Devices Divide

Sara Negrin is a high-school Senior from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Sara is an active screen user but is conscious of the many different ways it affects us and our relationships. Sara and I met on an Outward Bound backpacking trip last summer and just happened to start talking one day on the trails about the topic of screen use and how we see phones affecting those around us.    Topics Covered:  Would you give up your phone for a month? Do you remember life before smartphones? What are some unspoken rules our peers have about social media? Is there a discrepancy between how much time per day you would like to spend on screens versus how much you actually end up on screens?

Sybil Kelly is a technology marketer and corporate communications professional, as well as a mother of a 13-year old son. Sybil’s daily struggle to moderate screen time for her son inspired her book “Get the F**k off That Screen,” and she is constantly looking for a balance between the benefits and detriments of the digital world.   Topics covered: What prompted Sybil to write “Get the F**k off That Screen”? What strategies have Sybil tried to mediate screens with her 13-year-old son and have they been effective? What advice would Sybil give to other parents who are dealing with screen-loving children?

Olivia June is the Founder and CEO of Hey! VINA, the tech company that connects, celebrates and empowers women. In 2016 she launched the award-winning app Hey! VINA, a social networking app often referred to as the “Tinder for (girl) friends”, that’s connected millions of women in 158 countries. Her academic career has been focused on social psychology, gender studies, and the impact of media and technology on relationships.   Topics covered: How does this app, Hey! VINA, facilitate connection? How do we make the most of our relationships in this digital age? How did Olivia decide to make Hey! VINA a women-only network? Did Olivia's background in social psychology and the impact of media and technology on relationships affect how she uses it?

Max Stossel is the Head of Education for the Center for Humane Technology, an organization of former tech insiders and CEOs dedicated to aligning technology with humanity’s best interests. Before joining the Center for Humane Technology, Max was a media strategist with an extensive background in social media, spending more time learning the ins and outs of the Facebook algorithm than any human should. He later worked for a social media company where he designed some of the same notification structures to distract us that he now criticizes. - Topics covered: What is the Center for Humane Technology?  What is the Time Well Spent Campaign? How should we go about combating many big tech company's desire to hijack our attention? What are some steps high school students can take to away from screen addiction? Would you be willing to pay for social media if it was actively prioritizing your best interest instead of monetary profit? 

Jerry Mander is an American activist and author, best known for his 1977 book, Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. After receiving his M.S. from Columbia, Jerry worked in advertising for many years. He later worked with the noted environmentalist, David Brower, managing the Sierra Club's advertising campaigns,  In 1971 he founded the first non-profit advertising agency in the United States, Public Interest Communications. Subsequently, in 1994, he founded the International Forum on Globalization and is currently the program director for MegaTechnology and Globalization at the Foundation for Deep Ecology. Topics explored in this episode: Does Jerry see parallels in the way that advertising strategists and tech companies attempt to capture consumers’ attention and sway ideas? Jerry owns a flip phone and rarely uses technology: how does he navigate in a world of computers and smartphones? What impression do whales have of us crazy humans?

Ethan Zuckerman, Director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT, and an Associate Professor of the Practice at the MIT Media Lab. His research focuses on the use of media as a tool for social change, the role of technology in international development, and the use of new media technologies by activists. He is the author of Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection. Topics explored in this episode: Did Ethan Zuckerman really invent the pop-up ad? (Yes, yes he did!) Does Facebook have more control over where we put our attention than we think? “How to fix facebook before it fixes us” - How Ethan predicted the Facebook crisis. How does Ethan’s experience bringing internet to West Africa affect his work at the MIT Media Lab? How does Ethan approach screen time with his own child?

Chris Kresser is a globally recognized leader in the fields of ancestral health, nutrition, and functional and integrative medicine. He is the New York Times bestselling author of two books: The Paleo Cure and Unconventional Medicine. Chris is the co-founder and co-director at the California Center for Functional Medicine. He is also the creator of the Kresser Institute, a globally recognized medical practitioner training program. Topics explored in this episode: How humans evolved without computers and screens and how this has dramatically changed in the last 20 years.   Is there an evolutionary mismatch? Hear about Chris’ experience with ‘tech sabbaths’. Is there an educational system in the US that considers the effects of screens on developing brains? (Hint: Waldorf schools).