ABOUT THIS EPISODE
The episode opens by introducing the Superhuman series—how corporations became entities with more legal rights than humans but none of the accountability. This isn't just about technology or social media—it's about power, who wields it, and how we built a system where companies can harm children at scale and face no consequences.
Then Laura Marquez-Garrett of the Social Media Victims Law Center, who represents over 4,000 families harmed by social media, walks us through the massive gap between what platforms claim and what actually happens. She exposes the hidden realities no safety guide mentions—what law enforcement knows but parents don't, why evidence vanishes by design, and how platforms' actual practices contradict their public promises.
When my 15-year-old son Avery convinced me to let him use Snapchat in 10th grade, I thought I understood the risks. I'd read "The Anxious Generation." I worried about screen time and social pressure. I had no idea what was really happening on the platform. This episode covers the information I wish had been made more publicly available, so that I would have known what I was dealing with.
00:00 - Two Stacks of Paper (Season Introduction)
11:05 - Laura Introducton
13:05 - Snapchat Knew
18:04 - Colorado SB 86
23:35 - Product Design
29:15 - Reporting Criminal Activity to Snapchat
32:21 - Perla Mendoza's Hunt for Justice
39:13 - Unreported Crimes
44:36 - Parents Can't Fathom the Truth
Content warning: teen death, drug sales, and exploitation.
