Why Are Harvard Students Lining Up for This “Brutal” Class?

Two years ago, The Atlantic featured a distressing story about elite college students who could no longer read books. Last week, The Wall Street Journal offered some hope that things are getting better. An article by Pamela Paul described how Harvard’s ‘brutal’ humanities course, Hum 10, which requires students to read one hefty book per week, has become extremely popular. In this short episode, Cal explores why this is happening and what it tells us about how best to resist our would-be digital overlords. More from Cal Download Cal’s FREE guide to cultivating a deeper life: calnewport.com/ideas Learn more about Cal’s books: calnewport.com/books Listen to Cal’s podcast: thedeeplife.com/listen Chapters: 00:00 Intro: Can college students still read books? 01:03 Harvard's Hum 10, the brutal class everyone wants 02:31 Why students are choosing the hard way 04:47 Reward shortcutting and early social media 08:21 TikTok and shortcut engagement 11:49 Generative AI and the shortcut to knowledge 16:27 Outro: The growing push against shortcuts Credits: Podcast Production: Jesse Miller Newsletter/Research: Nate Mechler Theme Music: Jay Kerstens