What Maria Ressa Asked Us to See at DLD26
Author: Emma Lembke, Director of GenZ Advocacy, The Sustainable Media Center Maria Ressa, on stage at DLD in Munich On January 15, 2026, I sat in the back of a packed conference audience at DLD26 in Munich, awaiting the remarks of the anti-tech titan, Maria Ressa. The conference, populated with representatives of the most powerful technology giants of
Why Darren Walker’s Next Chapter Matters
Darren Walker Joins Anonymous Content When Darren Walker stepped down from the Ford Foundation after twelve years, he left one of the most powerful jobs in global philanthropy. He oversaw close to a billion dollars in annual grantmaking, influenced how major institutions approached inequality and democracy, and became one of the field’s most recognizable public figures.
Are We Building AI’s Future on Rented Ground?
Raffi Krikorian doesn’t pull any punches: “We are renting our intelligence from a handful of companies.” That was Krikorian last week in Munich at DLD (Digital-Life-Design), Europe’s leading innovation conference where tech executives, policymakers, and media leaders gather to debate digital power. And he wasn’t easing into the conversation. Krikorian is not offering hot takes
SMC Members at DLD and Davos
Two major gatherings are coming up in January: DLD in Munich and the World Economic Forum in Davos. Both bring together leaders who shape how technology, culture, and policy evolve. Members of the Sustainable Media Center community will be involved at both events, representing youth advocacy, research, product leadership, and civic tech. At DLD in Munich DLD
When Seeing Is No Longer Believing: The New Politics Of Truth
For decades, video has changed how we understand critical moments in public life. From Rodney King to George Floyd, from dashboard cameras to bystander phones, recorded images have often brought clarity where official accounts were murky or missing. But video on its own does not tell a complete story. It can show the moment when an
Maddie Freeman: Founder of NoSo November
https://medium.com/media/5ae677d766f56c905be100f29823caf4/href This Substack Live session features Emma Lembke interviewing youth advocate Maddie Freeman about her journey, her nonprofit NoSo November, and the broader movement for healthier digital environments. Maddie explains that her advocacy began after experiencing depression and anxiety tied to early social media use, combined with the loss of several friends to suicide. In
When Research Is Treated Like A Crime
Just after midnight on Christmas day, a federal judge in New York blocked the U.S. government from arresting or detaining Imran Ahmed, a leading researcher on online hate and disinformation. That sentence alone should stop us cold. Ahmed is the founder and CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit that studies how hate
Dear friends,
Dear friends, As 2025 wraps, I wanted to pause and share what this year actually looked like at the Sustainable Media Center. Not a highlight reel. A real accounting of the work, the conversations, and the community we’ve been building together. This year, SMC doubled down on a simple idea: conversation is infrastructure. We showed
5 Truths From 2025
Every year we pretend the big shifts sneak up on us. They do not. They arrive slowly, argue with us for years, and then finally refuse to be ignored. 2025 was one of those years. Not because something entirely new appeared, but because several long-running arguments ended. The evidence landed, consequences became visible, and denial got harder.
Jonathan Haidt + GenZ Convo: Should Phones In Schools be Banned?
https://medium.com/media/8e312e086ea8d639e1b9515cc4e506e0/href As we rebroadcast this conversation, it feels worth saying up front why we hosted it in the first place. The Sustainable Media Center did not bring Jonathan Haidt, Zach Rausch, and a room full of Gen Z leaders together to stage a debate or score points in the ongoing culture war over phones. We did
