Is slow TV the antidote to the frenzy of contemporary life?

Forget for a moment the adrenaline rush of binge-watching, the anxiety of cliffhangers, and the alienation of scrolling. There is an (old) new way to consume content: slow, without twists, and in its own way, hypnotic. It’s called slow TV, and it was "invented"—if we can say that—by the Norwegians, who have turned slow living into a true lifestyle. Events that are seemingly insignificant are filmed minute by minute and broadcast without cuts or edits, as if the viewer were experiencing them firsthand. It all started in 2009 when the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) decided to attempt a bold experiment: broadcasting an entire seven-hour train journey from Bergen to Oslo. A camera was fixed on the locomotive, capturing the changing natural landscapes, forests, snowy hills, and tiny stations. That was it. The broadcast was an unexpected success, leading to further slow TV experiments: a knitting competition, a bonfire burning for hours, and a full journey of the Hurtigruten, the Norwegian postal boat that still sails along the fjord coast today. But my favorite remains the Piipshow: a live stream featuring a birdhouse designed as a miniature café, hosting a variety of guests—from great tits to squirrels.

Slow TV today: an alternative to endless scrolling and viewing anxiety?

The Norwegian experiment ended about ten years ago, but the slow TV genre still exists—not only because those videos remain online but also because it introduced a new way of thinking about entertainment content, one that goes against today's somewhat obsessive media consumption habits. The race to watch the latest must-see TV series, the unmissable movie event everyone is talking about—the social aspect of watching, amplified by social media, has in many cases diminished the simple pleasure of enjoying a film or series, replacing it with performance anxiety. And even when there’s no pressure to weigh in with an opinion, we’re still left with the slightly compulsive consumption model that streaming services have accustomed us to: watch everything, immediately, know how it ends, and move on. Then there are social media, where we frantically scroll through videos that bombard our brains with a constant stream of stimuli. Studies indicate, however, that these stimuli are becoming increasingly low-quality, leading to a passive consumption cycle that some researchers now describe as brain rot.

Learning to be bored: a DIY mindfulness exercise

So, let’s pause for a moment. "You have to learn to be bored," my grandmother used to say when I complained as a child about having nothing to do. It’s difficult, yet essential. Slow TV can serve as a DIY mindfulness exercise: turn on your computer (or smartphone, tablet, or TV) and tune in to one of these videos. Watch and listen to the train in motion, take a walk in the snow in Finland, or watch birds chatting at a café. You decide how long to watch. But focus on what’s happening without worrying about what comes next (spoiler: nothing surprising). Savor the passing minutes rather than just counting them. Allow yourself a break from the problems of your life and the world around you. Be bored for a while—you need it. Or, who knows, you might even find yourself unexpectedly entertained, discovering a newfound passion for nature content.