Social Media Goes to Court

About this episode

<p>In the book “The Anxious Generation,” Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University, argues that social-media platforms are detrimental to youths’ well-being, and that society needs to treat them as literally addictive. It has spent nearly a hundred weeks on the New York <i>Times</i> best-seller list, and has helped galvanize a movement seeking limits to social media in legislatures, in school districts, and in the courts. David Remnick speaks with Haidt about an Australian law to verify the age of social-media users, the first of its kind in the world, and about lawsuits in California that are aiming to pin liability for harms on social-media companies themselves. </p> <p><strong>Further reading: </strong></p> <ul> <li>“<a href="https://www.worldhappiness.report/news/leading-experts-to-examine-the-impact-of-social-media-in-world-happiness-report-2026/" rel="noopener noreferrer">World Happiness Report 2026</a>,” featuring a contribution from Jonathan Haidt and other researchers </li> <li>“<a href="https://www.afterbabel.com/p/mountains-of-evidence" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mountains of Evidence</a>,” by Jonathan Haidt</li> </ul> <p>New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, <i>New Yorker</i> staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.</p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>