The 2023 season of the UnschoolingFuture Podcast was devoted to children on the internet, their digital rights and access to information.

It's because I’m writing and illustrating FREE TO BROWSE, a comics journalism project in progress about coming of age online.

It delves into the stories of vulnerable teens, including my transgender son, for whom the internet has served as a crucial lifeline. 

Expected in 2025!

Free to Browse with Peter Gray
Education, Technology, Mental Health, Future Sophia Kornienko Education, Technology, Mental Health, Future Sophia Kornienko

Free to Browse with Peter Gray

What are the actual reasons why children and teens are so stressed out? By controlling their online lives, are we taking the last vestige of freedom that children and teens had? What is the tipping point theory of social change and when can we expect a wider acceptance of children’s ability to self-direct their learning and possibly less discrimination of youngsters as a minority?

For this episode, I had the honor to sit down with my long time hero Peter Gray, research professor at Boston College, famous for his studies of children’s play and self-directed learning. Professor Gray is also the author of Psychology, an introductory textbook that has survived many editions, and of the hugely popular book Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life.

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Free to Browse with Bill Budington and Jason Kelley (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
Education, Media, Technology, Society, Future Sophia Kornienko Education, Media, Technology, Society, Future Sophia Kornienko

Free to Browse with Bill Budington and Jason Kelley (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

What are the main concerns about the newly introduced Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)? What are the stumbling blocks on the way to tech literacy and proficiency? Why, in the 21st century liberal West, do we see so much talent and resources going into surveillance tech and what strategies will today’s young minds pick to survive this phase in the internet’s development? Is it just a phase? To quote my son Simon, "I still find it astonishing that it's a privacy law that kids should not have any privacy”.

For this episode, I sat down with the digital freedoms nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). I hope you enjoy this conversation with Bill Budington, senior staff technologist on EFF's Public Interest Technology team and Jason Kelley, EFF’s associate director of digital strategy.

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