In 1989, the ABC asked a group of Australian kids what they do when they're bored. The first answer was "I ring people." Imagine asking a kid that in 2026.

Alex and John were born in 1982, which makes them part of the last generation that grew up properly bored. This week they look at what happened to boredom after the iPhone arrived in 2007, and why losing it might be part of why so many of us feel flat all the time.

They get into the 2014 study where people chose to give themselves electric shocks rather than sit alone with their thoughts for a few minutes. They talk about how skater kids went from a parent's nightmare to a parent's dream, and how 90s slackers turned being bored into a look. Alex explains his phone-free "key walks" and three-hour runs with no headphones. John makes the case for treating phones at the dinner table like loud farting.

If you know someone who can't get through a two-minute queue without their phone, send them this. Maybe don't tell them why.

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