I don't doubt you're right about social media and smartphones rotting our attention spans. But also, peripatetic philosophy is ancient. I spend most of my day sitting. Whether its work, entertainment, or hobbies, most of these things have me sat in front of a screen. So its nice, and I do think it increases my retention, to be able to do something while walking or cycling instead of sitting.

And if that means the best way to learn now is podcasts, what do you prefer: not learning, or learning via a way you view as inferior?

so that's the cool part, I think, instead of wasting time on socmed and news cycle composting, waste time on this instead. I think this is the general direction all media is headed, regardless of whether one agrees with it or not. Feed it whatever you want and it will shuffle together a plot, just for you.

It's unlikely that some people prefer to learn by listening to discussions?

You can prefer many things, but yes, it's unlikely there are people for whom listening two people talking is a good way of learning.

Well... I mean... you're wrong.