Sincerely, Portia

Lucy Ivey, activist and founder of Teens Speak Up (an outlet for teens worldwide to engage in dialgoue about social justice issues they're passionate about), shares her experience with the New York public school system. Now pursuing online-school, Lucy provides insight to the benefits of a flexible school schedule and grading system. 

Updating you on my life and mission and answering all of your burning questions.

In this episode, Portia reveals the inspiration for her podcast: to address the looming stereotype of teenage ignorance, represent gen Z ideology in a society that tends to focus on millenials, and to better understand social controversy and commentary in the midst of navigating life under immense social pressure and influence. Portia uses this opening to guide her discussion of social media and its effect on children, the economic significance of teenagers, and the importance of teenagers to embrace their supposed "foolishness." Join Portia for an unraveling of the stereotyped "foolish" teenage generation, specific to Gen Z in consideration of social media!

In this episode, Anya Sastry, a National Outreach Director for the U.S. Youth Climate Strikes and fellow Loomis Chaffee student, joins Portia for their discussion of climate change. They discuss everything from environmental, social, financial, and cultural reprecussions of climate change, drawing in personal experiences and an assessment of the inefficient, ignorant political leaders that claim climate is a hoax. Touching upon the topic of age and the differential treatment of teens, Anya shares how her age often limits her in her notions to encourage climate activism. 

In this episode, Portia assess the unhealthy American political climate in the age of Trump. She describes her experience with the 2016 election and how Trump's election transformed American politics, fueling its now dichotomic nature. Portia emphasizes the importance of respect--she argues that people are so fixated on negating their opposing political party's values that they neglect their homogenous American citizenship. Considering that everyone differs in some way or form, whether that be physically or emotionally or politically, Portia emphasizes that we need to respect our differences. In order to dissipate the ill American political atmosphere, she advocates for respect in that we need to see each other as humans before we see each other as liberals or conservatives. 

In this episode, Portia dives into the details of the USC scandal most notably including Olivia Jade, influencer and daughter of Lori Loughlin. Providing her opinion on the upperclass advantage in education, Portia broadens the scope of the scandal, positioning it as speaking for the distribution and fracture of class in American society. Consistently incorporating personal experience, the competitive environment of her boarding school, and the pressure to pursue a degree at a top university, Portia establishes her take on the college process and its increasing, sheer corruption.

In this episode, Portia delves into the outwardly horrifying complex of divorce, assesses its impacts, and positions it in a rather liberating and positive light all from her teenage perspective.First Portia introduces herself and reveals her incentive to begin her podcast. Beginning the discussion of divorce, she addresses the social response to divorce despite its regularity over the past twenty to thirty years. Analyzing the increased divorce rate, Portia pinpoints the entrance of women into the public sphere as the reason behind the increase, positioning divorce in a liberating rather than tumultuous light. Later exploring the modern day relationship in the presence of dating websites and apps, she makes a direct connection between the media platforms and a recent slight decrease in divorce rates. Bringing the discussion to a personal level, she emphasizes the effects of social media on the modern day high school relationship, focusing on its simultaneous superficiality and marketability. Concluding the episode, Portia reiterates her belief in that divorce works to achieve happiness, and the social stigma surrounding the (now very common) term detracts from its mission--as a society, we cannot lose sight of the fact that groundbreaking, tremendous female independence led to the often downed-upon frequency of divorce. 

In this episode, Portia delves into the outwardly horrifying complex of divorce, assesses its impacts, and positions it in a rather liberating and positive light all from her teenage perspective. First Portia introduces herself and reveals her incentive to begin her podcast. Beginning the discussion of divorce, she addresses the social response to divorce despite its regularity over the past twenty to thirty years. Analyzing the increased divorce rate, Portia pinpoints the entrance of women into the public sphere as the reason behind the increase, positioning divorce in a liberating rather than tumultuous light. Later exploring the modern day relationship in the presence of dating websites and apps, she makes a direct connection between the media platforms and a recent slight decrease in divorce rates. Bringing the discussion to a personal level, she emphasizes the effects of social media on the modern day high school relationship, focusing on its simultaneous superficiality and marketability. Concluding the episode, Portia reiterates her belief in that divorce works to achieve happiness, and the social stigma surrounding the (now very common) term detracts from its mission--as a society, we cannot lose sight of the fact that groundbreaking, tremendous female independence led to the often downed-upon frequency of divorce.