📉Rising Mental Health Issues: There's a significant increase in anxiety, depression, and self-harm among teens since the advent of social media.
👶Impact on Child Development: Samantha Marsh emphasizes the need to study social media's effects on child development more closely.
📱Widespread Social Media Use: 90% of teenagers in New Zealand use social media, beginning at an average age of 11.
🚫Ineffective Parental Controls: The Nebraska vs. TikTok case shows companies know these measures are ineffective yet promote them anyway.
🏛️Need for Policy Change: There's a call for integrated policies to address the multifaceted issues of social media usage among minors.

Aaron Tau is a pro-MMA fighter, with a  background in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing and Kickboxing.  He fights out of UFC star Dan Hooker's Combat Academy, in Auckland New Zealand. 

We had a really deep conversation about Aaron's life. Aaron was very open and intimate about the experiences that shaped him growing up, and how he became who he is today.  Aaron grew up with a life rich in Maoritanga (traditional culture and way of life) in a  rural community.

He experienced extreme hardship and adversity within his family. However, he's not let the hand he was dealt, he says, define who he is, and he speaks about his philosophies of forgiveness, compassionate and unconditional love that underpin his way of life. 

This was one of the best conversations I've ever had the privilege to have, and I'm sure everyone will get a lot from it. 

Thank you Aaron!   

Aaron Henerae is a proudly Māori pro wrestler competing in Japan as a part of the New Japan Pro Wrestling team. He majored in sociology and politics with a focus on International Relations at the University of Auckland before following his dreams and heading to Japan. He graduated from the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo in 2018. We had a rad chat about his journey in martial arts and wrestling, family, individualism, politics, masculinity, thanks for your time bro! 

You can follow Aaron

Insta:       @HenareNZ

 Twitter: @HenareNZ 
 

Max Rashbrooke is a Wellington-based writer and public intellectual, with twin interests in economic inequality and democratic renewal. His latest book is Too Much Money: How Wealth Disparities are Unbalancing Aotearoa New Zealand, based on research he carried out as the 2020 J. D. Stout Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington. His previous works include Government for the Public Good: The Surprising Science of Large-Scale Collective Action and Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis, both published by Bridget Williams Books. A senior associate of the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, he writes a fortnightly column for Stuff, and his work appears in outlets such as the Guardian and Prospect magazine. His TED.com talk on upgrading democracy has been viewed over 1m times.

We had a fascinating conversation about his research and writing, what drives him in his advocacy, how poverty affects people and what we can do about it all. 

Thanks so much for your time Max! 

You can follow Max:

www.maxrashbrooke.net

Twitter: @maxrashbrooke

Instagram:@maxrashbrooke

Jess Hill is an award-winning Australian based investigative journalist, author, and campaigner against domestic and family violence. In addition to winning the Stella Prize, her book See What You Made Me Do: Power, Control and Domestic Abuse was a finalist for both the 2019 Walkley Book Award and 2019 Australian Human Rights Commission Media Award, and shortlisted for the 2020 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Non-fiction book. It also happens to be the best book I've ever read on the topic. 

I had a brilliant conversation with Jess, about her work, what motivates it, the complexities and difficulties of working in activists spaces, how we bring men into the work of ending gendered violence, we explored ideas around the patriarchy. It was brilliant and I'm a better person for having the conversation. 

Thanks so much for your time Jess! 

You can follow Jess and her work at:

 https://www.jesshill.net/ 

Twitter: @jessradio 

Insta: @thetrappod 

See What You Made Me Do Documentary https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/see-what-you-made-me-do:

Aaron is a youth worker, writer and advocate, working with homeless youth in Tāmaki Makaurau/ Auckland. He works as the youth housing for Lifewise, a charitable organisation that does the difficult work of trying to help some of the country's most marginalized and hard to reach people into housing. Aaron is also a writer and social change advocate. We had a wonderful conversation looking at what underpins his work, how we can be better activists and constructive in our desire for social change. You can follow Aaron at: 

https://whenlambsaresilent.wordpress.com/ 

Twitter:@AeJayHendry 

Insta: @a.j.hendry Thanks AJ!

Kenzie does a lot of work talking about diet culture, body image, self-esteem and self-acceptance. This conversation was super fun, insightful and educational. We learned how to have constructive discussions about Kenzie's own story, shame, coping mechanisms, and drivers of our behaviours. I really enjoyed it, and I hope you do too. You can follow Kenzie 

⤵️ Insta:

 @kenziebrenna @conversationswithkenzie 

TikTok

 @kenziebrenna T

Thanks so much, Kenzie!