Parents Uncharted: From The Creator of Mom Uncharted

“I won’t go faceless.” Sarah has been sent a growing number of posts from parents defending the decision to keep showing their children online, even as AI makes it easier to copy and manipulate a child’s image. In this solo episode, she takes on five of their most common arguments, including the claim that keeping children off social media somehow makes them invisible. Sarah explains why audience,...

Adults spend a great deal of time talking about what young people experience online, what they need and how we should protect them. But how often do we stop talking about young people and actually listen to them? In this episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah speaks with Hanna Grover, a youth advocate, researcher and recent high school graduate from British Columbia. Hanna is also the founder of Poet...

Research from Common Sense Media found that nearly three in four teenagers have been exposed to online pornography, with the average first exposure happening around age 12. For many children, however, exposure happens even earlier, sometimes accidentally and through places parents would never expect. So how early should parents begin talking about pornography? What can we say without giving young...

Meta has agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle lawsuits brought by nearly every U.S. state over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were intentionally designed to keep young people engaged while exposing them to serious harm. It’s being called a historic victory, and even Big Tech’s “Big Tobacco moment, “ but Meta admitted no wrongdoing, billions of dollars are conditional, many of the new...

Technology has changed dramatically in just a few years, but has our approach to parenting kids online kept up? This week on Parents Uncharted, Sarah sits down with Dr. Devorah Heitner, author of Growing Up in Public and Screenwise, for a nuanced conversation about raising kids in an increasingly connected, tracked, and AI-powered world. Devorah explains why the explosion of generative AI has crea...

How much of your child's school day is actually happening on a screen, and is that technology helping them learn? This week on Parents Uncharted, Sarah sits down with Emily Cherkin, former middle school teacher, author of The Screen Time Solution, founder of The Screen Time Consultant, and writer behind First Fish Chronicles, for a conversation about the rapid expansion of EdTech in schools. Emily...

Back-to-school season used to mean pencils, notebooks and maybe a new pair of shoes. Now, open TikTok or YouTube and you can find kids displaying hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars worth of clothes, makeup, skincare and accessories in elaborate “back-to-school hauls.” But this episode isn't really about one teenager with a pile of shopping bags, it's about the culture we've created around o...

Why can watching someone online begin to feel like knowing them, and when does that attachment become unhealthy? In this episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah speaks with Dr. Jess Maddox, an associate professor of media studies at the University of Georgia and founding editor-in-chief of Creator and Influencer Studies. Jess explains what parasocial relationships actually are, why they are not inhere...

What does it cost to build a platform around motherhood when your identity, marriage and parenting choices are constantly open to public debate? In this episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah speaks with Renee Reina, creator and host of The Mom Room, about the changing world of motherhood content and what it means to build a community while being publicly perceived. Renee explains how the isolation o...

Video games are often treated as one more screen to limit, a source of family conflict or a threat to children’s well-being. But what if parents are asking the wrong questions about gaming? In this episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah speaks with Dr. Rachel Kowert and Arana Shapiro from Games for Change about how families can approach video games with less fear, more curiosity and better informatio...

What happens when the person giving you health advice is also making money from your fear? Wellness influencers often appear relatable, confident and deeply invested in helping their audiences live healthier lives. But behind the personal stories, aspirational routines and seemingly educational content, there may also be affiliate links, unregulated products, exaggerated claims and carefully const...

Ray-Ban Meta glasses are being sold as stylish, convenient and increasingly inevitable. But when an ordinary-looking pair of glasses can record the people around you, who is responsible for consent, and who carries the risk? In this solo episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah examines the growing normalization of camera-enabled smart glasses and why parents should be paying attention. Unlike a phone...

What happens when a child’s disability, diagnosis, medical journey, or private care needs become content online? In this episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah Adams is joined by author, speaker, content creator, and disability advocate Sarah Todd Hammer for an honest conversation about disability representation, social media visibility, and the ethics of parents sharing their children’s lives online...

Youth sports are supposed to build confidence, resilience, teamwork, and a lifelong love of movement but somewhere between travel teams, year-round training, private coaching, highlight reels, athlete branding, and the pressure to earn a scholarship, many families are asking the same question: Have youth sports become too serious, too soon? This week on Parents Uncharted, Sarah is joined by Dr. Je...

What happens when a child is raised as content, and then grows up in front of the same audience that watched her childhood unfold? In this episode, Sarah is joined by investigative journalist Kat Tenbarge, author of Spitfire News, for an important conversation about kidfluencer culture, creator exploitation, parasocial audiences, and the attention economy shaping the next generation. Kat has spent...

What are kids actually struggling with today? In this episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah sits down with school counselor, speaker, and digital safety advocate Nate Webb to discuss what he's seeing firsthand in schools and communities across the country. From anxiety and social media to group chats, pornography, AI chatbots, boredom, resilience, and the growing pressure facing young people, Nate s...

If you've ever felt like the digital world is changing faster than parents can keep up, this episode is for you. In this solo episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah breaks down some of the headlines that caught her attention recently and explains why they matter for families raising kids in a connected world. From a new form of cyberbullying known as "lunch shaming" to major lawsuits against social m...

If you've ever wondered when to have "the talk," how to answer difficult questions about sex and relationships, or how to prepare your child for a world where pornography, social media, and AI are only a click away, this episode is for you. In this episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah sits down with sex educator and content creator Kathleen Hema for an honest conversation about one of the most inti...

*Disclaimer* This episode mentions suicide. Listener discretion is advised. If you’ve ever wondered how gambling became so normalized in youth culture, or why sports betting, prediction markets, casino-style games, and gambling content suddenly seem to be everywhere online - this episode is for you. In this episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah sits down with Rob Minnick of ODAAT Gambling Awareness,...

If you’ve ever looked at your feed and thought “Something feels… off” this episode is for you. In this episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah sits down with media producer and AI analyst Jeremy Carrasco to unpack the rapidly growing presence of AI-generated content online and why so many parents feel overwhelmed trying to navigate it. From deepfakes and AI influencers to disturbing algorithmic pipeli...

What happens when reality TV fame collides with influencer culture, motherhood, and the growing conversation around children’s privacy online? In this episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah sits down with former reality star Cortney Hendrix to unpack the reality TV-to-influencer pipeline, the hidden pressures of content culture, and why she ultimately chose not to share her children online. Drawing f...

If you’ve ever wondered whether social media bans are actually the answer to keeping kids safe online, or if they just feel like the answer, this episode is for you. In this solo episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah unpacks the growing global push to ban social media for kids and teens, and why, despite understanding the concern, she’s not convinced it’s the solution. Drawing on emerging policy con...

If you’ve ever wondered how to talk to your kids about online safety without scaring them or pushing them away, this episode is for you. In this episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah sits down with Fareedah Shaheed (CyberFareedah), a cybersecurity expert, educator, and survivor of online grooming, to unpack what’s actually happening behind the screens our kids use every day. Drawing from her lived e...

Parenting has changed - and there’s no universal guidebook for raising kids in a world of smartphones, social media, and constant connectivity. In this episode of Parents Uncharted, I sit down with Cat & Nat; the creators of The Common Parent and the Screen Sense Guide. We talk about what modern parenting actually looks like when your kids are growing up online. Because here’s the reality: their k...

This Episode is brought to you by presenting partner, Proton. Your kids deserve privacy before the internet decides otherwise. Give them a clean digital start by reserving a Proton Mail email for them by going to ⁠⁠proton.me/momuncharted ⁠⁠and share this with a friend who needs to hear it. Every child is Born Private, and it should stay that way. What are we really being sold when we scroll? In th...