The Kyle Thiermann Show #398 Navigating an AI Childhood w/ NY Times Writer Jess Grose
Oct 17, 2025
Join Jess Grose, an opinion writer for The New York Times and author, as she dives into the complexities of parenting in the digital age. Explore how youth sports are turning into a pay-to-play system and the importance of public access for all. Jess emphasizes the necessity of unstructured play for kids and warns about the potential downsides of AI chatbots on resilience. With her insights on fostering independence, the value of a good editor, and the decline of organized religion, this conversation is both thought-provoking and enlightening.
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Episode notes
Restore Accessible Youth Sports
- Push for more public, low-cost youth sports and community rec programs to keep athletics accessible to all kids.
- Advocate for city investment and philanthropy to replace pay-to-play privatization that excludes lower-income families.
Play Beats Polarization
- Shared physical play creates social bonds that can outsize political differences and restore humor to relationships.
- Team activities reduce polarization by focusing people on common goals and play, not identities.
Trail Crew Summer Changed Her View
- Jess volunteered on a trail crew at Teddy Roosevelt National Forest and spent a summer building trail and sleeping outside.
- The experience taught her physical limits, wonder, and respect for wild places while curing her of wanting to sleep outside forever.
