Navigating Modern Adolescence

1A

NPR

News

4.4 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 19 December 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The modern world is a noisy, chaotic place. News about what’s happening in the world is constantly available on a device in your pocket. The internet offers more content than any person could consume in their lifetime, or in 10 lifetimes.

Politics can feel unstable, with elected officials changing the norms and rules of our political system. AI is upending our ideas about what work will look like in the next few decades. And social media, designed by technology companies to monetize attention, offers up millions of rabbit holes in which to lose yourself — self improvement hacks, niche interests, impossible beauty standards.

Taking all of that in can feel like an insurmountable task most days. So try doing it with a brain and a body that are changing dramatically at the same time.

How do young people — adolescents going through puberty — experience the world today? How is the adolescent experience changing? And how can adults make their journey easier?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from Bayer.
0:02.3	Science is a rigorous process that requires questions, testing, transparency, and results that can be proven.
0:09.5	This approach is integral to every breakthrough Bayer brings forward.
0:13.0	Innovations that save lives and feed the world.
0:15.8	Science Delivers.com. The Modern World
0:26.6	The modern world is a noisy, chaotic place.
0:29.9	News about what's happening in the world is available 24-7 on a device you can carry in your
0:34.5	pocket.
0:35.6	The Internet offers more content than any person could consume
0:38.9	in their lifetime or in 10 lifetimes. Politics can feel unstable. Artificial intelligence is upending
0:45.7	our ideas about what work will look like in the next few years. And social media, created by
0:50.6	technology companies, offers up millions of rabbit holes to go down, self-improvement
0:55.8	hacks, niche interests, and possible beauty standards, and at the same time, communities
1:01.4	that offer potential connections with other people. Taking all of that in can feel like an insurmountable
1:07.5	task most days. So try doing it with a brain and a body that are changing
1:12.7	dramatically at the same time. How do young people, adolescents going through puberty,
1:18.3	experience the world today? How is the adolescent experience changing and why? And how can adults
1:24.3	make their journey easier? We get to those questions and so much more after this short break.
1:29.5	I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast.
1:32.5	Back with more in just a moment. Stay with us.
1:38.7	This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe.
1:43.3	When you manage your money with Wise, you'll
	...

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