How your phone keeps you scrolling ... even when you want to stop episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 19, 2026 · 9 MIN

How your phone keeps you scrolling ... even when you want to stop

from The Indicator from Planet Money

You pick up your phone to do one quick task, and suddenly 20 minutes have flown by without you even noticing. How do apps do that to you? Today on the show, we bring you an episode of Short Wave that explains how your phone is designed specifically to hold your attention.Fact checking by Tyler Jones.Connect with The Indicator — Sign up for The Indicator’s brand new newsletter— Buy the Planet Money book— Find our socials, YouTube and more!— For sponsor-free episodes, subscribe to NPR+ See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jun 19, 2026

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How your phone keeps you scrolling ... even when you want to stop

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