Ep. 376: The Lincoln Protocol

661 snips

Oct 27, 2025

Discover how Abraham Lincoln's life can inspire modern solutions to digital distractions. Explore the three-step Lincoln Protocol: engaging with ambitious projects, deep reading, and thoughtful reflection. Gain insights on building a reading habit and maintaining focus in a noisy world. Hear advice on balancing work, motherhood, and creative endeavors. Find out whether Apple Watches are helpful or merely distractions. Cal also revisits his early thoughts on digital distraction, connecting past insights to today's challenges.

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INSIGHT

Frontier Problems Mirror Digital Traps

Lincoln faced frontier versions of distraction, danger, and darkness that mirrored modern digital traps.
Studying how he escaped these shows we can apply similar strategies today.

ANECDOTE

Pigeon Creek's Vices

Pigeon Creek was awash in alcohol, tobacco, and gambling that diverted people from hard work.
Lincoln resisted these pervasive vices while others indulged.

ANECDOTE

Violence Shaped Social Life

Frontier towns featured real mobs and brutal physical fights that threatened livelihoods.
Lincoln often confronted such violence, even fighting a local gang leader to earn his place.

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How do you escape a world where constant digital distractions and darkness threatens to pull you down? Maybe take a page out of Abraham Lincoln’s life. In this episode, Cal argues that Lincoln faced analog versions of many of the same issues we face in our contemporary digital world, and by studying how he escaped we can learn a method to accomplish something similar. He then answers listener questions on this theme and revisits the comments from a 2008 essay where he first introduced some of these questions.

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvo

Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia

Deep Dive: The Lincoln Protocol [0:30]

When do you read long-form articles amongst your book reading? [41:39]
Will reading improve my focus? [44:03]
What are the mechanics of keeping a deep reading habit alive? [48:17]
At what point does it make sense to prioritize autonomy and alignment over prestige and security? [54:48]
How do you suggest spending the time playing with the toddler, while also balancing reasonable stimuli without a phone? [1:00:01]

CASE STUDY: A military spouse goes back to work after motherhood [1:03:47]

CALL: Cal’s thoughts on Apple Watches [1:07:35]

CAL READS THE COMMENTS: What people thought about digital distraction in 2008 [1:12:06]

Links:

Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at calnewport.com/slow
Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/
Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?
calnewport.com/would-lincoln-have-become-president-if-he-had-e-mail/
calnewport.com/would-lincoln-have-become-president-if-he-had-e-mail/

Thanks to our Sponsors:

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Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Mark Miles for mastering.

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