Left To Their Own Devices

Left To Their Own Devices

Toronto Star
Weekly podcast.
We gave children the most powerful tools in human history. Then, we left them to their own devices.

When she was 12 years old, Ava Smithing spiraled down a social media rabbit hole that nearly cost her life. A decade later, she discovered she wasn't alone: Big Tech had rewritten childhood and adolescence for her entire generation. Armed with questions and a year to find answers, Ava embarked on a cross-continent investigation into a hidden digital world. She met teens in 12-step programs for social media addiction, young girls wrestling with compulsive porn use, and boys who had been blackmailed by international cybercriminals.

This isn't a self-help guide to digital wellness. It's a survival story from the front lines of 21st century childhood: where young people are re-writing the playbook for what it means to be human in a hyperconnected world.
12 episodes  •  0 archived  •  
S1 E10·
Nov 21, 2025
Nov 21, 2025
30 mins
S1 E9·
Nov 14, 2025
Nov 14, 2025
35 mins
S1 E8·
Nov 7, 2025
Nov 7, 2025
25 mins
S1 E7·
Oct 31, 2025
Oct 31, 2025
36 mins
S1 E6·
Oct 24, 2025
Oct 24, 2025
36 mins
S1 E5·
Oct 17, 2025
Oct 17, 2025
29 mins
S1 E4·
Oct 10, 2025
Oct 10, 2025
30 mins