How to reset your brain’s reward system

It’s not only about digital boundaries. Washington Post tech columnist Geoffrey Fowler, in conversation with host Cristina Quinn, shares insights on physical and social boundaries we need to put in place to reclaim our focus. He offers tips like setting expectations at work and designating screen-free hours with family. And addiction psychiatrist Anna Lembke reminds us why breaking free from digital distractions isn’t just an individual effort, but a collective one.By the end of this episode, you’ll have a full tool kit of strategies to reclaim your focus, build healthier habits and create a more intentional relationship with your devices.Geoff recommends using Common Sense Media as a source guide for creating rules and boundaries around phone use for kids. They also offer a handy family contract which you can access right here.Watch the full conversation between Geoffrey and Cristina on YouTube. Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

If you're ready to take back control of your attention, here’s where to start. Host Cristina Quinn chats with Washington Post tech columnist Geoffrey Fowler about self-binding — creating intentional boundaries with your devices to reduce distractions and reclaim your focus.Geoffrey shares his own experiments and practical strategies, such as reorganizing a home screen and resetting algorithms. They also grapple with why traditional time limits on apps often backfire and how something as simple as moving an app off your home screen can shift your relationship with your phone.Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

Many of us are caught in a loop of instant gratification, driven by the brain’s reward system. In this episode, host Cristina Quinn talks with psychiatrist and addiction expert Anna Lembke about how to break free from compulsive digital habits and reset our dopamine levels.Anna explains how our brains become desensitized to pleasure over time, making us crave more and more stimulation. The good news? A 30-day “abstinence trial” can help reset our baseline and bring our dopamine levels back into balance. But quitting isn’t easy — temporary withdrawal symptoms like anxiety, irritability and boredom often surface before things improve.Through her own experience overcoming an unexpected addiction, Anna shares strategies to resist temptation, set up barriers to consumption and replace addictive behaviors with more fulfilling activities.Reclaiming our attention isn’t just about cutting back — it’s about learning to be present, engage with the world around us and rediscover what truly brings us joy.Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

Ever wonder why you can’t stop scrolling, even when you know you should? It probably comes down to dopamine, a key neurotransmitter that drives pleasure and motivation. In this episode, host Cristina Quinn talks to psychiatrist Anna Lembke, author of “Dopamine Nation,” about the neuroscience behind digital addiction.Anna explains how our devices keep us hooked by triggering dopamine surges — and why, over time, this actually leaves us feeling worse. She breaks down the “plenty paradox,” the idea that having unlimited access to pleasure might be making us more anxious and less happy.But the good news? We can reset our dopamine levels and regain control of our attention. This episode lays the groundwork for understanding the science behind our tech habits — so we can start making intentional changes.Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

In the third and final episode of our three-part course on cultivating joy, host Cristina Quinn dives into the connection between spreading kindness and experiencing happiness. Steven Petrow, author of “The Joy You Make,” shares compelling research on the “helper’s high” and how you can bring joy to others and yourself — whether it’s through volunteering, helping a neighbor or even sharing a simple moment with a stranger.Steven also challenges listeners to reconnect with lost traditions, such as handwriting letters, and shows how something as simple as picking up the phone can deepen relationships and spread joy.For more on spreading joy, read about “kindness contagion” and how to build connections in adult life. Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

In this second class in our course on finding joy, host Cristina Quinn explores practical exercises to help you embrace joy in everyday life. Steven Petrow, author of “The Joy You Make” and a contributing columnist for The Post, shares how things like wandering without a destination and rediscovering play can open the door to more joy, even during life’s toughest moments.Steven helps you learn how to cultivate joy through presence and curiosity, the transformative power of “getting lost” to create unexpected moments of connection, and how to embrace play — without the pressure to win.For more of Steven’s work on joy, read about how he found joy during the most difficult times in his life and how he learned to build play into his life. Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

Happiness, it turns out, comes down to a science — even though what makes each of us happy can vary pretty widely. Host Cristina Quinn talks to happiness scientist Emiliana Simon-Thomas, science director at UC-Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, about exactly what makes us happy and how much of our sense of joy is within our control. Drawing from the science of happiness, Emiliana explains that happiness isn’t about chasing fleeting positive emotions, but rather it’s about fostering an overarching sense of contentment, belonging and resilience. She also lays out how much of happiness is influenced by genetics, external circumstances and the choices we make.This course reminds us that happiness isn’t out of reach — it’s something we can cultivate every day. Emiliana and her colleagues at the Greater Good Science Center have been collecting data on happiness through the Big Joy Project, a seven-day online study where participants are assigned a micro-act of joy every day. Learn more about the project here. For some extra happiness tips, read about trying new things for joy and embracing “joy snacks.”Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

The electoral college has served as the system to elect U.S. presidents since the earliest days of the country. And while it has evolved over the years, Americans still use this complex representative system to choose their country’s leaders. The system, however, is not without its flaws — and many have pushed for alternatives over the years. In the third class about how the electoral college works, host Cristina Quinn talks with historian Alex Keyssar about potential alternatives to the way the United States elects presidents. The class explores the merits and flaws of the current system, and lays out the challenges to putting a different one in place.  Here are resources to help you learn more about attempts to overhaul the electoral college:National Popular Vote plan challenges undemocratic electoral collegeOne almost-successful attempt to reform the electoral collegeAnd don’t forget to vote! You can check the status of your 2024 voter registration here. Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

In the second class in our series about how the electoral college works, host Cristina Quinn talks to historian Alex Keyssar of the Harvard Kennedy School about the compromises that drove the Founding Fathers to land on a complex, winner-takes-all system rather than a straightforward popular vote. Keyssar walks listeners through the evolution of our voting system in the years following the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, and how things like electoral vote ties, the introduction of political parties and the end of slavery eventually led to the version of the voting system we have today. Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

Remembering all the complex details of how the electoral college works is not exactly easy. And just when you’ve mastered how it all adds up, you probably won’t need to think about it again for another four years — hardly a formula for cementing something in your brain. “Try This”  host Cristina Quinn is here to help. The first class in our three-part series on the electoral college explains how the system works, the complicated way electoral votes are assigned and awarded, and what happens between Election Day and Inauguration Day. Washington Post politics reporters Aaron Blake and Amy Gardner join Cristina to make the whole thing so accessible that your high school civics teacher would be proud. Here are some resources if you’d like to dive deeper into the electoral college:An explainer on how the electoral college votesHow the electoral college works, in visuals How fair is the electoral college?Mapping paths to victory in 2024 Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.