Each story you hear on Planet Money starts with a question.

What happens if we refund tariffs?

Why are groceries so expensive?

At NPR, we stand for your right to be curious

because the forces shaping our world can be hard to see.

Follow NPR's Planet Money wherever you get your podcast and start seeing

how the economy really works.

So many aspects of the teen years and early 20s landscape are both tender and incredibly tough.

Puberty, dating, clicks, living away from home, first jobs, relationships, even new motherhood.

These phases of life are incredibly raw.

Now imagine doing all of that online, while influencers and algorithms tell you how you're falling short,

what might be wrong with you, and what product just may fix it all. From KERA and Dallas,

this is Think. I'm Courtney Collins in for Chris Boyd. The pressures leaning on young people today,

especially women, are very different from what previous generations grappled

with. And that becomes quite clear when you look at mental health metrics and Gen Z's self-reported

isolation. That's what Freya India explores in her new book. It's called Girls, Generation Z in the

commodification of everything. Freya, welcome to think. Hi, thank you so much for having me.

So before we talk about the book,

would you mind sharing how old you were

when you first started using social media?

Yeah, so I think I was around 11 when I first got a phone of my own.

And I was on social media pretty much just as the platforms were coming out.

...