427: Carlos Whittaker—How Fast is Godspeed?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe – Episode 427: Carlos Whitaker—How Fast is Godspeed?

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Introduction

In Episode 427 of The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe, host Mike Rowe welcomes Carlos Whitaker, an author and podcaster renowned for his insightful work on digital detoxification and human connectivity. This episode delves deep into Carlos's transformative journey of disconnecting from digital screens, the profound personal challenges he has faced, and the overarching themes of reconnecting with humanity in an increasingly digitized world.

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Guest Background: Carlos Whitaker

Carlos Whitaker is a multifaceted professional who wears many hats—author, podcaster, consultant, and coach. His work revolves around helping individuals influence others effectively, emphasizing the importance of genuine human connections in both personal and professional spheres. Carlos's book, Reconnected, serves as a cornerstone of his mission, exploring the ramifications of excessive screen time and advocating for a balanced, more intentional approach to digital consumption.

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The Experiment: Disconnecting from Screens

A significant portion of the conversation centers on Carlos's deliberate decision to reduce his screen time drastically. As Mike Rowe highlights, Carlos was spending approximately 49 hours a week on his phone alone, an amount comparable to a full-time job with overtime (02:10). This dependence on digital devices led Carlos to embark on an intensive digital detox:

• Isolation from Technology: Carlos spent nearly two months living with monks and the Amish community, environments known for their minimal reliance on modern technology.

• Living Simply: Engaging in manual labor such as shearing sheep, Carlos sought to reclaim a sense of aliveness and presence that he felt was diminished by constant screen use.

• Neuroscientific Validation: To quantify the impact of his experiment, Carlos had his brain scanned by neuroscientists before and after his detox, providing empirical evidence of the changes in his cognitive functions.

Carlos reflects, “[13:44] ... it ended up being why it's beautiful on the other side of the phone,” emphasizing the profound positive changes he experienced beyond merely reducing screen time.

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Personal Struggles and Family Challenges

The episode takes a poignant turn as Carlos shares the personal tribulations his family has faced:

• Grandmother's House Burning Down: Carlos recounts the traumatic event of his grandmother's (Nani) house burning down, a structure she had lived in for 45 years. This loss was not just of property but of her entire world, leading to significant emotional and physical stress.

  “People said that, well, at least you saved your life. And she's like, but we lost our lives.” (06:09)

• Wife’s Mother's Cancer Diagnosis: Adding to the family's woes, Carlos mentions his wife's mother being diagnosed with cancer six weeks prior to the episode.

• Father's Dementia: Carlos's father, who lives across the street, battles dementia, further complicating the family's emotional landscape.

These compounded challenges have forced Carlos and his wife to confront the fragility of life and the importance of meaningful connections. Despite these hardships, Carlos finds moments of gratitude and recognition of small miracles that provide hope amid adversity.

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Insights and Reflections

Carlos's narrative intertwines his personal experiences with broader societal observations:

• Digital Dependency: Highlighting the pervasive nature of screen addiction, Carlos underscores how modern society's reliance on digital devices can lead to disconnection from genuine human interactions and personal well-being.

• Reconnection as Healing: Through his experiment and personal trials, Carlos advocates for intentional reconnection with the world around us. Living without screens allowed him to experience a heightened sense of presence and vitality.

• Human Resilience: Despite overwhelming personal challenges, Carlos emphasizes the resilience humans possess to find hope and rebuild connections after significant losses.

Mike Rowe draws parallels between Carlos's journey and the universal need to reassess what truly matters in life, especially in times of crisis. This reflection is captured in Carlos's statement:

“It's like we could be like, God, where are you? But it's like, oh, I was here, I was here, I was here.” (09:22)

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Conclusion

Episode 427 of The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe offers a compelling exploration of digital addiction, personal loss, and the quest for meaningful human connections. Carlos Whitaker's experiences serve as both a cautionary tale and an inspiring testament to the power of disconnecting to reconnect. Through his insights, listeners are encouraged to evaluate their own relationships with technology and prioritize the connections that truly enrich their lives.

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Notable Quotes

• Carlos Whitaker on Screen Addiction:

  “If you know this feeling when you've got 50 unanswered emails... addiction is probably the right word.” (02:10)

• Carlos on Personal Loss:

  “But she’s like, but we lost our lives.” (06:22)

• Carlos on Reconnection:

  “So I unplugged and I go and live with the monks and I live with Amish... I feel so alive without my screen.” (12:02)

• Carlos on Small Miracles:

  “It's like I was here, I was here, I was here.” (09:22)

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This episode serves as a profound reminder of the intricate balance between technology and human connection, urging listeners to seek deeper, more fulfilling interactions beyond the digital facade.

Transcript

[Mike]

Foreign Chuck?

[Chuck]

Yep.

[Mike]

How fast is Godspeed?

[Chuck]

I, I have a. I mean, do you want the real answer?

[Mike]

No, it was rhetorical. I know you know the answer because we just learned it from our fantastic guest, Carlos Whitaker, who just left the studio. Man, you guys are going to like this guy. Congratulations on finding another winner and thank you.

[Chuck]

Woohoo, man, that's, that's what I live for. Mike, how'd you find him? I just got an email from a publicist saying, hey, this guy wrote this book.

[Mike]

Never mind. You didn't do anything at all. Basically you opened your email.

[Chuck]

I did open my email, but then I investigated it and once I found out what his book was about, I was like, oh, I think Mike is going to like this.

[Mike]

You investigated it. Isn't that today like saying, oh, let me do some research on that and Googling the thing, like an investigation used to imply a certain level of diligence and, you know, deliberateness.

[Chuck]

Oh, it was pretty deliberate. I mean, I had to type in letters and then I had to hit enter and you know, so this actually.

[Mike]

Is somewhat relevant to the conversation you're about to hear because Carlos Whitaker, what this guy did, first of all, as best I can understand it, he, he kind of runs a company that requires him to give lots of speeches and write many different books and help people influence other people. But he's kind of a fixer slash communicator, slash consultant, slash coach. He just occupies that kind of real estate.

[Chuck]

I think he's an author and a podcaster is what I think. And he talks a lot and I think what he's trying to do is help people. I think he's all about giving people interesting things to think about.

[Mike]

Well, the world is full of those well intended people and I wish them all every success. I'm not that interested in most of them, to be honest, but this guy really interests me because he's written a book called Reconnected and I, I just love the fact that his business is based on his relationship with hundreds of thousands of Instagram.

[Chuck]

That's right, followers. He uses his phone all the time. And what's the book about, Mike?

[Mike]

It's about putting your phone down for a long time and what happens to your brain if you share his level of. Addiction is probably the right word. Look, if you know this feeling when you've got 50 unanswered emails, if you know the feeling of misplacing your phone, possibly losing it, and going on that panicked search for it, if you've become addicted in any way, shape or form or overly reliant to any screen in your life. You, you're going to love this conversation because this guy was spending seven and a half hours a day on the screens, which he just on his phone.

[Chuck]

I mean, just on other screens, I'm sure. But you know how the. Every week it gives you. Like you've spent this much screen time staring at this thing.

[Mike]

Yeah. Well, for him it was like 49 hours a week.

[Chuck]

Yeah. Which is ultimately a full time job with overtime.

[Mike]

He'll do the math for you. And spoiler alert, you know, it's like 10 years of your life spent doing this.

[Chuck]

You just spoiled it. Yeah.

[Mike]

All right.

[Chuck]

That's why.

[Mike]

Thanks, everybody for listening to this episode. I hope you liked it. No, it's terrific. Because he basically identifies the most important tool in his life to his business and then gets rid of it. Yeah. And not only does he put it down, he has to break himself of this thing. And, and so he lives with monks and Amish for nearly two months and now his brain literally looks different in X rays or CAT scans or whatever that thing was.

[Chuck]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mike]

And he's got a new lease on life. And he's just so much fun to talk to and listen to. And somewhat tragically, you know, he's out here. You know what, I'm not going to tell you why he's out here because you're about to hear it for yourself. And a whole lot of other great stuff, including an answer to a question I had never bothered to pose before until meeting Carlos Whitaker. How fast is Godspeed? You're about to find out right after this. Back in the early days of 2024 and maybe even before that, ZipRecruiter really was the smartest way to hire. Back in those days, four out of five employers who posted on ZipRecruiter.com Roe really did get a quality candidate within the first day. Of course, that's back when ZipRecruiter introduced a pre written invite to apply message that allowed business owners to personally reach out to their favorite candidates and encourage them to apply sooner. That was a real game changer. It gave employers a leg up on the competition. Which is why back in 2024, ZipRecruiter was the hiring site that employ lawyers most preferred. Well, today it's 2025 and now the facts are indisputable. ZipRecruiter is still the smartest way to hire and people are still flocking to ZipRecruiter.com RO to post a job for free. For the exact same reason they always have. It works from accountants to zoologists to everything in between. ZipRecruiter is the smartest way to hire. And you can see that for yourself when you post a job for free, which you really should [e-mail] ro. That's ziprecruiter.com router. The smartest way to hire. You walked in?

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yes.

[Mike]

I said, thanks for your time. Thanks for coming. And you said, I was here anyway. You know, I've been here for the last week. I said, oh, what brought you to Southern California? And I can't get. I can't get the sentence out of my head. Yeah, my grandmom's house burned down.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Grandma's house burned down. Yep. Yep.

[Mike]

It's such a simple sentence filled with words I've heard all my life, but grouped up in the wake of this conflagration that really hits home. And when your nana's house goes up in flames, is everyone okay?

[Carlos Whitaker]

Well, you know, I. I mean, you've been living in it for the last. You know how long it's been. I've been only viewing it from across the country. You're in Nashville, I'm in Nashville. And so it's my wife's grandma, Nani. And, you know, I. We hung out today, and she's like, I think, Mike, this is the most potent statement I've heard. She said. People said that, well, at least you saved your life. And she's like, but we lost our lives. And literally, she's 90 years old, has lived in this little red house at the top of Altadena on Mendocino street for 45 years. Her entire world was her bed, that bathroom, all her wigs, and the little walk to the kitchen, and it's gone. And so, like, how at 90 years old, do you. Do you process that? And do you go there and she just is one day at a time. And so, yeah, she's alive. She's in the hospital because it was really stressful to her body. So a couple days after she got out of the hospital, they were in the hotel with her son and his husband. And, you know, Nani needs to go to the hospital. She's not waking up. And so smoke inhalation. I think it was stress. I honestly think it was her body. And the trauma of it all just was like, what the heck is happening? And so she was really confused for a few days, and she's. She's back. And so we're just kind of trying to get her Strong enough to go home.

[Mike]

So while this is happening, you're, you're, you're monitoring from Nashville.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yeah.

[Mike]

And you came out a week ago. So that was really. The fires were still burning.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yep, yep, yep. So, I mean, not to start off on a real somber note, here's the kicker. Ready? This is just kind of a season that my family's in right now. My wife's mother gets diagnosed with cancer six weeks ago. My wife decides to fly out here a week and a half ago to be with grandma, whose house may burn down. House burns down. Then my wife loses her mother four days ago. So I'm sitting here letting you know that, like, it's funny. My wife and I were just talking right now, just kind of like, you know, everyone has seasons of life, and, and there's like some seasons that feel like unrelenting, just like blow after blow after blow after blow.

[Mike]

This is the danger of asking questions. How's it going? Nice to meet you. How's it going?

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Our first conversation. I'm like, it is therapy. It's like fourth session of therapy. I'm only, but listen, I just, I want to let people know this isn't even what we're going to talk about, but it's like, it's like, okay, her mom passes away. Bridget passes away on a week ago Monday. Bridget's mom's house burns down two weeks ago Monday. And what my wife and I talked about all day long is all the little miracles that we've seen throughout the last two weeks. Yeah, it's like we could be like, God, where are you? But it's like, oh, I was here, I was here, I was here.

[Mike]

Where are you?

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yes, that's really the question. And so, man, I don't know. I, I, I sit in front of you, grateful for today to celebrate a life well lived of my mother in law, grateful that Nani is kicking in the hospital, and grateful that we have an opportunity to share hopefully some hope with people.

[Mike]

You know, listen, and your dad, and.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Your dad, again, a right hook. You know, my dad's got dementia.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Lives across the street from me. My wife and I, after the, what's the name of your podcast?

[Mike]

Oh, whatever you want, Whatever. What do you call it?

[Chuck]

The way I heard it.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yeah, yeah. After the way I heard it.

[Chuck]

Right up there to your left.

[Carlos Whitaker]

I, I, yeah, right, my, look, look, if I look to my left, it's there.

[Mike]

I, you know, put his book up because I don't know what that's called.

[Carlos Whitaker]

There you go.

[Mike]

Okay. Reconnected.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yes, reconnected. Listen, my wife and I were flying. We're literally going to finish the way I heard it, get on a flight and fly to Auckland, New Zealand tonight. And I. I had a week of fly fishing that I was going to go to, but my dad, who lives in Nashville, who, with my mom across the street from me, has dementia and he's just been going south. And so we made a decision last night to go back home. So we're not. We're not going.

[Mike]

So I, I. Not to just make this thing a complete squirrel free associative thing, but I. I listened to a pod. It was the last conversation you had with your pop.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Oh, you did?

[Mike]

Before he turned the corner. Yes. And I thought it was one of the sweetest, most decent things not to do.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Sure.

[Mike]

That's your business.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yeah.

[Mike]

To share.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yeah.

[Mike]

Yeah. And listeners of this podcast know that I have my mom on at least once a. Oh, yeah, once a month. You know, because selfishly, you know, I'm. I try to be a good son and I. Yeah. I got to stay connected to her. Yeah. I also need content.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yeah.

[Mike]

But I also know for a fact that she's. Every time she opens her mouth, she says something that lands boom to somebody and I hear it from them. Right. So, look, by way of preamble, it is fortuitous that you're here in the wake of all these calamities.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Absolutely.

[Mike]

Your book is terrific. Chuck sent me a copy. I have it home. I didn't bring it down. Otherwise I'd be waving around and pointing at it and making yummy sounds and whatnot. But it is such a rumination on our times. And when I think about what. What you had to do to connect to your. To your grandma.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yes.

[Mike]

Right. And I mean, it's also basic. It's also primal. Much like fire.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yes. Yes.

[Mike]

Right.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yes.

[Mike]

And so here we are, so many people. We're surrounded by people now who are grieving because they've lost a kind of connection to a gajillion different things.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Absolutely.

[Mike]

And they're being forced to ponder the connections that matter most.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yes.

[Mike]

And into the midst of this comes this guy, Carlos Whitaker, who has written a book. And you're a big Instagrammer.

[Carlos Whitaker]

I like to talk on my phone.

[Mike]

The fact that you went dark for, what was it, seven weeks?

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yeah. Almost two months.

[Mike]

Right. So you went. You totally disconnected completely. Then you totally reconnected.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yep.

[Mike]

And now, just when you thought your book was done right, you're having to practice everything you preached every single thing I preached.

[Carlos Whitaker]

Yeah, you know, it's, it's. If you think about it, I. I did. I had to like on purpose, go dark in order to really reconnect with the humanity that I feel like a lot of us have lost by no fault of our own. Listen, we've been thrown around by society and culture. The last feels like freaking tsunamis left and right. So I, so I unplugged and I go and I live with the monks and I live with Amish and I, you know, have my own micro dirty jobs moment, you know, shearing sheep and trying to figure all this out. And I'm like, oh my gosh, like, I feel so alive. Like, why do I feel so alive without my screen, without, you know, the phone, without all these things? And so initially I thought that this was going to be an experiment about screens and about our phones and why they're bad. Like, that's what I was like. I was like, let me get my brain scanned by neuroscientists before and after, go live with monks in the Amish. And then I could talk about how WI phones are bad, but instead it ended up being why it's beautiful on the other side of the phone.

[Mike]

And.