Deep Questions with Cal Newport
Deep Questions with Cal Newport

Ep. 389: Is the Internet Hijacking Ambition? + Escaping Messaging Hell

January 26, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

🎙️ The Voices & The Context

  • The Format: Solo-hosted podcast with a deep-dive interview segment followed by practical advice and Q&A.
  • The Key Players:
    • Host: Cal Newport, productivity author and Georgetown professor, riffing on ambition, tech distractions, and work hacks with witty screen shares and self-deprecating humor.
    • Guest: Brad Stulberg, performance coach and author of The Way of Excellence, blending elite athlete insights with philosophy for "true greatness."
  • The Vibe: Educational yet entertaining—insightful takedowns of hustle culture, banter about steroids and shirtless influencers, optimistic on real ambition.

🗝️ Key Themes & Topics

Four core discussions unpack ambition in a distracted digital age.

  • Topic 1: Internet's Dual Impact on Ambition. Explores how the web builds supportive "virtual tribes" (e.g., book podcasts) but hijacks drives toward pseudo-excellence—performative routines like 100 supplements or 18-hour days that feel productive but yield no mastery.
  • Topic 2: Pseudo-Excellence Exposed. Viral influencers peddle grifts: steroid-fueled muscles laundered as "morning routines," extreme diets, or "trad wife" facades hiding content farms. Real elites (CEOs, Olympians) favor simple, consistent habits.
  • Topic 3: True Excellence as Process. Shift from chasing standards (rankings) to *

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What you'll learn

  • 1 `(00:00)` **🎙️ Introduction: Brad Stulberg**
  • 2 `(04:20)` **Defining Pseudo-Excellence**
  • 3 `(09:43)` **Analyzing Internet Hustle Examples**
  • 4 `(20:22)` **Elon Musk and Performative Excellence**
  • 5 `(22:44)` **Hijacking Innate Ambition**
  • 6 `(26:45)` **Female Pseudo-Excellence and Study Grifts**
  • 7 `(29:54)` **Mindset Shift to True Excellence**

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

It’s natural to feel ambition, as we’re wired to find great satisfaction in accomplishing hard goals. But what impact has the internet had on this instinct? To help explore this question, author Brad Stulberg, author of the new book THE WAY OF EXCELLENCE, joins Cal during the ideas segment to explore ways in which the internet hijacks our drive, and what we can do about it. Then, in the practice segment, Cal provides the 2026 of his evolving advice for escaping email and IM overload in your job.

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

IDEAS SEGMENT: Is the internet hijacking ambition? [4:16]

PRACTICES SEGMENT: Escaping messaging hell [1:03:06]

QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS:

  • Have new AI tools actually been as transformative as claimed? [1:23:49]

CAL RESPONDS TO COMMENTS [1:38:15]

WHAT CAL’S READING: Cal gives his weekly reading update [1:44:52]

Future Boy (Michael J. Fox)
The Unauthorized Story of Disney’s Haunted Mansion (Jeff Baham)

Links:
Get The Way of Excellence:  A Guide to True Greatness and Deep Satisfaction: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0063385945/ref=sw_img_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

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?
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/old-school-with-shilo-brooks/id1841566275
instagram.com/p/DFh_mNGSvuZ/?img_index=2
microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/breaking-down-infinite-workday
reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1o2g1xq/with_all_the_billions_trillions_going_into_it/
calnewport.com/a-world-without-email/

Thanks to our Sponsors: 

mybodytutor.com
monarch.com (Use code “DEEP”)
pipedrive.com/deep
meetfabric.com/deep

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


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