The Oprah Podcast
Oprah and Jonathan Haidt on How Kids Can Choose Fun and Freedom in a Screen Filled World
Tue, 20 May 2025
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@Oprah BUY THE BOOK! Catherine Price and Jonathan Haidt’s newly announced book, The Amazing Generation: How To Choose Fun And Freedom In A Screen Filled World will be available December 30, 2025 wherever books are sold. It is also available for pre-order now. “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. 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. https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/ Catherine Price’s book, “How to Break Up with Your Phone” is available wherever books are sold. In this episode of “The Oprah Podcast,” Oprah talks to bestselling authors Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price who share their perspectives on how young people can reclaim their childhoods from the grips of technology. Jonathan’s book The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness has been on the New York Times bestseller list for over a year. Catherine Price is the award-winning science journalist and author of How to Break Up With Your Phone and The Power of Fun. During this conversation, both Jonathan and Catherine offer solutions and hope for parents and teens who are struggling with the negative impact of smartphones and social media. We will also hear from several teenagers who have come up with their own creative ideas to avoid falling into the smartphone trap. Learn more about Catherine Price Sign up for her How to Feel Alive Substack newsletter Follow @catherinepriceofficial on Instagram Learn more about the Luddite Club: https://www.theludditeclub.org/ 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
Chapter 1: What is the main topic of this episode?
Hi, everybody, and welcome to the Oprah Podcast. I just want to say thank you for taking the time to be with us because we're talking about a lot of good things here that I sincerely hope can enhance your own life. Many of you have either bought or maybe heard of Jonathan Haidt's mega bestselling book, The Anxious Generation. And if you haven't heard, then you're late to the party because
because this is a book that all parents are using to help them navigate the firestorms going on in their homes about smartphones and social media for their children.
On this episode, I'm talking with social psychologist and number one New York Times bestselling author, Jonathan Haidt, who offers solutions and hope for parents and teens who are struggling with the negative impact of social media and smartphones.
I am incredibly optimistic that we are going to roll this back. The phone-based childhood only arrived 12 years ago. We can get rid of it, and I think we're going to.
We're joined by Katherine Price, an award-winning science journalist and author of several bestselling books, including How to Break Up with Your Phone and The Power of Fun.
I've heard from young people who say that their entire childhoods were stolen from them, that they basically feel like they have no memories of their teenage years because they spent all of their time on their phones.
We'll hear from teens who've come up with their own practical and creative ideas to avoid falling into the smartphone trap.
And I was in my bed watching TikTok for eight to 10 hours every day. So I reached a breaking point and I powered off my smartphone and I put it in a box in my parents' room.
So one of the things that Jonathan Haidt says in The Anxious Generation is that social media has literally rewired childhood as we know it. And he's back on this podcast this time with a big announcement about his next book. Welcome, Jonathan Haidt and your new co-author, science writer Catherine Price. So tell us the news, Jonathan.
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Chapter 2: How can kids reclaim their childhood from technology?
So lots of food for thought. But I heard you say you're not planning on getting a smartphone. Is that what you're saying? You are getting a smartphone, but they're not going to be exposed to social media.
That's the plan. Yes.
Yes. Yeah. Well, thank you, Pete and Lindsay. Thank you so much. Have you read The Ancient Generation? Have you read it? Do you have the book? Okay, fantastic.
We do. And I had the pleasure of seeing Jonathan speak through my work as well. So great work. Thank you for coming.
Thank you. Thank you both for being here. Good luck. Good luck. Thank you so much. Thank you. Last year in the Oprah Daily Life class I hosted with Jonathan, we met the Sorrell family, who at the time did not allow their children to have smartphones or social media. Michael, Natalie, and their 14-year-old son, Mike, join us now from Paul Quinn College in Dallas, where Michael is president.
Michael, have you had any second thoughts about your decision?
None. No second thoughts.
No second thoughts. You know, Mike, I often think of you. I don't know. I was somewhere recently. I was saying, I wonder if that if that young boy, Mike, if he ever talked his dad into getting the phone and how is he doing in the world? How are you doing in the world, Mike?
I'm doing well. I'm doing pretty well. I have not convinced him yet at all, actually, but I'm working on it. I got some more time, so I'm working on it.
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Chapter 3: What are the negative impacts of smartphones on kids?
And what I said was very heartfelt. And I mean it even more right now. It's very true.
I love you too much to worry about if you're going to like me. Okay.
And I just want to say one thing to Mike, which is what a lot of us are noticing is that the kids who are raised without smartphones, they're really present. There's a coolness. There's a strength. They're like real people. Yeah. And the kids who are always on their phones are like non-playable characters on a video game.
And so even though you feel excluded, you're being excluded from a world of losers, frankly. And in the long run, you are going to be cool because you're going to actually be able to be present. You're going to be a lot more attracted to girls, I'll tell you that. He's going to be able to connect. You can look them in the eye and have a conversation and connect. That's right.
Catherine, what would you add?
I won't comment on your future romantic prospects, but I would say that your guys are clearly amazing, right? Like these are the stories we're trying to amplify in The Amazing Generation. And Mike, I'm going to say, I know you're pushing back on your parents right now, but. If you pretend they're not here right now, I don't know.
I kind of get the sense that you kind of know you're amazing and that this is a cool thing about you. And I was just wondering if you for one second could pretend your parents were not sitting next to you or maybe it's OK. But can you tell us something you feel like you have gained or something that makes you unique because you don't have a phone that actually is positive?
Because I'm getting that sense from you that there are many of those things you're aware of.
Oh, I guess it's kind of like I kind of get to do my own thing at times. Like when my friends are like, hey, are you going to this? Hey, are you doing this? Hey, are you there? I'm like, no, I'm just hanging out with my family. I'm doing my own thing. I'm playing basketball. Like there's parts about me that I just don't know. And I think that might be part of why. I think that might be part of it.
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