ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Boredom has gone from something we avoid to something we curate – a new metric in the self‑care economy to measure ourselves by. From 'rawdogging boredom' challenges to the obsession with performing “slow creativity,” we’re told stillness is a portal to a better, more imaginative self. But the research is messy, and our lived experiences even more so.
This week, Alice Griffin and Jannah Anderson dig into the neuroscience of boredom, the rise of the serial hobbyist, the existential itches that keep us chasing novelty, and the cultural urge to make boredom meaningful – even when the moments in between fail to deliver us anything profound.
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They Want To Influence You To Do… Nothing by Alexander Nazaryan, The New York Times
Boredom, Sustained Attention and The Default Mode Network by James Danckert and Colleen Merrifield
You Need To Be Bored, Here’s Why by Arthur Brooks, Harvard Business Review
The Association Between Boredom And Creativity In Educational Contexts’ by Anke Zeißig, Julia Kansok-Dusche, Saskia M. Fischer, Julia Moeller, Ludwig Bilz
Boredom, A Lively History by Peter Toohey
Just Think: The Challenges Of The Disengaged Mind by Timothy D. Wilson, David A. Reinhard, Erin C. Westgate, Daniel T. Gilbert, Nicole Ellerbeck, Cheryl Hahn, Casey L. Brown, and Adi Shaked in Science
What Does Boredom Do To Us And For Us? by Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker
Quit Romanticising Boredom by Anna North, The Cut
