In Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again, journalist Johann Hari explores a problem that will feel familiar to many of us: the growing difficulty of concentrating deeply and sustaining our attention. Over three years, Hari traveled around the world, interviewing leading experts across a range of fields to investigate why our ability to focus seems to be eroding—and what might be done to restore it. An exceptionally skilled storyteller, he brings many of these experts vividly to life, weaving their fascinating personal backstories into his account of their research and discoveries.
Part investigation, part personal journey, Stolen Focus examines the forces competing for our attention and challenges the assumption that distraction is simply a failure of individual self-discipline. Instead, Hari asks us to consider the broader forces that are diminishing our capacity to pay attention—and what we can do, individually and collectively, to reclaim it.
Resources related to the book Stolen Focus
1. Book Review (Kirkus): Stolen Focus
(February 26, 2022)
2. “Stolen Focus:” Are You Having Trouble Paying Attention? Hari Sreenivasan interviews Johann Hari on Amanpour & Co. (PBS video & transcript; 18 minutes; January 3, 2023)
Note: The interview is proceeded by a 20 second PBS promotional piece.
3. Mad in America: Rethinking Mental Health podcast: Stolen Focus — Why You Can’t Pay Attention. James More interviews Johann Hari.
(Audio podcast & transcript; 56 minutes; January 25, 2022)