Ep. 376: The Lincoln Protocol

318 snips

Oct 27, 2025

Explore how Abraham Lincoln navigated distractions in his era, offering valuable lessons for today's digital overload. Discover the three-step Lincoln Protocol for pursuing ambitious goals through rigorous reading and reflective practice. Learn practical tips for sustaining a deep reading habit and engaging meaningfully with children without screens. Cal also discusses the impact of wearable tech on focus and revisits past thoughts on digital distraction, reminding us of the timeless challenges of maintaining attention.

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INSIGHT

Frontier Problems Mirror Digital Traps

Lincoln faced frontier versions of distraction, danger, and darkness that mirror today's digital traps.
Escaping those required sustained purposive reading and moral clarity, not weaker willpower alone.

ANECDOTE

Pigeon Creek's Everyday Vices

In Pigeon Creek, alcohol, tobacco, and gambling were ubiquitous distractions that pulled people away from productive life.
Contemporary digital vices serve a similar function, offering immediate escape from hardship.

ANECDOTE

Violence As A Social Filter

Frontier life included real physical mobs and brutal fights that threatened daily life and opportunities.
Lincoln fought a local gang leader to secure his place in New Salem and won because of his size and strength.

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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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