With his 2012 article, "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?" writer Stephen Marche helped to establish an early framework for interrogating the real impacts of digital connections. Our conversation with Dr. Marche examines how those early ideas have developed over the past seven years, how our digital and analog lives interact today, and where things might be headed.

We spend some time discussing the impact our devices, device usage, and our digital lives have on how we see ourselves in the parental role. Join us as we share insight and understanding with NPR's lead education blogger Anya Kamenetz to explore the interplay between parenting and technology usage.

We sat down to speak with social media influencer and lifestyle blogger Mandy Ansari to discuss some of the positive effects of social media and new technology.

We share in a conversation with Weber University Professors Susan Matt and Luke Fernandez to discuss how our emotional states have changed in the face of technology, and how we are responding to those changes. The new book, Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Changing Feelings about Technology, from the Telegraph to Twitter was published earlier this year by Harvard University Press.

During this second episode of The Unplug Challenge, we collaborate with a renowned philosopher of technology to discuss choices between engagement and disengagement, between focal life and mere consumption, and how to exercise real power over our lives through choosing wisely.

This first full episode of The Unplug Challenge podcast shares reflections about the impact our devices have on our lives, our minds, and our health. Mandana invites Joseph McCarty into a conversation about our changing cognitive abilities as they debate whether we are losing our ability to think deeply and critically when we need to.

Join the discussion about how our devices affect our cognitive abilities, our professional performance, and our interpersonal relationships. Share insight with thinkers and industry figures as we develop solid strategies for using technology that make the most of its benefits and mitigate negative effects.