Givers, Doers, & Thinkers—A Podcast on Philanthropy and Civil Society · Jeremy Beer

Andrew Laubacher & fighting digital addiction and restoring human connection

·45 min

Jeremy Beer opens by placing the conversation in a season focused on nonprofit innovators trying to strengthen and renew civil society. He welcomes Andrew Laubacher, executive director of Humanality. Laubacher’s work centers on helping people overcome digital addiction and reclaim their humanity. Beer notes Laubacher’s degrees in theology and philosophy, his certification as a health and wellness coach, and his decade as a touring musician. He then asks what in that background led Laubacher to start Humanality. Laubacher says he has long been fascinated by healing. He traces that interest back to his time at Franciscan University. The conversation moves quickly toward a larger diagnosis of modern life. Laubacher argues that human beings are living in a biological mismatch. He says the body was not designed for the environment technology has built around it. As convenience increases, he argues, the stressors that once supported human flourishing are being removed. He names movement, deep human connection, light, sunlight, and exposure to hot and cold as examples. He connects that loss to rising sickness and broader social strain. He points to deaths of despair, loneliness, mental health decline, and falling happiness as signs of the problem. He emphasizes that the screen is only part of the issue. He borrows from Neil Postman to suggest that technology is not only doing something to people but also undoing things in them. He says young people and adults alike are now living through comment sections, endless threads, Reddit, and algorithmic feeds instead of in-person relationships. He argues that those online connections do not give the physiological benefit of real human presence. At the same time, he resists treating technology as simply bad. He says there are genuine gifts in modern tools. He gives the Instapot and air travel as examples of conveniences he does not want to give up. What matters, he says, is understanding trade-offs. Humanality’s aim is to help people use technology intentionally. For many people, that means removing a few things rather than trying to optimize everything. He also talks about the way work now follows people home. He describes endless text threads as another form of constant accessibility. By the end, the episode settles into a practical invitation to rethink overcommunication, reduce digital friction, and recover forms of connection that feel more human.

As heard by us

A serious argument for using technology with care before it starts shaping human life for us.

Andrew Laubacher argues that digital addiction is a civil society problem, not just a private habit gone bad. The discussion moves from his background in theology, philosophy, health and wellness coaching, and touring music into a larger point about loneliness,…

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Why you'd press play

Press play for a measured case against letting your phone set the terms of your day.

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