Off The Data Provided

The Anxious Generation: How Smartphones Rewired Gen Z

Host Dr. Marcus C. Shepard discusses Jonathan Haidt’s book "The Anxious Generation" and how the shift from play-based to phone-based childhoods has reshaped Gen Z’s social skills and mental health. The episode covers key concepts including real-world versus virtual-world communication, conformity and prestige bias, discovery versus defend mode, safetyism, anti-fragility, and the four opportunity costs of phone-based childhoods: social deprivation, sleep loss, attention fragmentation, and addiction.
Shepard explains how embodied, synchronous, one-to-one real-world interactions build communication skills and resilience, while disembodied, asynchronous, one-to-many online interactions make relationships more disposable and increase anxiety. He reviews evidence on rising loneliness and mental-health problems since smartphones became widespread (2010–2015) and highlights strengths of Gen Z — awareness, openness to change, and desire for systemic reform.
The episode summarizes Haidt’s policy and parenting recommendations: no smartphones before high school, no social media before age 16, phone-free schools, and more unsupervised play and independence to restore discovery mode and anti-fragility. It closes with a short Ask Dr. Shepard segment about managing life and social media presentation, where Shepard emphasizes intentional choices, prioritizing quality relationships, and designing a lifestyle that supports presence and balance.

Conversation vs. Conformity: How Families Communicate (and How to Improve It)

Dr. Marcus C. Shepard explains the family life cycle and the four core family communication patterns—consensual, pluralistic, protective, and laissez-faire—focusing on conversation and conformity orientations and how they shape family dynamics.
The episode ends with three practical tips for better family communication: reorienting relationships with restart conversations, managing words-thoughts-emotions, and setting boundaries, especially useful during holidays and removing oneself from the familial dynamic.

When Chatbots Break Hearts: Are AI Affairs Fueling a Divorce Surge?

Dr. Marcus C. Shepard discusses a Wired article (https://www.wired.com/story/ai-relationships-are-on-the-rise-a-divorce-boom-could-be-next/) on the rise of AI relationships and their growing impact on marriages, including legal disputes and financial secrecy tied to chatbot companions.
He applies interpersonal communication concepts (investment, emotional closeness, trust, support) and Duck’s stages of relational breakdown, and closes with practical advice for managing tense family dynamics over Thanksgiving.

Living Together, Living Longer? Swedish Study Reveals Surprising Mortality Trends

This episode summarizes a Swedish longitudinal sibling-comparison study (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10680-024-09722-6) showing that cohabiting people have mortality risks between single and married individuals, with differences growing with age.
Dr. Marcus C. Shepard discusses health benefits of partnership, implications for aging and COVID-19, and ideas for future research on cohabitation and community health.

Offline Love Wins: Why Meeting in Person Leads to Happier Couples

Dr. Marcus C. Shepard reviews a new multi-country study reported by the Institute for Family Studies showing that couples who met in person report higher relationship satisfaction and stronger experiences of intimacy, passion, and commitment than couples who met online (https://ifstudies.org/blog/couples-around-the-world-who-met-in-real-life-are-happier-than-those-who-met-online).
The episode discusses possible reasons—such as shared contexts, transparency, and selection criteria—offers practical advice for using dating apps (including setting non-negotiables and timelines), and explores limitations of the research.
The episode closes with an Ask Dr. Shepard segment advising a student on how to repair a strained relationship with a professor: request a meeting during office hours, document the conversation by email, and keep a respectful paper trail if problems continue.

Words That Matter: Decoding Language, Meaning & Miscommunication

Dr. Marcus C. Shepard explains how verbal communication creates meaning—covering symbols, arbitrariness, abstraction, ambiguity, brute vs. institutional facts, and how language evaluates and organizes experience.He outlines communication rules (regulative and constitutive), punctuation, totalizing, loaded language, and offers practical guidelines: use person-centered language, specify levels of abstraction, qualify generalizations, and own your feelings with I-statements.In Ask Dr. Shepard, he advises a listener who feels excluded to have one-on-one conversations using I-language to clarify feelings and consider hosting or re-engaging to repair friendships.

What Your Body Says: Mastering Nonverbal Communication

In this episode Dr. Marcus C. Shepard explores nonverbal communication—what it includes, how it interacts with words, and types like kinesics, haptics, proxemics, paralanguage, and environmental cues—plus practical guidelines for monitoring and interpreting nonverbals to avoid miscommunication.The episode closes with an Ask Dr. Shepard segment about ghosting, offering a respectful “pre-ghosting” message template and advice on how to respond (or not) when communication fades in dating.

The Sex Recession: Why Young Adults Are Becoming Less Intimate

Dr. Marcus C. Shepard examines the Institute for Family Studies article "The Sex Recession," (https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-sex-recession-the-share-of-americans-having-regular-sex-keeps-dropping) explaining how the share of Americans having regular sex has fallen from 55% in 1990 to 37% in 2024. The  decline is linked to fewer partnered adults, reduced face-to-face time, and shifting socialization driven by smartphones and digital media.
The episode explores causes like decreased in-person interaction, rising anxiety and depression among younger generations, and the role of the pandemic. Dr. Shepard emphasizes the importance of interpersonal communication skills and the social contexts that foster relationships.
Dr. Shepard closes with "Ask Dr. Shepard" where he offers practical tips for students looking to build social confidence and make new friends as the semester begins.

Emotional IQ, Dating Burnout, and How to Speak Your Feelings

Host Dr. Marcus C. Shepard breaks down what emotions are and how framing rules, feeling rules, surface acting, deep acting, emotional intelligence, and emotional competence shape the way we feel and express ourselves. He offers practical guidelines for owning feelings, using specific language, and creating a supportive climate for emotional conversations.The episode closes with an Ask Dr. Shepard segment on dating fatigue, offering concrete online-dating rules and strategies—like setting response limits, having a sell-by date for app conversations, and prioritizing assertive communication—to avoid feeling jaded and communicate more authentically.

"From Bad Friends to True Companions: A Deep Dive"

In this episode of Off the Data Provided, Dr. Marcus C. Shepard delves deep into the realm of modern friendships, exploring a compelling CNN article by Christian Rogers titled "Some of You Are Bad Friends, and That's Why You're Lonely" (https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/02/health/signs-you-are-a-bad-friend-wellness)  The discussion touches on the increasing challenges men face in forming friendships, the importance of the friendship formula - investment, emotional closeness, trust, and support - and the impact of societal norms and desire on interpersonal relationships.
Dr. Shepard also highlights personal anecdotes and insights into the dynamics of friendship and the significance of investing in meaningful connections amidst the sensationalism of media narratives and cultural shifts. Drawing on both professional perspective and personal experiences, this episode invites listeners to reflect on their own relationships and challenges them to foster genuine connections beyond superficial interactions.