go, how long it’s going to take, and what to expect when we get there.

We stopped wandering. I truly believe that detachment from that phone will sharpen our listening and prepare our ears to whatever comes its way. Tonight, as your navigator, we’re not going to use GPS or Waze or any other guiding systems. We’re going to scan the dial together: from Athens to San Francisco, and from Ghana all the way to Iceland. North to south, east to west. From side streets to distant corners. From places you did not plan to visit to familiar ones.

So put the phone down for a bit—I know it’s hard. Let yourself drift and stay with me for the next couple of hours.

Tonight’s Playlist