split. 9:00 p.m. eastern on "afterwards", in her book, covid-19 journalists on how covid-19 a global pandemic and ways to prevent future. she's interviewed by georgetown university center for global health professor, eric stan lee. watch book tv this weekend on c-span2. ♪ ♪ >> everyone virtual conversation. i want to start by acknowledging the partnership between the festival. unplugging in a virtual world today.

tiffany shlain, the power of unplugging one day a week. >> i am so happy to be here. >> tiffany, it's an interesting time to think about unplugging during this moment, the coronavirus pandemic, many of us find ourselves even more tethered to screens because we can't do things like meet people in person, go to our workplaces or schools or hang out at a cultural venue. so first, we'll hear more about the book from tiffany and then we'll have a discussion. >> thank you. it's great to be here, i am from the bay area i'm glad we are still able to make it happen this way.

adapting literary adapting to this experience we are living in. this moment we are in feels very similar to a moment i was personally in around 11 years ago. monday, 11 year anniversary of my father's death and what happened was my father died of brain cancer, he is also an author. he loved bookstores and anyways, we are very close. he died of brain cancer within days of my daughter being born and it felt like a moment where life was grabbing me by the shoulders and saying, focus on what matters. my husband and i decided, with our kids, to turn off screens one day a week so it's been the best thing i've ever done in my life in terms of a practice that

keeps giving and brings balance and so many things that go into that. i love technology, i am not anti- tech. other six days i am in it, in the web. my background is in my 20s, i've always been very excited about the potential of technology to connect us and all these new ways and i spent my career in the running webby awards for potential of technology. this also occurs that we need to wrestle with. i was wrestling with ten years ago, a dramatic moment my life, i was feeling distracted all the time. i felt i couldn't get a complete thought out without my own

blessing or notification and i felt like i was in a constant state of being distracted and i didn't like it. i think what i was seeking by doing this is some time to think and connect in an authentically screens off, it was too much. i should also tell you i am jewish but i am not a religious jew, i am more of a secular jew. i love a lot of things from the food and rituals, the ideas of shabbat is the concept of the day of rest. he started doing that ten years ago. friday night, make bread which has to rise all day and usually make a beautiful meal and invite people over and it's the best meal of the week because nobody has their phones out it's a wonderful meal and then our favorite day of the week, our

daughter is now 11 years old. it's a day for doing all the things we love to do. that was all before the pandemic. then of course the last two months we both have to be online so much. i do feel it's a very similar moment for the whole world in terms of grabbing me by the shoulders and telling me to focus on what's important. right now, all of us are being grabbed by the shoulders and say focus on what's important, what matters? is important, your health, family enough money to buy food, cooking food, being grateful, helping others? all these fundamental lessons i felt like to spend my time thinking about more on that than others. a lot of people have asked, it is a lifelong. the way speak connect, we often

connect with our family members from all over the country on zoom that brings me to my second part, so many people say are you still think you're shabbat now that we are in shelter in place? always stunned me because in doing it, it is my saving grace, there so many benefits to especially now. it magnifies benefits because i've been so stressed about what's happening, what's going to happen and it allows to take 1 foot in front of the other one week at a time, i look forward to something every week. it is weird because i'm a big planner and now we can't make plans. every week, to his credit, we are going to make a little and it feels different from all the days.

so i feel like doing screen free day or whatever you want to call it, it feels like so much more beneficial during the pandemic when everything is coming together time is running together, social and everything is going together, we are on the news so much more for bathing our bodies and cortisol and stress. of course there so many beautiful things about the web right now. a couple of months ago, was a show was pulled from a lot of ideas in my book, 24/6. i was worried with my early optimism with the web that was going to connect us and collaborate and all these things in new ways that the tech industry and business model of manipulating our attention starting to bring out the worst in humanity. on the social media was making us compare ourselves and polarization and that was a lot

of what it was about. the moment i ended the show and said what would it take to bring the web back to the web we want? but could we all focus on together? that was february 15, 2020. i was at home and within weeks, the whole country and different parts of the world shut down. and seeing the web use so many incredible miraculous ways. i have renewed faith of the web renewed faith in him every chance to look at the huge opportunity lesson i'm worried, like everyone else. my brother is a doctor who's been working in the front lines of covid and it's been intense and wonderful, i am proud of him. and all the food donations i've seen to help people and gofundme

campaigns, there are so many ways the web is rising to the occasion, allowing us to bring out the best of our human strength but we shouldn't be on it all the time, it's even more, we are so craving human contact right now from other people, my biggest hope is when we emerge from this, we are going to finally be together and not be on our phone all the time. pre-pandemic, it was at the front. a group of teens together are all at the front. maybe we are going to be so hungry for true human connection after this maybe we will put down our phones, that would be a great thing to come out of this but the biggest ritual i say in the book, and i'll share with you some of the benefits because i go deep on the neural science and historical reference and psychology of lights good and so many of the benefits that happen

from us unplugging a day a week, right now with so much time on our hands, if you have the privilege of being able to be at home and you're not in a social worker you're thinking, how can i take this time and have somebody come out of it would be really good in sustaining the rest of my life? i think this day without scree screens, you will -- i'll tell you why i think a day. this is a think that 3000 years old. sabbath, shabbat, it's different. everybody has a day of rest, only the most observant and religious people in the faith will do it. the seventh day for christians, sabbath. for juice, a day of rest but i haven't met anyone, except the one orthodox jew i knew in

california but other than that, anybody who does a shabbat, they will maybe light candles or a nice dinner occasionally but most do a full day of rest. the experience by doing this the power is in the full day of rest. there is serious wisdom it takes a whole day to truly reset and reboot and turn off the outside world you can tune into yourse yourself. if you're alone, i still highly recommend it. to your kids and really more, right now we are online all the time. there with our family and connected with our friends, we are in a constant state of reacting and connecting. there's a lot of good right now but what i a lot of times on saturday as i do my very best thinking.

i think. and i think we've created a society and culture that doesn't value flexion because we leave no space for it. i do a lot of writing on saturday at dinner with friends and family a lot of talking about the week, everything is about the week. his great wisdom in that but saturday i do a lot of writing, generally and doing nothing which is a really important thing to be able to do, to do nothing. we value so much conductivity and optimizing every second of our lives these days. washing dishes and learn a new language, there's value in just letting your whole life follow. even in farming, every seven years, you're supposed to let the earth rest, no new crops. i think every seven days, you need to let your life follow so

you can have the necessary nutrients to grow and build things. one of the benefits we talk about, of many is there's so much more productive after giving ourselves a full day of rest. we are not giving ourselves a full day of rest right now, even relaxing if your posting on social media and it suddenly starts to feel like work. the other thing i've noticed after doing this ten years, i am a filmmaker, most of the time i'm making, putting myself in the most creative state, they are like what can you do? but if i look back on the last ten years, i have my best ideas on saturday. there is neuroscience behind

this that during the week, you're doing all this input and stimulation but it's when you're daydreaming or washing dishes going for a run but you put things together in an unusual way of the default network and that's where creativity comes from, unusual connections happening. one of the places that we were so much more productive was by taking a day off. i have problems sleeping, that just started. in my 40s, i started having problems. friday nights are my deepest sleep of the week. i think i'm more patient and pretty impatient, for the long term. they are more patient is

saturday, it's good to teach our kids how to move forward how to not need to be stimulated every second, there's so much research. it's like weight in your seat, it's exciting. every second on your phone to distract yourself right now during a pandemic, we need distraction also but not at every moment and every in between moment entertaining or distracted or productive, it's good to just be do the mostly on our shabbat but it has really led to practices i do the other six days like i no longer look

at my phone when i wake up because that's my most creative thinking time and looking on the book 24, i recognize that's my sweet spot. i get up before 5:00 a.m., before the kids right from five to seven and then the whole world came out. if you just look at your phone right when you wake up, i do use my phone as an alarm clock that works for me but whatever. i keep it on airplane mode in the morning, i calmed down and have my coffee and what am i thinking about? what is this day going to be like and 15 minutes, start my day with where i am instead of where the world, a stressful e-mail stressful news headline, it's my own framing of the day. before i go to sleep, have my nighttime rituals go back and read and write in a journal again about what happened in the

day, what was great about the day, something i wish i did differently about the day and what i hope for tomorrow so the sandwich to my day doesn't involve the phone. super important. i also do know screens at the table when we are eating unless it's during the pandemic and it's a zoom meeting with family. i also tried to do a walk with the family. the plethora of benefits that happened from this one complete day off and a lot of people have said to me, like six months and it's been fun because it changed my life, and i have tried a lot of strategies, you might be psyched to do this but maybe your husband or wife or partner

or kids, and i talked a lot about the best way to approach it because it's not like you're going to turn off screens for a bit, it won't go over very well. if you say to them, but you wish we did more together and pretty much make the day filled with that, that's our favorite day of the week, it's a day of joy. having, reading, biking, nothing can involve the screen. find things that don't involve screens. i think during the pandemic, i know everyone is so exhausted from zoom, i thought a couple from, i've got shooting pains from sitting in different positions in the house on my screen but it's even more of a reason you should create space

and i think that day of the week, one full day a week to reset. it's brought me such comfort when i've been so anxious during the week. i completely, shutting off the outside world for day and think about what you're grateful for and it quiets all of the anxiety. think about the things you do have instead of the things you don't have. it's brought an amazing sense of balance and resetting for me personally so i was excited about the book before because it's like anybody can do it and you don't have to believe, have a lot of christians during an idea from judaism but again, i

have great respect for people who have a religion but i come from it as a secular practice and i want to liberate it and make it a practice like meditation, it's great things for people from all different backgrounds but think the concept of a text shabbat and bring more joy and balance peace to people especially right now during the pandemic. i'd love to bring going back in because i am excited to talk to her and here what questions you might have had about the book or anything. >> thank you for sharing so much. i know you are a practicing jew, as i am myself.

>> you are? your name did not give a little. >> my grandparents came from eastern europe and so yeah that was kind of my upbringing, too. i'm curious about how with your family, how it compares to the shabbat traditions when you're growing up. >> i didn't grow up with shabbat. i'm glad you brought that up because there are ways that are different from people who are really truly living shabbat. rabbi said to me once, your the most religious and nonreligious person. and i do a lot of similar rituals. they always had a beautiful thing, we do that, too. the homemade challah, it's a beautiful meal.

we also do that. if you're really observant orthodox jew, not supposed to even write, do my best writing, journaling on shabbat. for me, is about trying to take the essence of the shabbat which i think is about presence, gratitude, joy, family, sanctuary of home, cooking, really being present. i was to me, what i was trying to do. did you read the shabbat? >> my aunts in particular, the

desire to be with family and that sort of thing -- >> it's interesting because growing up, my parents got divorced so it was, i think in many ways, doing shabbat, and before they got divorced, there was a lot of rituals. we always went to the movies every sunday night and when i was eight, they got divorced so it was hard. for me and in many ways, i do write about this in the book, when i really went deep in the book, i think in a lot of ways, i understand how important ritual is for families and what happens when that breaks and i'm sure i was on a therapy couch, a

lot of my understanding of how profound it's been for our family although, i think it can be meaningful if you're not married or without kids but for me, it's brought an important ritual that ties us back together each week. during the week, we are off doing our separate things and friday night to saturday night, we met ourselves back together and this really connected way. the closest i feel to everyone in the family, friday night and saturday night. >> that is my grandmother's name. >> we are doing a big festival. >> i know a little bit about y you.

>> one thing i talk about in the book, as soon as the pandemic started, whatever, nine weeks ago, we decided to do our holiday on his zoom, now every week, anywhere from 50 to 150 people on his zoom from our kitchen, and today it's been such a fun part of the pandemic. there is a funny moment today where somebody was asking about the dough and we were saying about how keep meeting, that's how you get the dough right. it is so symbolic to this. we are in right now, we just have to keep meeting the dough minutes so much about processing

about what's going on. a lot of learning the great lessons from this period is about being present for what's going on and not just living in a state of distraction from what's going on which is easy to do. you can be on netflix and reading the news but there's a real opportunity to also be present to what's happening right now. i was a very long answer but -- >> i really enjoyed hearing about these things to generate. so apart from zoom, i'm curious about how the stay-at-home orders and the coronavirus pandemic has changed your practice. >> we don't have people around friday night. we missed that. i loved it because you're having

wonderful conversations as a family, normally we have new people here are families here but if you like it happens in the zoom, it's very social. that part was very social but so we don't have people over which was a big difference but the saturday part is pretty similar. we've managed to do it when our kids have had sports and we had to go to a basketball court but we try not to make plans saturday. a lot of plans are happening right now so in that way, it feels very similar. 5:00 p.m. saturday night, the girls go back online, we used to go for dinner, that's not happening. we go upstairs now we are excited to go back online and that is an important component, turning it off one day a week that's you we appreciate technology in a new way because

it's this miraculous tool, thank goodness we have the web right now. living without it for one day helps you we appreciate it in a new way when you go back on. i can't wait to turn it off, then i can't wait am excited to know what's happened in the world. everything happens without you, what if people can't get in touch with you? i should mention we do have a landline and that is a really good thing to have in california for earthquakes, fires and natural disasters but if you really need to get in touch with them, they will call on the landline. but i hardly ever brings. saturday is about going out, it is more inward. all week long we get texts and calls and facebook and zoom but i feel really good to have that boundary of not being available.

>> related to this in the present days today, obviously some people would say pandemic makes it more important than ever before how would you respond to those that taking a day off from the screens seems ludicrous and impossible how. >> i would ask, to me, it is valuing time with or without a pandemic to listen to you for a day.

but i feel like, it would be the same argument i would get people couldn't imagine turning them off but it feels so good. if you fill the day with i'm going to write, read and cook, take a long walk, i'm going to do water coloring, all those things, i would think you don't realize how much you need a break. we are designed to be on this. if you don't over stimulate, i think we are living in such a state of overstimulation all the time, we forgot what it feels like to not have it it's so nourishing and rejuvenating all

the things i mentioned that i think i would just offer to any one who says to just try. think about all the things you want to think, i hope, i watched a documentary about the spanish flu, my favorite part was the journal entries of people during that period and it was an opportunity to write about how we are feeling right now and what we are thinking about and it's really important to create space for that. look at your calendar for four weeks, we got a lot of time but it is about the repetition of the ritual so some people say a call on vacation and turn off my phone for a week or couple of days and that's great but the power of unplugging one day a week, it's really about the

ritual every week, it's a full reset. anyone practiced shabbat, around the globe, how would it be different if everything was like this? >> we landed in a different way. we are consuming and everythin everything -- >> i think what you're saying is how we record make efforts -- are you think about that? >> a bit of a mess in some countries more than others, are leaders and everyone else, we are doing this practice, how might it -- >> i think i am not a fan of our

president at all. he has no prefrontal cortex. if you spent the day thinking instead of being reactive, i think what is happening is we didn't see a plan in this country well executed. i've often thought, what if they did something on the same day? what everyone was with their families and didn't consume and what inward for one day, i think we would have more proper responses to so many things but currently, as a lot of like at the beginning, running around and not having a coordinated response of effort. but of course hospitals can't do it but if there taking care of patients, they are not going to

turn off screens to monitor people. but the majority of people online to 47, do they really need to be? right now we are in an emergency situation with healthcare workers but do love the thought, i might write about that more because i think about a little more because it is a great question. >> i suppose when i read your book, to me it's not really about -- we're talking about a state of mind, mindfulness practices which the screen is a manifestation of this larger idea people get through techniques through meditation and of course i understand because it is the source of that but the second, i can't help but think beyond this, we have

front-line workers we have to be on the screen or whatever it might be, if everyone had taken that moment, maybe things would be a little different. it might have helped a little bit but i love what you're saying. it's really about, we are so reactive. the internet is built to be like the villa response network. it's not like think internal off and think about the process, think about what that means a couple of steps ahead. it's so immediate which is why it's sexy and immediate and fun. i want to live in a world that

values deep thinking and long-term thinking and planning and right now is a perfect example, we need big coordinated effort here in our global and country and it's not happening. >> so there are obvious tremendous benefits but i want to talk about reality, probably in this, things that you hate so much so information would be more ambience in a lot of different places, not looking at a screen so i'm wondering how these developments start your thinking going forward. >> thought about that, i added

in the intro and extra, we are all looking down. that was my big issue with everyone walking down the street and looking down all the time and not looking at where they are and i hope people are going to be present with each other when they are together but it's going to be augmented reality, it could be on your screen or contact lessons but even right now, i want to look at the camera but i want to look at you, i have to look above at the camera. it doesn't look like him looking at the viewer. so this is so funky right now that we can't make real eye contact on the laptop which is slightly off. we are talking right now but it's one of the reasons why zoom is so exhausting, something is slightly off. you're always trying to readjust

out there. go back to your question, the screens might be gone but i will still need our family to turn the web off, we're not getting input from everywhere. if you just constantly getting into it, you can't understand the input in your own soul and mind. i worry about when you can't see it. >> can you just turn the whole web off? [laughter] that will happen, for sure. >> it's more invasive than screens and there are concerns about that. one in four american adults, not

okay with people using voice technologies during the shabbat. >> i did this, a record player, do you see that? we cook a lot on shabbat and we often use the timer, we have certain music we have made the exception and i have thought about it because it is an exception we make me think it's because it's not pulling us out of what we are doing, we have a verbal timer or music but it is a great area for sure. i have more and more, i remember my husband was given a video version that was like no, keep it out of the house and the more, we've had a lot of

conversations internally the haven't asked a lot about it, but for us it is just helping us cook and it's not the outside world interjection with us. a friend of mine who teaches guitar, my tuning app is on my phone, feds the one exception she needs to make, right now during the pandemic if he said i could do this but i want to make sure zoom my kids and my mother and my and, we are in an extraordinary situation, i would say yes. what i have found is i like the boundary, i like that i'm not using screens today, i want to look that up. i can. i will see if my bookshelf can offer me guidance. i like that. constraints are good and i find ultimately they are liberating. i feel liberated by having a strict boundary of no screens.

>> one thing you said today, the coronavirus we hear the web and internet to the extent that we are taking more time to connect with people and doing things like sharing virtually, i agree that may be true but honestly, during the coronavirus, information, think about the digital divide, it's being witnessed and on presidents to way. kids in school, some of them don't have access to the internet and screens and is severely disadvantaged, not to mention immigrant population.

>> i think it is renewed faith because three months ago, i was like oh my gosh, all it's doing exacerbating our human resources, jealousy, polarization, then the pandemic happened and i saw creativity happened in such a beautiful w way, online collaboration. i also saw the digital divide issue we talked about, new york right now made 29% of households don't have wi-fi so all those kids, i completely agree the digital divide issue for like something we talk about a lot during the early days and then it kind of went away and finally, i've read so many important articles, how to get everyone online that needs to be online? at we build the web we want? i'm also fearful, i am worried about tracing software that will give the government more power and that becomes the scarier think so i'm not completely like zero the web is great now but i was really much more like the

web is bringing out the worst three months ago and now i'm like the web is bringing out a lot of good in humanity right now. i've cried from laughter and beautiful things more in the last two months over things i've seen in the last two months. people have shared, instead of look at the party i met, look at the food donation i'm at. let's re-create this painting or i don't know, i just see so much more about. after this, it's a new chance, is the issue of the digital divide and the clearly about the power we are giving to government and technology companies about tracking and what the implications are of that. we have a lot of time to think about these things if we choose that. how do we take this moment and say let's take the web do what we want to be? i was feeling like we were

sucked into the way we were using this and it has changed for me. >> it has certainly changed for so many of us. one thing, the idea of getting away from the screens one day a week, at least in my mind, the best that can help me the most, being like bloggers the rest of the week on it and there have been boundaries for me, i don't know, be it is just a privilege. trying to do a little bit every day in a bit of meditation are all these things you talk about in your book. >> it is important to integrate this stuff but try and have fabrics arena on 24 hours a day.

>> i did mention i do these other rituals six days, the drilling in the morning those things so i do integrate throughout the week those interventions but again, i feel like the power of this practice both day so i think it is in tandem because it is like every weekend we get to the addiction i feel like i was on too much, i do not go good. next week i'm going to not do that so gives me the bigger perspective on how to integrate it throughout the week and i do all these many things, like you said, i agree. i feel like i want to binge six-day week, don't like the word digital detox, it implies you can completely live without it but you can't. throughout the week, you can have a healthier relationship to it in this wonderful day gives

you the perspective that you lose every week. >> okay. all right, i got to ask you about the ukulele. >> where is it? it's right here. >> you are a musician and i want to see what you're playing at home when you're on this shabbat. >> oh my gosh, i have to tune. it's not like i am an expert. it's very simple to pick up. i went to plug this and, once again. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> okay. i don't know, i have to tune it and everything but i will tell

you have been saying a lot lately that springfield from the 60s, something happening here but my whole family plays electric, i have been playing this song a lot, it's kind of a 60s protest song and odessa, my older daughter plays acoustic guitar is also putting your mind in a different mode. a lot of what i'm talking about is when you play music, not thinking about anything else except the music. it's good to put your mind in a different mode a little bit every day and what i think is a whole day every week, it helps everything just get out of your head, out of the web, the phone and just exist in a different

way, that is the biggest message the ukulele teaches me. >> i will probably there but a huge thank you to tiffany lane for joining us. you can buy 24/6 and have it shipped directly to your. if you want to find out more, visit us online. been watching this book festiv festival. ♪ ♪ >> on our author interview program, "afterwards", wes moore

discusses 2015 protest in baltimore following the death of freddie gray. he offers his thoughts on the recent protests over the death of george floyd. >> it is just about can we make sure police officers have body cameras. it's not just about, how do we add on clauses to things like law enforcement officers bill of rights? or qualified immunity. it's not stopping there. the demand we are seeing right now are dealing with structural racism. how can we deal with all of these various issues and away with a real sense of sincerity and a real sense of activation and movement? >> to watch the rest and find more episodes of "afterwards", visit our website, booktv.org and click on the "afterwards" tab near the top of the page. coming up next on book tv, jordan, a republican and

christopher howe, democrat travel the country together in an attempt to find common dialogue and then sent america ceo and president, suzanne offers her thoughts on free speech and censorship. it, the heritage foundation argues that identity politics is dividing america. it all starts now on book tv. for more schedule information, visit booktv.org or check your program guide. >> good evening, everyone. i'd like to thank you on behalf of the bookstore for tune into that. we are lucky to have christopher howe, office of the union, democrat republican and search for common ground. they'll be in discussion tonight and moderated by tony. we are so grateful you can join us tonight and continue during this time. if you want to ask jordan and chris question, click the ask the question button down there