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Meet Cal Newport
Computer Scientist & Bestselling Author
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Cal is an MIT-trained computer science professor at Georgetown University who also writes about the intersections of technology, work, and the quest to find depth in an increasingly distracted world.
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Cal the Writer
_New York Times_ Best Seller
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Cal is the author of eight books, including, most recently, _Slow Productivity_, _A World Without Email, Digital Minimalism, and Deep Work_. His titles have cumulatively sold well over 2,000,000 copies, have been published in more than 40 languages, and include multiple _New York Times_ bestsellers. In addition to his books, Newport is a contributing writer for the _New Yorker_ and is the host of the _Deep Questions_ podcast.
[Find out more about Cal’s books](https://calnewport.com/index.php/writing#books)
[Watch or Listen to Cal’s podcast](https://www.thedeeplife.com/listen/)
[Browse Cal’s _New Yorker_ archive](https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/cal-newport)
Cal the Academic
Georgetown Professor
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Cal is currently a Full Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University. Before arriving at Georgetown, he earned his PhD from MIT. Cal’s academic research focuses on the theory of distributed systems, with a particular interest in what can and cannot be solved in challenging settings. More recently, he’s also become involved in the emerging discipline of digital ethics. In his academic career to date, Cal has published over 65 peer-reviewed articles that have been cited over 4,500 times.
[More on Cal’s scholarship](https://calnewport.com/index.php/scholarship/)
[Cal’s Google Scholar profile](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EhodjeAAAAAJ&hl=en)
[Cal’s academic CV](https://calnewport.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/calnewport-cv.pdf)
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Featured Articles
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Cal writes for both general and academic audiences on a variety of topics. Here are two featured articles from both of these categories.
General audience
What Type of Mind Does ChatGPT Have?
In this long-form article for _The New Yorker_, Cal takes a close look at the technical operations of the large language model powering ChatGPT. He argues that it’s unproductive to imagine this technology as a black box “alien” intelligence, and that we should instead strive to understand what’s really happening underneath the hood. [Read more](https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-artificial-intelligence/what-kind-of-mind-does-chatgpt-have)
Academic audience
Smoothed Analysis of Information Spreading in Dynamic Networks
In this 2022 article, which won the Best Paper award at the International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC), Cal and his co-authors prove that information spreading in dynamic networks is perhaps not as hard as existing lower bounds imply. [Read more](https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.05998)
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The Technology and Culture Trilogy
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Between 2016 and 2021, Cal published three culture-shifting, bestselling books that dissected the rise of digital distraction at work and at home, and provided frameworks for combating these diversions. Start here if you want to understand how you lost your focus and learn what you can do to gain it back.
[](https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692)
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
[More about Cal’s books](https://calnewport.com/index.php/writing#books)
[](https://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Email-Reimagining-Communication/dp/0525536558?qid=1704221451&sr=1-1)
A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload
[More about Cal’s books](https://calnewport.com/index.php/writing#books)
[](https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Minimalism-Choosing-Focused-Noisy/dp/0525536515/ref=pd_bxgy_img_d_sccl_1/136-0368685-9354662?content-id=amzn1.sym.2b132e63-5dcd-4ba1-be9f-9e044543d59f)
Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused
Life in a Noisy World
[More about Cal’s books](https://calnewport.com/index.php/writing#books)
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This site is the online home for the computer science professor and bestselling author Cal Newport. Here you can learn more about Cal and both his general-audience and academic writing. You can also browse and subscribe to his long-running weekly essay series. For more on Cal's podcast, videos, and online courses, please visit his media portal, [TheDeepLife.com](https://www.thedeeplife.com/)
Contact Info
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**Academic Communication
**[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
**Media Inquires
**[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
**All Other Requests
**[See Contact Page](/contact/)
Quick Links
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* [Scholarship](https://calnewport.com/scholarship/)
* [Writing](https://calnewport.com/writing/)
* [Essays](https://calnewport.com/blog/)
* [Press](https://calnewport.com/press/)
* [Contact](https://calnewport.com/contact/)
* [Media Kit](https://calnewport.com/media-kit/)
* [Podcast/Videos](https://calnewport.com/podcasts/)
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