Oprah and Jonathan Haidt on How Social Media Is Changing Childhood

The Oprah Podcast

Harpo

Society & Culture

4.6 • 711 Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

BUY THE BOOK! “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness” by Jonathan Haidt, published by Penguin Press, is available wherever books are sold. We are only just beginning to understand the impact social media and smart devices are having on the mental and emotional well-being of teens and children around the world. In this episode of “The Oprah Podcast,” Oprah talks to Jonathan Haidt: a social psychologist, NYU professor and the New York Times bestselling author of "The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness." Jonathan will share why he believes the skyrocketing rates of anxiety, depression and addictive behaviors in teenagers can be directly linked to social media and excessive screen time. Oprah and Jonathan will also talk to teens - and their parents - from around the country about how their addiction to social media and smart devices is depriving them of their adolescence. Finally, Jonathan will offer tangible ideas for how parents and teens can work together to act now to prevent long-term and irreversible damage on teenagers’ still developing brains. For more information about how to join Jonathan Haidt’s movement and for more resources including a phone-free schools action kit and policy map, please go to the website below. anxiousgeneration.com This episode is brought to you in part by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/OPRAHPODCAST Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social: https://www.instagram.com/oprah/ https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/ Listen to the full podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oprah-podcast/id1782960381 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everybody. Hey there. A warm welcome to you. Thanks for joining me here on the Oprah podcast.
0:06.8	I am actually really excited to talk to Jonathan Haidt about his book, The Ancest Generation,
0:13.6	how the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness. This book is doing
0:20.3	something that you actually don't see
0:23.0	often these days. It's causing a real shift in public opinion and even policies in a big way.
0:31.6	For anyone under the age of 25 and certainly for other age groups, much of life is lived through
0:37.1	smartphones, tablets, and on social media.
0:40.2	On this episode, we are asking the question, at what cost?
0:44.8	It takes away from so many things in my life.
0:47.7	We are only just beginning to understand the impact social media and smart devices
0:52.3	have on the mental and emotional health of young
0:54.8	people whose brains are still developing. I know this is an issue that is top of mind for many of
1:01.1	you parents. When he does not have access to social media or his phone, he gets very agitated. He gets very
1:08.5	angry. He has what I would call a teenage temper tantrum.
1:14.1	Social psychologist, NYU professor, and best-selling author Jonathan Haidt, is on a mission to
1:20.0	reach parents not only about his belief of the harmful effects of smartphones and social media,
1:25.1	but also to help them take action now to prevent potential
1:30.0	long-term damage in their children.
1:33.2	It is urgent that you restore your brain.
1:36.6	You're still young.
1:37.7	But if you do this until you're 25, then the damage might be permanent.
1:41.8	Jonathan's New York Times bestseller, The Anxious Generation,
	...

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