Podcast Summary: "Could you give up your smartphone for a month?"

Podcast: Post Reports by The Washington Post
Air Date: November 22, 2025
Host: Maggie Penman
Main Contributor: Brittany Shammas (Local Enterprise Reporter)
Notable Guest: Grant Bessner (Co-founder, Month Offline)

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the modern dilemma of smartphone dependence, spotlighting Washington Post reporter Brittany Shammas’s month-long experiment living with a flip phone—no smartphone, no apps, just calls and texts. The show explores her motivations, the challenges she faced, the broader "month offline" movement, and what she (and others) learned from stepping back from constant connectivity.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Go Offline? The Motivation

• A New Mom’s Wake-up Call:

  • Brittany recounts her morning routine of immediately reaching for her smartphone to scroll social media and news, something she felt uneasy about but couldn’t change.
  • The birth of her child made her reconsider: "My baby would reach for the phone and, like, it seemed like he knew how to swipe." (Brittany, 01:58)
  • Quote: "It scares me that he wants the phone, too, and he's doing that because of me. And so that alarmed me and where I was like, I should change something here." (Brittany, 01:58)

• Screen Time Confessions:

  • Brittany admits to over seven hours of daily screen time. Host Maggie checks hers—over two hours—and notes both are below many Americans’ averages (03:06).
  • The phone, for both, had become an unbounded “catch all” device—hard to fence off for specific uses.

2. Entering the “Month Offline” Program

• Discovering the Movement:

  • Brittany spots a flyer in her D.C. neighborhood: “ditch your smartphone, switch to a flip phone, join a cohort of like-minded people for offline challenges.” (04:34)
  • Skeptical but intrigued, she reaches out and is told: “You can write a story if you join.” (05:27)

• Convincing Others & Getting Started:

  • Initial reactions: her editor's concern, husband’s encouragement (“You are a power user of your phone. You use your phone way too much. You need to do this.”) (06:11)
  • Friends joking: “Did you just join a cult?” (07:00)

• Initiation:

  • Assignment: meet “the man in sunglasses,” use the password “Les is mo for a month” at a D.C. bar (07:21).
  • Organizer Grant Bessner hands out wristbands, describing his own journey through smartphone and dumb phone cycles (07:53).

3. The Offline Cohort Experience

• Who Joins?

  • Members included movie buffs tired of second-screening, a sociology professor with a Facebook habit, business owners nostalgic for direct social interaction (14:24).

• The Philosophy: “Fruitful Friction”

  • The group is “obsessed” with the idea that minor inconveniences—like asking for directions—lead to richer interactions and mindfulness (16:17).
  • Quote: “Fruitful friction… you should need to ask people for directions. You should be more grounded where you live. There’s nostalgia for those kinds of moments.” (Brittany, 16:17)

• Weekly Meetups & Technical Hurdles

  • Every Tuesday: device troubleshooting at the “dumb bar” (their term for tech support), sharing stories, mutual support (17:15).

4. The Real-World Challenges of Living Without a Smartphone

• Logistical Hurdles:

  • Replacing smart devices: baby monitor, transportation cards, access to directions (18:20).
  • Mapping: printing MapQuest directions; navigating bus routes by asking people (19:01).

• Discoveries & Workarounds:

  • Some services like Uber do have phone-in options, but they’re little known (19:25).
  • “There were lots of things that were sort of like mysteries to me… What’s the weather? I don’t know, I’ll have to go outside and find out.” (Brittany, 20:19)

• Behavioral Changes:

  • More present with her baby.
  • Reading more books.
  • Mindless scrolling replaced by “just wondering things” (“I guess it'll just remain a mystery to me.”) (20:48)

5. Which Functions Did She Actually Miss?

• Utilitarian Functions:

  • Apple Wallet, payment apps, navigation—forgetting cash meant walking out of stores (20:59).
  • Family communication is easier via WhatsApp and work requires smartphone connectivity (21:40).

• Unexpected Upsides and Downsides:

  • Greater presence and mindfulness; less social media use.
  • Road trips or logistics became more complicated without digital safety nets.

6. Reflections & Takeaways: After Going Back Online

• Lasting Changes:

  • No longer scrolls her phone first thing every morning.
  • Reduced screen time from 7.5 hours to about 5 hours daily—a meaningful improvement, but still a challenge (22:27).
  • Conscious effort to be mindful, but fully ditching the smartphone isn’t feasible long term for parenting and professional reasons (21:40).

• Who Can Afford to Unplug?

  • Cohort members and guests reflect that not everyone has the privilege or flexibility to step away from constant connectivity, especially for work or family emergencies (22:27).

• The Role of Community:

  • “One of the things that makes Month Offline effective is that you’re not doing it alone… you don’t have FOMO or worry as much about what you’re missing out on.” (Maggie, 24:09)

• Final Perspective:

  • The experiment made Brittany appreciate the smartphone as an incredible, convenient tool, but helped her recognize which distractions had little value.
  • “Try not to get distracted by the other things that I didn’t miss that much when I didn’t have them.” (Brittany, 24:31)

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• "My baby would reach for the phone and, like, it seemed like he knew how to swipe. It scares me that he wants the phone, too, and he's doing that because of me."
  — Brittany Shammas (01:58)

• "Fruitful friction… you should need to ask people for directions. You should be more grounded where you live. There’s nostalgia for those kinds of moments."
  — Brittany Shammas (16:17)

• "I'd say anecdotally, it's just improved my life. I have a better attention span. I sleep better. I'm more present in conversation."
  — Grant Bessner, on dumb phone living (10:18)

• "It's not giving up the smartphone entirely and using a flip phone, but more sort of examining how you're using your phone and are you happy with how you're using it, and do you want to make changes?"
  — Brittany Shammas (23:20)

• "One of the things that makes month offline effective is that you're not doing it alone. You're doing this with a community so you don't have FOMO..."
  — Maggie Penman (24:09)

• "That was a big takeaway for me. Like, this is an incredible tool. It's so much more convenient to have, but I should try not to get distracted by the other things that I didn't miss that much when I didn't have them."
  — Brittany Shammas (24:31)

Key Segments & Timestamps

• [01:14] Smartphone habits, motivations for quitting
• [04:34] Discovery and joining the "Month Offline" group
• [07:53] Background of organizers (Grant Bessner)
• [14:24] Meeting the offline cohort and their reasons
• [16:17] The concept of 'fruitful friction'
• [17:15] Weekly check-ins and technical support
• [18:20] Real-world challenges without a smartphone
• [19:57] Behavioral changes and new routines
• [21:40] Reflections after one month—what changed?
• [23:20] Bigger questions about accessibility and community
• [24:31] The big takeaway: convenience vs. distraction

Conclusion

This episode offers a reflective, often humorous, and deeply relatable exploration of smartphone dependence, blending Brittany Shammas's personal experiment with commentary from organizers and other participants. While going offline for a month proved challenging—and nearly impossible for some—the experience highlighted how examining our phone habits, rather than eliminating them altogether, can lead to meaningful and more mindful change. The story ultimately underscores the challenges, privileges, and collective effort involved in breaking free from digital overuse, even for just a month.