Policymakers in Massachusetts are increasingly eager to impose tighter restrictions on how young people use social media like Instagram and TikTok, repeatedly slamming the platforms for exploiting minors and fueling malaise. This week on The Codcast, we take a look at how the research of brain development overlaps with social media use, what regulatory attempts in other states and countries could teach Massachusetts, and what makes social media different from prior technology-fueled moral panics.

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Host:

Chris Lisinski, senior reporter for CommonWealth Beacon

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Guests:

John Wihbey, professor at Northeastern University and the author of “Governing Babel: The Debate over Social Media Platforms and Free Speech – and What Comes Next”

Dr. Ana M. Martinez-Aleman, professor at Boston College

commonwealthbeacon.org/30th

On April 12, 2006, at Faneuil Hall, Gov. Mitt Romney signed the Massachusetts Health Insurance Reform Act, commonly known as Chapter 58 or "RomneyCare." The groundbreaking legislation established the Massachusetts Health Connector, it expanded Medicaid, it required employers to provide insurance, it subsidized health care insurance for low income residents and ultimately drastically reduced the number of uninsured. In this month’s installment of Health or Consequences, John McDonough moves into the interviewee seat, along with Cheri Andes, the former Lead Organizer of Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, to tell the story of how they built and led the coalition behind the historic bill, and how RomneyCare laid the foundation for the Affordable Care Act.

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Host:

Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute

Guests:

John McDonough of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, former Director of Health Care for All

Cheri Andes, Independent Consultant, former Lead Organizer of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO)