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Kids Don't Need Phones with Jonathan Haidt

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Nov 18, 2025

Guest

Jonathan Haidt

Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist and bestselling author, discusses the alarming impact of smartphones on youth mental health. He traces the shift in parenting from 1990s free play to today’s supervised childhood and connects increasing anxiety in teens to the rise of smartphones after 2010. Haidt reveals harsh realities like eating disorders linked to social media and advocates for phone-free schools and responsible tech use. He emphasizes community and shared experiences as vital for protecting childhood in the digital age.

01:20:16

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INSIGHT

Two-Act Tragedy That Altered Childhood

Childhood changed in two acts: reduced free play in the 1990s and phone-based puberty after 2010.
Phones turned puberty into an attention-economy spectacle damaging teens' mental health.

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ANECDOTE

Algorithm-Driven Path To An Eating Disorder

A bright 10–11-year-old was algorithmically pushed from exercise content to pro-anorexia material and required hospitalization.
The family's life was devastated and recovery has been long and difficult.

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ANECDOTE

Snapchat's Design Linked To A Teen Death

Amy Neville's son bought drugs via Snapchat, which enabled dealers to reach children, and died from a fentanyl-laced pill.
Haidt argues Snapchat's design (ephemeral messages, stranger access) made it deadly for kids.

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How Childhood Was Transformed in the 1990s

05:10 • 6min

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Why Teens' Mental Health Declined After 2010

10:42 • 3min

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Real-Life Harms: Eating Disorders and Drug Overdoses

14:02 • 4min

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Holding Tech Companies Accountable

17:59 • 4min

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Different Impacts on Girls and Boys

21:41 • 6min

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How the Phone-Free Schools Movement Grew Fast

27:42 • 6min

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Industry Responses and Surprising Allies

34:06 • 46sec

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AI's Coming Threat to Childhood Relationships

34:52 • 5min

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Practical Advice for Parents of 1–12-Year-Olds

40:07 • 2min

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How to Manage Teen Phone and Social Media Use

41:40 • 4min

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Modeling Adult Phone Behavior

How Social Media Dehumanizes and Shapes Identity

51:36 • 4min

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Regulatory Analogies: Cars and Seatbelts

55:41 • 2min

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Religion, Rituals, and Social Cohesion

57:18 • 4min

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Audience Questions: Anonymity, Gen Z, and Recovery

01:01:19 • 11min

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Creator Perspective: Content vs. Design

01:12:21 • 3min

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How to Talk to Your Tween About Delaying Social Media

01:15:30 • 2min

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You probably know Jonathan Haidt as the guy trying to save your kids from smartphones and social media apps. Likely you’ve read The Anxious Generation, which has been translated into 44 languages and sold nearly 2 million copies. One might say that Jon is Elvis for 21st century moms who don't understand Discord.

But when Haidt gets written about decades from now, it will be for much more than this book and the powerful movement that came out of it. He will be regarded as one of the most important writers of this epoch.

Because he has this remarkable ability to understand—and explain—our social condition. He holds up a mirror to us.

He did it with his book The Righteous Mind, which explained why people are so passionately divided over politics and religion. He did it again with The Coddling of the American Mind, cowritten with Greg Lukianoff, which explored why young people—especially on college campuses—can become totally intolerant of opposing views. And in his latest book, The Anxious Generation, he asked the obvious question: Why are teens suddenly so unhappy? Why are they losing attention, self-confidence, and the ability to socialize? Perhaps it has something to do with the mesmerizing device in their hands.

In a world gone mad, Haidt has turned common sense into a radical mission. Bari sat down with him in front of a live audience in New York City to talk about how we got here—and where we go from here.

Learn more about Anthropic’s AI assistant Claude at: Claude.ai/honestly

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