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Updated 11/17/2023
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FEB 23

The grim news about your biological age

The longevity gold rush is underway and we hear about the latest reasons for optimism and cynicism from Steve Horvath, the developer of a 'biological clock' that is mostly used by researchers or, the curious, although some experts question whether such measurements are ready for prime time. Horvath explains the science behind his clock, the centenarian connection and the food he says can keep our biological age low. Guest: Steve Horvath is a biogerontologist, whose research lies at the intersection of epigenetic biomarkers of aging, preclinical and clinical studies, genomics, epidemiology, and comparative biology. This episode was produced by Moira Welsh, Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Matthew Hearn and Sean Pattendon.

Feb 23

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34 min
SEASON 1, EPISODE 1

Internet Addicts Anonymous

When she was 12 years old, Ava Smithing spiralled down a social media rabbit hole that nearly cost her life. A decade later, she discovered she wasn't alone: Big Tech had hijacked childhood and adolescence for an entire generation. In this ten-part investigative podcast, Ava crosses the continent to uncover a hidden digital world. She'll meet teens with millions of followers, young girls wrestling with compulsive porn use, and boys blackmailed by international cybercriminals lurking in their DMs. In the first episode of Left to Their Own Devices, Ava dives into the debate over technology addiction. The condition is absent from the official list of mental health disorders used by psychiatrists, but undeniable to those who live it. Inside an Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous meeting, she hears firsthand from people who say their lives have been consumed by screens. And, she sits down with psychiatrist Dr. Anna Lembke – author of Dopamine Nation – who's watched her patient' struggles shift from substance abuse to compulsive relationships with social media, gaming, and online content. This podcast isn't a self-help guide to digital wellness. It's a survival story from the front lines of 21st century childhood.

S1, E1

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34 min
SEASON 1, EPISODE 2

A Tale of Two Algorithms

Algorithms are the invisible engines that drive every scroll, swipe or click. And, in the last few years, it's become clear that they can devastate young lives. But Ava discovers they might also be capable of saving them. She speaks with two teens with radically different stories. When 12-year-old CeCe Neltner went online to find workout tips, her social media feeds devolved into a torrent of eating disorder content. Today, she says she's lucky to be alive. Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Keira MacDuff was battling a mysterious chronic illness that doctors dismissed as teenage drama – until TikTok's algorithm led her to a life-changing diagnosis. Did TikTok save Keira's life?

S1, E2

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32 min
SEASON 1 TRAILER

Introducing How to Live to 100 (or Die Trying)

The Toronto Star's Moira Welsh hosts How to Live to 100 or Die Trying, an uplifting, shocking, and illuminating conversation for all ages on growing older. You'll hear from a 40-something football star turned mobility mentor, a skateboarding impresario focused on death, but a good one. And a scientist who says he can measure biological age. But don't fear the reaper because he also shares a startling secret to longevity. We give traditional topics like ageism a millennial twist and go deep into the future of work. Call it freedom 75. Keeping it real throughout is blunt insight from a geriatrician who says most of that data on your wearable device is poppycock. It's quite a ride, this arc of life. You can find it on thestar.com or wherever you listen, to your favourite podcasts.

S1 Trailer

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1 min
SEASON 1, EPISODE 4

Brain Rot

Are screens rewiring kids' brains and creating a generation of depressed teens? After Jonathan Haidt published his mega-bestseller The Anxious Generation, a lot of parents became convinced that they were. But the science tells a more complicated story. Ava interviews several scientists studying technology's impact on our brains, then takes matters into her own hands. She meets up with Dr. Emma Duerden, Canada Research Chair in Neuroscience and Learning Disorders, to conduct her own experiment: monitoring a teenager's brain activity in real-time while she scrolls through her phone. What they discover might surprise you.

S1, E4

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31 min
SEASON 1, EPISODE 3

Big Tech's Origin Story

You'd be hard-pressed to find a young person who uses Facebook regularly. But to understand why social media has had such a profound, and sometimes devastating, effect on kids, you need to understand Facebook's origin story first. Ava tracks down two of Silicon Valley's most prominent insiders: Roger McNamee and Frances Haugen. Together, they trace Facebook's rise into a global behemoth and reveal how decisions made in boardrooms left millions of children vulnerable to social media's most damaging effects. Ava also speaks with Nir Eyal, author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, who explains how digital platforms are engineered to keep us coming back for more. In Eyal's world, the stickier the technology, the better. But at what cost to the next generation?

S1, E3

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29 min
SEASON 1, EPISODE 6

Yahoo Boys

The West African cybercriminals who call themselves the Yahoo Boys have perfected dozens of cons – including the infamous Nigerian Prince email scam. But recently, they've discovered something far more lucrative: the extortion of teenage boys. In just two years, sextortion cases targeting teens have exploded by 18,000 percent. The Yahoo Boys have made millions. And they've left a trail of devastation in their wake that has reached even the most remote communities. In a tiny Manitoba town, one family is still piecing their lives back together after their son became a victim of a deadly sextortion scam. Their story reveals how quickly a predator can weaponize shame – and how little stands between our kids and catastrophe. The platforms know about this crisis. Snapchat alone receives 10,000 reports of sextortion every month. Yet the scams continue, largely unchecked. So one man has decided to do something about it. Cyber analyst Paul Raffile has made it his mission to infiltrate the Yahoo Boys' networks, expose their methods, and bring them to justice – even when no one else will.

S1, E6

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36 min
SEASON 1, EPISODE 5

Blackmailed

Like a lot of lonely teenagers, Sarah found refuge on social media. In her lowest moments, she'd reach for her phone, connecting with strangers on Snapchat and Wizz – an app that's been called "Tinder for kids." But those digital friendships quickly became something more sinister. A torrent of older male users solicited her, and then, when she spurned their advances, blackmailed her. For years, Sarah's life was in turmoil. And then she met a woman named Carol Todd, who took her under her wing. Carol understood what Sarah was going through, because the same thing had happened to her daughter, Amanda Todd, more than a decade earlier. Now, Carol and Sarah are demanding change. What will it take to keep young women safe on the internet?

S1, E5

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29 min
SEASON 1, EPISODE 9

The Worst Sex Ed Class Ever

The numbers are staggering. In the US, 71% of teenagers say they've watched porn in the last week. In Canada, 88% of boys have seen it by the age of fourteen. And in the UK, one in four kids have been exposed to pornography by the time they turn eleven. Even more alarming: this early consumption has been linked to rising rates of domestic violence among teens. In this episode, Ava meets Harrison and Nat – two young people whose journeys began on gaming platforms, and ended in the throes of compulsive porn use. Their stories might sound extreme, but they're part of a troubling pattern: kids are encountering pornography younger and younger, often when they're not even looking for it. What happens when an entire generation learns about the birds and the bees from extreme, often violent, online pornography?

S1, E9

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36 min
SEASON 1, EPISODE 7

See You in Court

In the absence of meaningful regulation, thousands of young people are now looking to the justice system to hold Big Tech accountable. In this episode, we go inside three landmark lawsuits that could finally force social media companies to answer for the damage they've done. New Mexico's Attorney General, Raul Torrez, has seen the darkest corners of the internet. After twenty years prosecuting child sex crimes, he knows exactly where predators hunt today: social media. In a groundbreaking lawsuit against Meta, Torrez is alleging that Facebook and Instagram have become a "breeding ground for predators". And he's determined to change that. Meanwhile, in Toronto, Duncan Embury is spearheading a lawsuit on behalf of twenty three different school boards in Ontario. School boards who say that Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram have made teaching next to impossible. Duncan and his team believe that these platforms are knowingly targeting kids while they're at school. And he says that if that doesn't stop, these platforms won't just disrupt education. They'll destroy it. On the other side of the continent, Laura Marquez Garrett is representing more than 4,000 kids who allege they've been broken by social media. And Laura is seeing some disturbing patterns in their stories. Patterns that suggest – not just that social media companies are harming kids – but that they know it.

S1, E7

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37 min

The Star Podcasts are part of the Toronto Star, a multi-platform news organization that informs, connects, investigates, reports and effects change. The purpose of the Toronto Star is to keep our audience informed about what matters most to them, to help make their life, community, country and world better.

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