S2.E1. The Commercialization of Childhood—with guest Susan Linn, author, psychologist

Send us a text

We interview Susan Linn about her new book, Who’s Raising the Kids: Big Tech, Big Business, and the Lives of Children. It turns out we've all been indoctrinated from a young age to value buying things due to the United States' lax child protection policies for advertising. 

Susan Linn is a psychologist, award-winning ventriloquist, and world-renowned expert on creative play and the impact of media and commercial marketing on children. She was the Founding  Director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (now called Fairplay) and is currently a research associate at Boston Children's Hospital and lecturer on psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. The author of Consuming Kids, The Case for Make Believe, and Who's Raising the Kids?  

Susan and her work have been featured on the stage of  TED, as well as on “TODAY”, “Good Morning America,” “60 Minutes,” “The Colbert Report,”  “Dateline,” NPR’s “Marketplace,” The New York Times, The Washington Post, POLITICO, TIME, The  Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, and many other outlets. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts. Find her at consumingkids.com or on twitter at @drsusanlinn.

00:00 Intro

Anne and Alison talk about kids and tech these days including Ryan Kaji, "The Boy King of YouTube," and the Wren Eleanor controversy. We talk about "the Britney Spears effect," in which kids are growing up thinking they have to be successful at a very young age. We compare and contrast Madonna's 80's fame with Britney's 90s fame.

11:37 Interview with Dr. Susan Linn

Show notes.

Audio mastering by Josh Collins.

Music by Próxima Parada.

Follow us on Instagram.
Check out our bonus YouTube content.
Latchkey Urchins & Friends website.
Audio mastering by Josh Collins.
Song "One Cloud is Lonely" by Próxima Parada.
Cover art by Claire Dierksen.