Introduction

Adam Gopnik on why a visit to get his phone repaired resulted in an unlikely revelation.

Watching those waiting alongside him, Adam comes to the realisation that we have poured ourselves so completely into our phones that the devices, paradoxically, are the one place where we can picture ourselves as selves. They have become the equivalent of the confession booths of old, or the diary in the 18th century.

"We all need some box to hold our fears and desires as the winds of the world threaten to blow us away," he concludes.

Producer: Adele Armstrong