Natasha Dow Schüll

Natasha Schüll, an NYU associate professor and anthropologist, spent over a decade studying slot machine gamblers in Las Vegas. She reveals that many players actually loathe winning, exploring how the digital transformation of gambling has made all forms of betting feel more solitary. Schüll discusses the isolating experience of casino gaming despite promotional messages of social interaction, and how this underscores the addictive design of modern gambling technologies, including mobile apps that particularly lure younger users.

Natasha Dow Schüll, author of Addiction by Design, has spent years studying how slot machines hold gamblers spellbound, in an endless loop of play. She never imagined the addictive designs which she had first witnessed in Las Vegas would go bounding into Silicon Valley and reappear on virtually every smartphone screen worldwide. In the first segment of this two-part interview, Natasha Dow Schüll offers a prescient warning to users and designers alike: How far can the attention economy go toward stealing another moment of your time? Farther than you might imagine. 

Natasha Dow Schüll, expert on machine gambling in Las Vegas, discusses the addictive 'machine zone' in casinos and the impact of design on prolonged engagement. The podcast explores capitalism's influence on the gambling industry, the architecture of casinos, and parallels between mobile games and casino aesthetics. It also delves into the allure of gaming productivity tactics and the concept of 'play to extinction' in gambling addiction.