It’s That Damn Phone: The Paradox Behind an Analog Life

2026 has become the year of the “analog life.” People are spending less time online and more time offline: deleting TikTok, buying film cameras, picking up physical books, and getting into knitting, pottery, and crafting (hobbies!).On the surface, it makes sense. People want to take back control of their attention and feel more present in a world that’s overstimulating. But at the same time, the analog life has become a trend in its own right. People are posting about it and buying, arguably, unnecessary objects to curate a setup for a perfectly offline life.This creates a paradox. While we want to go offline, we also increasingly treat being analog as something we aestheticize and perform on social media. In this episode, I unpack why the analog life is taking off and the unique contradictions it poses when it becomes yet another trend.Subscribe for more!New episodes every Thursday. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.Subscribe on Substack for written notes on culture and to get new episodes delivered straight to your inbox.Have ideas, questions, or something you want me to dig into? Send them my way at [email protected] or message me on Substack! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit workingtheorypod.substack.com