LIVE from NYPL: Which Side of History: Chelsea Clinton and Jim Steyer

The Clinton Foundation vice chair and founder of Common Sense Media discuss the changing impacts of tech on the mental and physical health of kids and teens.

A recent report by Common Sense Media shows that during the pandemic, social media has helped to keep young people connected and informed. Tech offers resources for health, self-care, empowerment, and self-expression. At the same time, exposure to hate speech online is up significantly, and young people who report moderate to severe depression are nearly twice as likely to be on social media constantly. How tech is impacting the health of kids and families is among the many questions in the new book, Which Side of History? How Technology is Reshaping Democracy and Our Lives, released by Common Sense Media founder and CEO Jim Steyer. Steyer speaks with one of the book's contributors, Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation. They'll explore the changing relationship, for better and for worse, between teens and tech. What are the impacts on mental health, critical thinking, empathy, and more? How are opportunity gaps and the digital divide impacting who benefits most? And what do youth need from adults to help manage their relationships to technology?

Presented in partnership with Common Sense Media.

The program will be streamed live on this page. If you encounter any issues, please join us on NYPL's YouTube channel.

• Borrow: NYPL Catalog ; Bookshare
• E-Book app: SimplyE, available on iOS and Android
• Purchase: The Library Shop — proceeds benefit the New York Public Library

• Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology & the Business of Keeping Us Hooked by Adam Alter — NYPL Catalog ; NYPL Digital Books ; Bookshare
• Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Digital World by Cal Newport —

  NYPL Catalog ; NYPL Talking Books ; Bookshare

• The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age by Catherine Steiner-Adair — NYPL Catalog ; Bookshare
• Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal — NYPL Catalog ; Bookshare
• Glow Kids by Nicholas Kardaras — NYPL Catalog ; Bookshare
• The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr —

  NYPL Catalog ; Bookshare

• It’s Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired, & Get Going! by Chelsea Clinton —

  NYPL Catalog ; NYPL Talking Books ; Bookshare

Jim Steyer is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Common Sense Media, the nation's leading independent nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a powerful voice for kids and families in the 21st century. He is also the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Center for the Next Generation, as well as the author of two highly-acclaimed books, Talking Back to Facebook and The Other Parent: The Inside Story of the Media's Effect on our Children. Jim is an award-winning Consulting Professor at Stanford University, where he has taught popular courses on civil rights, civil liberties, and education for more than 25 years. He appears regularly on national television and radio programs as an expert commentator and children's advocate. Last, but most importantly, he's a dad of four great kids. 

Chelsea Clinton, as vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, works alongside the Foundation's leadership and partners to help create economic opportunity, improve public health, and inspire civic engagement and service across the United States and around the world. In particular, Chelsea focuses on promoting early brain and language development through the Too Small to Fail initiative, and uplifting/empowering female entrepreneurs and women-led businesses around the world through initiatives like the Caribbean-focused Women in Renewable Energy (WIRE) Network. She also serves on the boards of the Clinton Health Access Initiative and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. In addition to her Foundation work, Chelsea also teaches at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and has written several books for young readers, including the #1 New York Times bestselling She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World as well as She Persisted Around the World; She Persisted in Sports; Start Now! You Can Make a Difference;  Don't Let Them Disappear; and It's Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going. She is also the co-author of The Book of Gutsy Women and Grandma's Gardens , with her mom Hillary Clinton, and of Governing Global Health: Who Runs the World and Why? with Devi Sridhar. Chelsea holds a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford, a Masters of Public Health from Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health, and both a Master of Philosophy and a Doctorate in international relations from Oxford University. She lives with her husband Marc, their children Charlotte, Aidan and Jasper, and dog Soren in New York City. 

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