MissPerceived

Should kids be on social media? Or should we ban it entirely?
In this episode of Misperceived, we tackle one of the most complicated parenting questions today: social media and children.
Parents everywhere are struggling to figure out the right approach. Should kids have smartphones early so they can learn how to navigate the digital world? Should parents strictly monitor and limit access? Or should children stay off social media entirely until they’re older?
The truth is—there’s no simple answer.
As a social scientist who studies the mental load, I’ve heard from countless parents who say that monitoring their children’s digital lives is one of the biggest sources of stress and cognitive burden they face today. From worrying about online safety and misinformation to navigating addictive algorithms and social pressure, parents are being asked to manage something previous generations never had to deal with.
In this episode, we explore:
Why social media creates a huge mental load for parents
The challenge of raising kids in a digital-first world
Why government bans on social media for teens may not work
How algorithms and addictive content affect young people
The growing problem of misinformation and polarization online
Why parents cannot solve this problem alone
What a society-wide response to social media addiction might look like
We also talk about what it means to help kids become responsible digital citizens, how to have honest conversations about what they see online, and why this issue requires solutions from families, tech companies, schools, and governments—not just parents.
If you’re a parent, educator, or anyone trying to understand how technology is shaping the next generation, this episode is for you.
Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Misperceived, Leah unpacks the “gray tsunami” and explains why the real future-of-work crisis isn’t just AI—it’s caregiving. She widens the lens on care beyond moms and little kids to include aging parents, partners, friends, disabled family members, and even our future selves, showing how this rising care demand is slamming into already maxed‑out mental loads and pushing especially women out of the labor market. Leah breaks down what an aging population means for our economies, workplaces, and daily lives, why relying on families’ unpaid labor and low‑wage workers is an unsustainable strategy, and how putting care—not just GDP and productivity—at the center could spark new policies, business models, and community solutions. You’ll be invited to imagine what a “care-first” society and workplace might look like, and how we can start building it before the wave fully hits.
Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Misperceived, Leah asks a deceptively simple question: Is it actually your fault—or did society make you do it? Drawing on her training as a sociologist and her book Drained: Reduce Your Mental Load to Do Less and Be More, she breaks down what sociology is (and how it’s different from psychology) and shows how invisible social norms quietly script our choices, behaviors, and sense of failure. From the myth that women are “naturally” great multitaskers to the pressure to be the perfect mom with the perfect home—and the stereotype that dads are inherently bad at caregiving—Leah reveals how these stories overload women, sideline men, and keep everyone stuck. You’ll learn how to spot when you’re carrying the blame for broken systems instead of actual mistakes, how to question the “shoulds,” “musts,” and “what ifs” running your life, and how to start using sociology as your superpower so you can move through the world with more agency, less guilt, and a lot more self-compassion.
Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Misperceived, Leah gets honest about her late-night doomscrolling habit and why “just checking your phone” leaves so many women wired, anxious, and exhausted the next day. Drawing from her research and her upcoming book Drained: Reduce Your Mental Load to Do Less and Be More, she explains how constant exposure to heavy news and social media pings our mental load to care, to keep our families safe, and to emotionally support others—draining the limited energy we need for work, parenting, and showing up in the world with any sense of power or hope. You’ll learn how to see doomscrolling as a mental load leak instead of a moral obligation, what to do in those 2 a.m. wakeups instead, and how to realign your time, feeds, and attention so you can actually rest and still have capacity to take meaningful action on the things you care about.
Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Misperceived, Leah pulls back the curtain on a powerful mental load category from her forthcoming book, Drained: Reduce Your Mental Load to Do Less and Be More—dream building. She explains how women’s dreams get quietly starved as they carry invisible, boundaryless, and enduring thinking work for their families, workplaces, and communities, and why that’s a loss for everyone, not just women. Leah digs into why work and caregiving feel impossible to combine, why so many women are stepping out of the labor market, and how ageism and a rapidly changing, AI-driven economy make it so hard to get back in. You’ll hear why you cannot personally fix broken systems, why adaptability is now a core future-of-work skill, and how the Mental Load Audit can help you make small, strategic shifts toward the life you actually want—without burning yourself out trying to “do it all.”
Follow Leah: @prof.leahruppanner
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.