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The Jordan Harbinger Show

1332: Screen Time | Skeptical Sunday

The Jordan Harbinger Show

Jordan Harbinger

Science, Business, Education

4.8 • 12.3K Ratings

🗓️ 24 May 2026

⏱️ 82 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Screens are rewiring teen brains and torching their happiness. Michael Regilio cuts through the glare to explain what's really at stake on Skeptical Sunday!

Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and a guest break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. This time around, we’re joined by skeptic, comedian, and podcaster Michael Regilio!

Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1332

On This Week's Skeptical Sunday:

  • The fear of new technology is ancient and remarkably repetitive. Critics warned the telephone, the printing press, even writing itself would rot brains and shred social bonds. Today's smartphone panic is the latest verse in a very old song, though experts insist this time the data is louder.
  • The "U-shaped" happiness curve — high in youth, dipping in midlife, rising again after fifty — has held steady across cultures for decades. But around 2014, right as every teenager got a smartphone, that youthful high point collapsed, and researchers like David Blanchflower are sounding alarms.
  • Big Tech isn't accidentally addictive — it's engineered that way. Frameworks like the Fogg Behavior Model power infinite scroll, autoplay, and notification floods designed to exploit adolescent cravings for status and novelty. Reed Hastings admitted Netflix's real competitors are sleep and human connection.
  • Internal documents from Meta and Alphabet lawsuits revealed the ugly truth: companies knew their platforms harmed teen girls and deliberately targeted users as young as 11. One memo read, "If we want to win big with teens, we must bring them in as tweens" — exploiting developing prefrontal cortexes by design.
  • Screens aren't the devil — how we use them is what matters. Play video games with your kids, FaceTime grandma, keep phones away from babies, and set lights-out rules at night. The best screen time report might be a screen-down report: what did you do with your one short life while you weren't scrolling?
  • Connect with Jordan on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. If you have something you'd like us to tackle here on Skeptical Sunday, drop Jordan a line at jordan@jordanharbinger.com and let him know!
  • Connect with Michael Regilio at Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and YouTube, and check out War Bar, his comedy special!

And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!

This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This episode is sponsored in part by Conspiruality Podcast.

0:03.6

You know how I'm always talking about critical thinking and spotting manipulation?

0:06.8

Well, there's a podcast that's all about dismantling New Age cults, wellness grifters, and

0:11.4

conspiracy med yogis, basically the wild overlap of spirituality and misinformation.

0:16.4

It's called the Conspiruality Podcast.

0:18.7

The hosts, a journalist, cult researcher, and a philosophical skeptic,

0:22.3

dive deep into how this stuff spreads, from Project 2025 and the Heritage Foundation's

0:26.8

dystopian vision of the future to how former leftists get pulled into far-right conspiracies.

0:31.8

An interesting episode to check out is called Speaking Truth to Goop, where Jen Gunter breaks

0:35.7

down the pseudoscience behind the wellness industry

0:37.5

in a way that is super entertaining and eye-opening. It's sharp, funny, and makes you a lot harder

0:42.2

to fool, which if you listen to this show, you know I'm all about that. From exploring cults to

0:46.3

analyzing our cultural and political landscape, the Conspiruality Podcast will help you stay informed

0:51.0

against misinformation and resist fear tactics.

0:58.8

Find Conspiruality on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

1:00.9

This episode is brought to you by Lufthansa.

1:05.4

Lufthansa Allegra is an innovative, elevated travel experience across all classes,

1:08.8

focusing on each person with their own individual and situational needs.

1:11.8

Look forward to your own feel-good moment above the clouds.

1:14.7

Visit liftawnza.com and search for Allegraiss to learn more.

1:16.1

Liftonza Allegrae.

1:17.5

All it takes is a yes.

...

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