It started with a Toy Story 5 trailer and a hunch that the tablet is the villain. It ended somewhere more serious.
This episode, Elizabeth follows the thread from a Leap Frog product placement rabbit hole to something that’s been sitting with her: for the first time in history, there will be kids who grow up barely playing with toys — not because they don’t have them, but because something more addictive got there first.
This isn’t a “kids today” rant. It’s an honest look at what screen saturation actually costs — in empathy, in development, in the small moments that sneak up on you in a carpool line. Elizabeth reflects on what she would have done differently had tablets existed when she was raising her own kids (spoiler: she would have handed them over constantly and never forgiven herself), and why the fact that she couldn’t is one of the things she’s most grateful for.
Also: Edith Wharton predicted the Kardashians. The Custom of the Country is this episode’s Radiant Recommends, and the case is airtight.
The alarm has been sounded. It hasn’t taken hold. So we sound it again.
