Ariel Levy wishes cellphones would go the way of cigarettes in public | 60 Minutes
In a Nutshell
Ariel Levy wants smartphones banned from public spaces like cigarettes once were, arguing that constant phone use has destroyed concentration and made deep engagement with the world nearly impossible. She describes phones as "pocket overlords" that people continue using despite knowing they're harmful, much like smoking before public restrictions made it socially unacceptable. Levy sees her role at 60 Minutes as an opportunity to model the intense, device-free focus she believes society has lost.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
The last minute of 60 Minutes is sponsored by United Healthcare Medicare plans, a Medicare experience designed for what's next. Ariel Levy introduces herself as one of the new contributors at 60 Minutes.
Recently, Levy went into a restaurant and was asked to lock up her phone before sitting down. She found it great to be rid of her device during this time.
Levy notes that the way people are attached to their devices reminds her of how society used to smoke cigarettes. She explains that people knew smoking was bad for them but continued doing it anyway until restrictions made it impossible to smoke in restaurants, offices, and basically in public. Levy states that smoking became too inconvenient and too stigmatized to continue, and she wishes the same would happen with phones.
Levy mentions she is already starting to forget what life was like before carrying her "pocket overlord." She identifies concentration in daily life as what she missed the most from the pre-smartphone era.
Levy explains that the intense concentration of daily life is what drew her to journalism. She describes journalism as the chance to have intense, intimate conversations with the people who shape our world and to try to understand them from the inside out. She states that she and the audience will do this together during the season.
Next Sunday, CBS brings viewers the MTV Video Music Awards. The 60 Minutes program will return in two weeks with another edition.
Keep 60 Minutes in your library
Save the videos and channels worth coming back to, and find them again in one place.
