This week on “The Learning Curve,” co-host Cara Candal and guest co-host Prof. Robert Maranto talk with Dr. Mark Bauerlein, Senior Editor at First Things, Professor of English Emeritus at Emory University, and the author of The Dumbest Generation Grows Up. Dr. Bauerlein shares his views about the kinds of content American K-12 students should be reading for preparation for college and meaningful lives. He describes the main findings of his books, including how overuse of technology, excessive screen time, and social media have prevented our youth from pursuing more elevated intellectual endeavors and delayed their maturation into adulthood. He draws linkages between the narcissism of these habits and an illiberal and closeminded outlook on society among too many Millennials and follow-on generations. Dr. Bauerlein offers thoughts on how teachers, parents, and leaders can use higher academic-quality education as a counterbalance to this trend.
Stories of the Week: In Pennsylvania and other states, school districts have filed lawsuits forcing legislatures to allocate equitable funding for K-12 public education. A new book by Larry Cuban, former Virginia teacher and school superintendent, offers some sobering realities about our K-12 education system, as well as reasons for optimism.
Guest:
On this episode of “The Federalist Radio Hour,” Mark Bauerlein, senior editor at First Things and professor of English at Emory University, joins Culture Editor Emily Jashinsky to discuss his book “The Dumbest Generation Grows Up: From Stupefied Youth to Dangerous Adults.”
The Dog Phenomenon
From time immemorial, the human race has obeyed the biological imperative. Societies traditionally channeled much of their energy into reproducing themselves. Until now. Parenthood is falling into obsolescence, to be replaced by such simulacra as dog parenthood, cat parenthood, and plant parenthood (not to be confused, of course, with Planned Parenthood). About one out of every two dating profiles features the words “dog mom,” “dog mama,” or some variant thereof. Millennials spend lavishly on dogs. They live for dogs, talk about dogs, think about dogs — everything short of worshipping them.
Why is this happening? The usual explanation takes the form of economic determinism. Raising children is costly. “Raising” a dog is less costly. Lacking money, the argument goes, Millennials “raise” dogs instead of children. This may be part of the explanation, but not the complete one. Something else is happening — something more insidious, and something likely to stand in the way of parenting even if all financial burdens were lifted by a benevolent state. No, Millennials fear a different kind of burden, I think. Here’s my theory:
Ryan Long, comedian and filmmaker, connects with Bridget from New York and they discuss his move from Canada five months before the pandemic hit, why NYC is a sadboy town, the challenges of being a self-starter and your own boss, the outrage economy, why good editors are so hard to find, and why Canada is dead to him. In the middle of their conversation Bridget receives breaking news of the lockdown at the Capitol on January 6th but that doesn’t derail the conversation. They delve into how Hollywood woke culture feels like a last ditch attempt to maintain their status as gatekeepers, why Millennials are really just young Boomers in disguise, the difference between British comedy, American comedy, and Australian comedy, and how finding a way to turn something you might get mad about into something funny is a means of undermining your anger.
OK Boomer? If Only . . .
Millennials* will sometimes say “OK Boomer” as a way to insult old people they deem to be outdated and irrelevant. The phrase is a slight at the Baby Boomer generation. This intergenerational teasing is fun because many of the Millennials had Baby Boomers as parents. As one author put it,
How did a generation that promised to “teach its children well” end up with a progeny so evil they could give Damien from The Omen a run for his money?
If you look at the leadership in our federal government you might be tempted to say, “OK Boomer” yourself, but there is a problem with that. Joe Biden is 78. Nancy Pelosi is 80. Mitch McConnell is 78. None of these people are young enough to be called Boomers. At a time when Boomers should be stepping aside and letting the super-cool Gen Xers take over, we have leadership that looks at Baby Boomers and calls them “kids.” I mention this because I saw that the average life expectancy of an American is 78.7 years. Perhaps if we have any actuaries out there they can let us know what the odds are that Joe Biden lives through his first term. The thing is, would politicians be more concerned about the future of this country if they actually expected to see a little bit of that future?
Don’t let the rancor of the election mislead you: America is awesome. But sometimes it takes an outsider to be truly persuasive, so Jack brings on his National Review colleague Cameron Hilditch, currently living in Northern Ireland, to explain why he loves America and why its critics are mistaken. Along the way, they also converse about Lord of the Rings, the merits of Tennessee, and other topics.
Join Jim and Greg as they dig into new polling numbers showing millennial and Gen Z voters very unenthusiastic about Joe Biden. They also react to Nashville officials covering up information showing very few COVID transmissions in bars and conspiring to make sure the public did not know. And they enjoy spiking the football on John Kerry by looking back to his 2016 pronouncement that there would never be Israeli-Arab peace outside of a peace deal involving the Palestinians.
The Data is clear – it’s time to move away from the individual, and embrace the indifference. The individual has no hope of making himself useful in any way that can’t be done better or cheaper by machines. Preview Open
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Three of our last four Presidents were born in the summer of 1946. They were born to parents on the leading edge of the switch in national priorities from producing war materiel to producing babies. In fact, the Trumps were ahead of the other two couples, giving birth to their future president in June of […]
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In a special crossover episode, Jack turns the last episode of The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg on which he appears in sidekick capacity into an episode of Young Americans. He spends it quizzing Jonah about things he has been meaning to ask him for a long time. Drugs, alcohol, punching people and getting punched by people are all discussed.
Robby Soave, senior editor at Reason magazine, author of 2019’s Panic Attack: Young Radicals in the Age of Trump, and someone who is (just) over 30, (finally) joins Young Americans to discuss whether the political activism of young people today, especially on campus, is uniquely dangerous and poised to spill out into the culture as a whole. (Also, some LOST references sneak in.)
