Young Americans

As Massachusetts senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren tries to bribe college students into voting for her with promises of student loan debt forgiveness and free college, the Young Americans draw from their own experiences to discuss Warren’s plan, the student loan debt crisis, and what, if anything, we can do about it.

The Young Americans bring their first young non-American onto the show, as National Review’s Madeleine Kearns, who hails from Scotland, discusses the ins and outs of transgenderism and young people with Jack.

The Young Americans debate whether Americans even younger than they are should be able to vote, an idea that now has the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among others.

As Facebook celebrates its 15th anniversary, it is coming into controversies on all sides: political, psychological, social, and more. Thus, Jack assembles a panel of youth to discuss their own experiences with Facebook and how it has affected them. They also reveal their thoughts about the site’s effect on themselves, their peers, and society as […]

It’s a good question, isn’t it? To answer it, Jack invites actual young person journalist Philip Wegmann, now a political reporter for Real Clear News, to attempt to justify himself. They also discuss whether young people are consuming news correctly, and give advice for young people aspiring to be journalists and to be just generally […]

What do young people think about abortion? Are Millennials turning into godless heathens? With abortion and religion in the headlines, Host Jack Butler explores where young people stand on these areas and speculates on how they will develop as issues in the future, with the help of National Review staff writer Alexandra DeSanctis.

In a Young Americans first, Jack and co return to a previously-addressed topic: video games. But we’re not just running out of ideas; rather, inspired by the release of Kingdom Hearts III, which recovering gamer Jack is tempted to relapse to buy and play, the panelists discuss whether it is possible to game responsibly or if […]

The Young Americans return for another year of charting Millennial neuroses by starting out with the topic on everyone’s mind: marriage. Specifically, why aren’t Millennials getting married? To help figure out why, (single) host Jack Butler consults another single person, an engaged person, and a married couple.

In their last episode of the year, the Young Americans arrive at the topic all Internet content gets to eventually: Jordan Peterson. And they do it in-person, a first for this podcast, discussing 12 Rules For Life, Jordan Peterson’s best-selling book, as well as his message and personality more generally.

Mayonnaise. Home Depot. Breakfast. Lunch. Vacations. Golf. Like some assiduous predator stalking in the cultural night, the Millennial generation has killed each of these things, one by one…or has it? The latest episode takes up the trend of Millennials’ killing things, such as the aforementioned items, and tries to determine whether their guilt is fair […]

Is America going to pot? Probably. In response to recreational marijuana recently being made legal in Canada and Michigan, and record numbers of Americans supporting legalization, the Young Americans debate whether we should celebrate these trends or be more skeptical of them. Call it a “pot-cast.”

Goo goo g’joob! As The Beatles (a.k.a., The White Album) reaches its 50th anniversary, the Young Americans take some time on a hard day’s night to have a long and winding discussion about whether The Beatles really are the greatest band of all time (the answer is yes), and whether they still matter and should be in your […]

Boo! Sorry, did that scare you? Hopefully not. Because if it did, you might not be able to handle this special Halloween episode of the Young Americans. Jack and the gang discuss their most Millennial fears, their favorite horror movies, and whether horror can be respected as a genre or not. And if this episode […]

This month, the gamer known as “Ninja” became the first “esports” “athlete” to grace the front cover of ESPN Magazine. As “esports”–i.e., playing video games in a professional competitive setting–grow in popularity, the Young Americans debate whether this portends ill for their cohort, and wonder if video games are taking over society as a whole.

In an episode of multiple firsts, Jack strikes out on his own to interview Matthew Hennessey, the deputy op-ed editor of the Wall Street Journal, author of Zero Hour for Gen X: How the Last Adult Generation Can Save America from Millennials, and, at 44, a decidedly un-young American. They discuss whether Millennials or Baby Boomers […]