Former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy joins Mixed Signals to make the case that America's loneliness crisis is a public health emergency — and that social media is a bigger driver of it than almost anything else we're paying attention to. Max and Ben ask Vivek why he chose to focus on isolation rather than cancer or heart disease after his tenure as Surgeon General, whether the science on social media harms is as definitive as he suggests, and what'd he say to people who think the health risks of drinking alcohol are worth the social benefits. Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com. Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani If you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com

Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is more worried about your phone than your body

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Former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy joins Mixed Signals to make the case that America's loneliness crisis is a public health emergency — and that social media is a bigger driver of it than almost anything else we're paying attention to. Max and Ben ask Vivek why he chose to focus on isolation rather than cancer or heart disease after his tenure as Surgeon General, whether the science on social media harms is as definitive as he suggests, and what'd he say to people who think the health risks of drinking alcohol are worth the social benefits.  Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media   For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com.  Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani  If you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com

Every Friday media reporter Max Tani and Semafor Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith pull back the curtain on the most important stories about media, revealing why you see and hear what you see and hear.  Mixed Signals from Semafor Media is supported by Think with Google.

Mixed Signals from Semafor Media

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