About This Episode
America's birth rate has fallen dramatically over the past two decades—but why? Michael speaks with Middlebury College economist Caitlin Myers about her provocative research linking the rise of smartphones to declining fertility. Using the iPhone's early AT&T-exclusive rollout as a natural experiment, Myers argues that smartphones may have fundamentally changed how people socialize, date, and form relationships. The conversation explores loneliness, social media, pornography, and whether technology has reshaped modern life in ways nobody anticipated. Is the smartphone merely correlated with falling birth rates—or could it be a cause? Original air date 23 June 2026. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.