Sustainable Media Center Substack

This week on the Sustainable Media Center Substack Live, Emma Lembke sits down with Lara Galinsky and Zachary Severyn for a wide-ranging conversation about coalition building, digital advocacy, AI, and the future of social media.

Together, they explore why trust has become the essential infrastructure for meaningful change in tech policy and digital reform. The discussion moves from youth mental health and algorithmic harms to AI governance, public-interest technology, and the growing movement to build systems designed around human agency rather than extraction and engagement.

Lara shares insights from her work at Project Liberty, arguing that no single organization or sector can solve today’s digital challenges alone. Zach reflects on organizing young people across borders and political divides, emphasizing the need for progress over perfection and collaboration over siloed advocacy.

The conversation also digs into what a healthier digital ecosystem could actually look like: interoperable platforms, greater user control over data and identity, more transparent AI systems, and technologies designed to support human flourishing instead of maximizing attention.

Throughout the discussion, Emma brings the conversation back to a central question: how do we build a future where technology serves people, communities, and democracy itself?