The most dangerous thing about smartphones, according to critics, is that we're never bored. Boredom is healthy, they say! But history and science may say otherwise. People have spent thousands of years desperately trying to escape boredom, and even considered it a sin or disease. So should we really feel guilty every time we fill a dull moment with a screen?In this episode, we dig into the surprisingly fascinating history of boredom — which once terrified America's Founding Fathers and has long been a symbol of class and status — as well as the science of what boredom does to our brains.

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