TED Radio Hour
TED Radio Hour

Did social media break a generation — or just change it?

February 20, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

🎙️ The Speakers & Context

  • The Format: Host-led radio discussion with extended interviews and clips from TED Talks.
  • The Key Players:
    • Guest: Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist at NYU Stern, author of The Anxious Generation—credible for charting post-2012 mental health collapse via data on Gen Z anxiety, backed by professor experience since 1995.
    • Counterpoint: Maximilian Milovidov, 19-year-old Columbia freshman and TikTok Youth Advisory Council member—represents Gen Z pushback, emphasizing resilience and parental dialogue.
    • Co-Author: Catherine Price, science writer (The Power of Fun, How to Break Up with Your Phone)—adds positive framing on real-world "true fun" alternatives to screens.
  • The Vibe: Urgent yet optimistic debate—combative on causation vs. correlation, reflective on policy wins, hopeful on cultural shift.

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:00) **🎙️ Introduction: Jonathan Haidt**
  • 2 (03:20) **Harms of Social Media on Kids**
  • 3 (06:40) **The Four Norms for a Phone-Free Childhood**
  • 4 (08:20) **Global Bans and Enforcement**
  • 5 (10:00) **Lawsuits and Tech Accountability**
  • 6 (13:14) **Gen Z Pushback: Maximilian Milovidov**
  • 7 (19:00) **Maximilian on AI and Parenting**

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Is tech rewiring childhood or exposing what’s already broken? Jonathan Haidt, Catherine Price, and a Gen Z advocate debate social media bans, attention and what “fun” looks like off-screen. Guests include social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, youth online safety activist Maximilian Milovidov and author Catherine Price.

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