iPad parents

When your aging parents can’t put down their phones, where does care end and control begin? In this episode, Vox reporter and producer Miles Bryan talks with internet culture reporter Jessica Lucas about the older adults who are getting hooked on AI-generated videos, and their grown children who are trying to intervene. Her reporting follows families navigating sleepless nights, health misinformation, subscription traps, and an uncomfortable reversal: the parents who may have once warned their kids about screen time as children, now need help managing their own. They explore how grief and loneliness can draw people into endless scrolling, who profits from keeping them there, and what researchers can (and can’t) tell us about the effects on the aging brain. They also consider the ethical questions facing families who secretly change passwords, curate feeds, or install restrictions. How do you protect someone without taking away their independence, or the online connections that still bring them joy? Host: Miles Bryan, Vox Reporter and Producer Guest: Jessica Lucas, reporter of the New York Magazine article, "The Adult Children Cleaning Up Their Parents’ Feeds" 00:00 Intro 01:43 How do parents become “screenagers”? 09:32 When does scrolling become dangerous? 11:37 What are our phones helping us escape? 14:51 How is this different from watching TV all day? 20:41 What do we know about screens and the aging brain? 24:17 Does it matter if the content is fake? 30:19 When does protecting your parents become controlling them?We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices