Millennial: Pretend Adulting, Real Talk

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk and the official podcast of the first millennial VP pick, JD Vance! So has anything big happened the last few days? Asking for a friend. Should Biden step down? The panel and Patrons listening live weigh in. We don't want to speak it into existence, but Biden making gaffes at every turn while Trump gets to look like a martyr is not good... JD Vance (aka Trump's mini me) was announced as Trump's running mate in his election 2.0 bid. Does this pick actually do anything for Trump? We make bets on the specific dates we think Biden will drop out of the race! While Americans grapple with another upcoming unprecedented Presidential election, the French are dropping deuces in the river Seine ahead of the summer Olympics. Why are French people pooptesting like this? Because the government has spent a whopping $1.55 billion to clean up the Seine ahead of the Olympics, where marathon and triathlon swimming are set to take place. Unfortunately, we're two weeks out and the river still isn't safe to swim in, even discounting the Parisian Poop Protest. As an unpopular political leader, why would you announce the date you're going to take a dip in the river? How did Macron not see this coming? Which Olympic sports will we be paying attention to, and what sports are new to this year's Olympics? This week's recommendations are entertainment focused, in addition to asking a favor: 'Your Honor' on Netflix (Andrew), 'The Redeem Team' on Netflix (Pam), and a request from Laura to please subscribe to our family of podcast channels on YouTube! Millennial | What the Hype?! | MuggleCast. Subscribing to these channels is FREE and really helps us out! Thank you so much! And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: Is it ever a good idea to try and out strangers on TikTok for suspected cheating? Is doing this driving accountability, or just a culture of surveillance and punishment? You can't possibly know all of the variables involved in a stranger's romantic entanglements, and putting them on blast without having all the facts is pretty risky y'all. One of our panel speaks from personal experience about being cheated on and how it would not have been helpful to find out about it through TikTok. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real cellphones in classrooms talk! Note: We'll be off next week due to the 4th of July falling around our usual episode prep time. See you the week after! That disastrous debate, and those disastrous SCOTUS rulings. Oof. We're joined by listeners and experienced teachers Chelsea and Amy to discuss the latest trends of cell phone bans across US schools. Chelsea and Amy help us understand what the biggest distractions are in classrooms with cell phones, and share their own opinions on cell phone bans in schools. They provide helpful context that isn't apparent if you don't have kids or aren't in the classroom: in the post-covid era, many kids are struggling with extreme addiction to their phones and social media. Do cell phones help or hurt in the event of an active shooter scenario? Other teachers submitted feedback, and it seems there is a consensus: cell phones are majorly disruptive in schools, but enacting laws around phone usage in schools is a complicated conversation. How do teachers navigate keeping their personal social media private? Are we connected with any of our school teachers on socials? This week's recommendations are across the board: Those Who Can't Do (Andrew), 'The Bear' on Hulu (Pam), 'Pearl' on Amazon Prime, Crocheting (Chelsea), and the 'Hades x Persephone Saga' by Scarlett St. Clair (Amy). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: Chelsea and Amy hang out to spill the tea about the dumbest reasons students have gotten detention or been suspended. We have some stories of our own, and we feel like an injustice was done to us! No, sprinkling your special green herb on food is NOT going to do anything for you... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real AI talk! What does Open AI's recent introduction of ChatGPT as a live translator mean for accessibility and for translators? Google has also rolled out its own AI search results assistant and it is... still in need of some work. "Use glue on your pizza to make the cheese stick, according to fucksmith on Reddit!" All of Meta's products now have an AI chatbot integrated - why aren't we allowed to opt-in on these new features? Andrew doesn't want to see laughing babies when he's trying to stalk Laura on insta! In DC, lawmakers have taken notice of the increase in AI deepfake porn and are looking to put a stop to it! While Sen. Dick Durbin's attempt to introduce a bipartisan bill turned out to be too broad, Ted Cruz (R-TX, and the most hated Senator on both sides of the aisle) is sponsoring the Take It Down Act. To illustrate the impact of AI porn deepfakes, we look at a recent example involving actor Jacob Elordi, whose face was used on the body of a minor in a deepfake. Posts of this deepfake were viewed more than 3 million times on Twitter. And deepfake voice AI is coming to create misinformation in our upcoming election season. :/ The FCC has made it illegal to make robocalls using AI-generated deepfakes, and is even proposing a $6 million fine for Biden deepfake robocalls that were made during the NH primary. But how does this address robocall deepfakes from overseas? The treat of the week: Andrew introduces us to his Riverside generated AI voice, and the results range from "that does not sound like you" to "why do you sound Australian?" This week's recommendations are good for the wallet and the soul: Spotify's new BASIC plan to avoid price hikes (Andrew), Marco Polo app (Pam), and Getaway.house (Laura). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: It's another Patreon "Surprise Bitch!" edition. We hope you're ready for our call and unhinged questions! Turns out, many people don't have the stomach to watch this week's Presidential Debate. Don't blame you! FMK: Biden, Trump, Clinton (we think this one's pretty obvious). What do you wish we'd never talk about on the pod again? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk with your PALs! Let Laura live: keep her secret third space secret! Check out our latest episode reactions to Bridgerton and The Boys over on the What the Hype YouTube! We did it Joe! Prices are starting to come down at big box retailers across the country. Splurge on that avocado topping at Chipotle with the .50 cents you'll save at Target... It also turns out fast food restaurants have been pulling a fast one with price hikes that outpace inflation, so they're dropping some prices too. 80% of Americans consider fast food a luxury - are we among them? Frustrated at the lack of consistent body cam use amongst law enforcement? Never fear, employees at TJ Maxx and Marshall's are picking up the mantle in the name of thwarting shop lifting. "If I'm making $8 an hour I don't care about your shoplifting woes." Quick newsy hits: Hunter Biden, Mifepristone, 'Trump too small' trademark, and European parliamentary elections. Look at the historical parallels to 2016, your butthole will pucker, we guarantee it. What to expect from next week's first Presidential debate - and will Trump show up? Hot off the press are this week's recommendations: 'Inside Out 2' (Andrew and Pam) and purchasing your spices and herbs at your local farmer's market (Laura). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: Now that we're getting older, what "boomer complaints" do we have to share with the youths? Not everything needs a subscription, and not every aspect of life needs to be documented on social media! The music's too damn loud in here, and don't you dare listen to music in public without headphones! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and REAL talk! Welcome back Micah! It must be an election year - we'll see you again in 2026. ;) BREAKING NEWS: The team behind #Millennial and MuggleCast has launched a new pop-culture centric show - What the Hype?! is the third podcast baby we've been ruminating on for quite some time. Join us on this next podcasting journey! Want a taste of what to expect on What the Hype?! Look no further than today's discussion of the recently announced Hunger Games spinoff. Does it feel icky that Scholastic and Lionsgate made this joint announcement, introducing an upcoming novel that is already in the early stages of being adapted to a film? Everyone loves an origin story, right? Or do they? How does 'Hunger Games' compare to other major literary/film fandoms, like 'Harry Potter' and 'Twilight?' #Millennial decides 2024: the results are in, and our Patrons have decreed that the official name for our listeners is.... PALs! (Like Pam, Andrew, Laura, get it?) What's a third space? If you didn't know this term, you're not the only one. Third places are settings a person frequents beyond their home (the first place) and work (the second place). If you're now realizing you don't have a third space, you're also not alone! Many third spaces were shuttering even before the pandemic, and now that we're accustomed to being at home even more post-COVID, it's harder to get back in the habit. Andrew and Pam are our resident third space girlies, while Laura and Micah realize they are... lacking in the third space department. Oops. Andrew, a very supportive and wise friend, gives Laura some real talk that she can't make podcasting her ONLY third space. What are some tips that can help people find new third spaces? MeetUp, joining a book club, joining local Facebook groups and subreddits. There's no theme to this week's recommendations sorry not sorry: SpotMyUV stickers for knowing when it's time to reapply sunscreen (Andrew), Noteful for taking physical notes on your tablet (Pam), 'The Boys' season 4 on Amazon Prime (Laura), and our first few episodes of What the Hype?! and the book The Mindful Body (Micah). And in this week's installment of After Dark: We reflect (and lament) the passage of time, inspired by this satirical piece from the New Yorker. Where did the time go? One minute we were the youth, and now we're just waiting for the younger generations to come up with the millennial equivalent of "Ok Boomer." Some shit that feels like happened yesterday happened well over a decade ago, and we're shook. But now the tea: what cosmetic procedures are Andrew and Laura getting ready to do because #vanity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! There are 34 reasons why we’re excited today but we can’t… quite… put our finger on it… OH YEAH! Some small modicum of justice was finally served - and it basically cured Laura’s covid! Dammit Jennifer: How a CNBC reporter put us all on blast and made our bosses suspicious of quiet vacationing. THANKS FOR RUINING IT JENNIFER! Have we ever quiet vacationed, and is there a way to do it right? Do we actually believe the aesthetic we often see portrayed of people quiet vacationing on a beach? While 46% of US workers don’t take all of their paid time off due to being worried about falling behind or missing out on promotions, we’re pleased to report that 74% of listeners responding to a #Millennial poll take ALL their PTO! Speaking of travel, we’re a little shook at the takes some vacationers have on the unspoken rules of travel… Is Andrew going to hell for storing his carry-on in the overhead bin? Laura says YES. Seat reclining on airplanes will forever be a controversial topic, we all know where our lines are drawn in the sand. What are our travel pet peeves? People rushing the airline gate, getting on planes when OBVIOUSLY sick, and listening to music without headphones! This week’s recommendations are a HEAD CARE edition: Hims Hair Loss Treatment (Andrew), Ice face rollers (Pam), and Eye massaging masks (Laura). And in this week’s installment of After Dark: What words are people muting on Bumble nowadays, and what key words would WE mute? We review our own dating profiles to reflect on what is most cringe about how we present ourselves to potential dates. “Guess what my shitty former friend said was WRONG with me based on my Bumble BFF profile.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real freelance talk! First things first! We’re pouring one out for Laura Tee, who couldn’t make this week’s show due to COVID. In Laura’s absence, Andrew and Pam open up about life as full time freelancers. Our discussion this week is inspired by a few questions we got about what it's like working in freelance full-time. We hope this chat helps anyone else out there looking to make the switch to self-employment! We kick things off on a positive note and detail the upsides of freelancing. The perks include flexible schedules, working from home (or from anywhere you want/can!), and following your passions. Are Pam and Andrew really happy working freelance full-time? How do we combat the fear of knowing our jobs aren’t guaranteed in the same way that working a traditional corporate job is? Have we ever had to chase down clients who just don’t pay us on time? Elsewhere, the topic of 401Ks and healthcare comes up when we dig into the downsides of life as freelancers. How do we go about securing health care? How about saving for retirement? Ultimately, would Pam and Andrew recommend going freelance to others in the year 2024? To wrap things up, we take a few questions from listeners: What do we wish we knew at the beginning of our careers? How do we show people we’re capable of doing the job they want? How do we battle imposter syndrome? Do we stress out about not having a consistent paycheck? This week’s recommendations include: Wave Invoicing (Andrew) for an easy-to-use system to draw up professional invoices, and Whole Foods’ coffee bar (Pam) in lieu of chains for more affordable coffee. And in this week’s installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: Our Friend Series continues, and this week we’re tackling the tough topic of lending friends money. To kick things off, Andrew shares a personal story in relation to this week’s AD theme Have we ever had friends ask to borrow large sums of money? And what do we do when they don’t pay it back? What about when it comes to lower stakes instances like spotting a friend for coffee or lunch How late is too late to ask your buddy to Venmo you back for that dinner you put on your card? Asking for a friend (no really-- we are!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're taking a break this week because of the Memorial Day weekend approaching. You benefit by getting to hear an excellent edition of After Dark, in which listeners ask us questions about the life of being a podcaster: Are you afraid people close to you in your life will hear your gossip? What's the tea with your former rivals? Are you happy with the success of the Patreon? All this and more discussed in this edition of After Dark that we recorded in April! We can't do this show without your support. Sign up for Mega #Millennial in Apple Podcasts, or pledge to our Patreon today to receive lots of great benefits! By supporting us, you're helping indie podcasters thrive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real COFFEE talk! Spencer Mahoney of Atomic Coffee Roasters joins us to talk all things coffee business, blowing up on TikTok, craft coffee culture, and more! Whether you're a caffeine aficionado or a total newbie, Spender has recommendations for what and how you can order your next cup o' joe. Do we really need to go to a craft shop to get a solid brew, or can we make the magic happen at home? Do indie or "hipster" coffee shops intimidate everyone, or just us? Spencer makes recommendations to US based on our preferred flavor profiles! How do we prefer our coffee? On the scale of "black like my soul" to "dessert", we're closer to wanting our coffee to taste like coffee. With the lingo that Pam is throwing down, Spencer confirms that Pam is a real barista who truly knows her stuff. When we're not caffeinating, what drinks are we looking forward to in the summer? (Diet Coke counts as caffeination Laura, PICK SOMETHING ELSE!) Our summer alcoholic beverages of choice: Truly (watermelon or grapefruit), High Noon pineapple vodka soda, and Red Stripe (hooray beer!) We want to name you listeners. Stay tuned. In this week's recommendations Pam and Laura prepare you for summer and Andrew joins the 21st century: protect your pets from the heat (or else Laura will break your car windows to rescue your furry friends), Vacation Super Spritz face mist (Pam), and the GoveeLife Smart Electric Kettle (Andrew). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: We had so much fun with our "Surprise Bitch!" revival last week, we decided to call a few more people and ask... "What's your problem with Andrew? We're making a list." "If Pam and Laura were drowning and you could only save one, who would it be?" "What do you hate about the show?" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! The internet had some real talk for Watcher Entertainment in the wake of its announcement it was leaving YouTube and paywalling its previously free content. The response from their fans was swift and harsh, leading to Watcher rolling back its new model. Laura's been a fan of the Watcher team for years, and was disappointed by their approach to pivot to a 100% paid subscription model. The lack of consideration for their paid supporters on Patreon and the push to put past and future content behind a paywall showed a disconnect with where their audience is at currently. What content are we looking for from our favorite parasocial relationships? We hear it again and again - authenticity is waaaaay more important than production value. Reddit inspired us to take a more sunny approach towards the millennial experience by asking ourselves, "what are the best things about being a millennial?" The internet just hit different back in our day - we all hid behind weird screen names and avatars. Are millennials the most adaptable generation when it comes to technology? We (especially Andrew) count our blessings that our cringiest youth moments weren't documented to be judged for all eternity. #findandrewssimsgf Tbh we were feral as kids, roaming the neighborhood and getting into mischief until the street lights came on (and sometimes after). We've got entertainment recs for y'all this week! 'Gen V' on Amazon Prime (Laura), 'Pen15' on Hulu (Pam), and 'Challengers' (Andrew). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: Remember the really rude "Surprise Bitch!" segment we used to do back in the day? We're resurrecting it for After Dark. We're randomly dialing up a few Patrons to ask them random questions like what basic thing they suck at, how they handle having a bad day, and what the last thing was they disagreed with us on. "Andrew has bad taste in movies." -A loyal listener giving it to Andrew straight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and REAL ocean talk! We're joined this week by Benjamin Hamlington, a research scientist in the NASA Sea Level and Ice Group. Benjamin helps us to understand better how our oceans are impacted by climate change, and further how they're actually absorbing more of the impact than the public realizes. What do rising sea levels actually mean for coastal communities? The best thing individuals can do to contribute to moving the needle on this issue: spread the word and stay informed with reliable sources. We also cover some of the latest headlines in the "shit sandwich" format: perfectly toasted and flavorful on the outside to prepare your palette for the shit middle. Disney is adding channels to Disney+ - do we see ourselves using these? The US says that TikTok parent company ByteDance must sell TikTok within a year, otherwise we'll have to go somewhere else for all our silly little fyp trends. But ByteDance says 'lol pull the fucking trigger bitch.' Andrew can know no peace: not only is his Andrew in the Air account at risk of TikTok gets banned, the drone he uses to shoot beautiful landscapes and spy on neighbors may also get banned! As war wages on in Gaza, nationwide student-led anti-war protests have become a fixture at colleges and universities, resulting in a ton of confusing press and numerous arrests of peaceful protesters. The poopiest of all: Harvey Weinstein's sex crimes charges in New York overturned. There is still some good news at the end of the day: airlines must now issue automatic refunds for delayed and canceled flights. This week's recommendations will keep you entertained and give you a break from all this nonsense: The 6-episode series 'Knuckles' on Paramount+ (Laura), 'Degrees of Engagement' by Jennifer Hennessy (Pam), and 'The Boys' on Amazon Prime (Andrew). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: Why you so awkward lol? How millennials have adopted 'lol' as a discourse marker to diffuse awkwardness and save face. We source real life examples of ourselves and others using 'lol' as a "I'm hanging on by a thread, but no biggie!" moment. But we can also be petty with it... Friendship icks: what are some potential red flags in knowing if someone is your people or not? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and some real REAL talk this week. But first: Taylor interrupts Pam's nighttime routine with a late night drop of The Tortured Poets Department. Does it live up to the hype? Did Andrew just confess to murdering former members of the pod? A not-so-fun update in the name of resiliency: Laura shares that she has multiple sclerosis (MS), what her journey to diagnosis looked like, and how she's doing now. What it's like to move through the stages of grief and eventually reach a space of processing through humor. We cover questions from our Patrons to go a little more in depth on Laura's experiences living with a chronic illness. Most important of all, we talk about the representation of MS in The West Wing, Laura's favorite show. As we continue on this journey we call life, we'll face different hurdles that challenge our mental health. How are we all doing? The panel shares what outlets help us get a mental break from the tough shit, and what resources we use to work through it. Journaling, limiting distractions, mid-day walks, crossword puzzles are all things we here at the show use to break up our days and limit stress and anxiety. Pam shares the 4-7-8 Breathing Method as well as the 5-4-3-2-1 Coping Technique This week's recommendations are good for the soul: donate to the Shepherd Center for World MS Day (Laura), Brick to help limit screentime (Andrew), and attending the yearly Record Store Day (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: "If your dog and a loved one were drowning and you could only save 1, who would it be?" "Umm which 'loved' one are we talking about?" Inspired by a NYT Ethics column, we'll be playing a classic game of 'Would You Rather...?' What's worse? Having legs as long as your fingers, or fingers as long as your legs? (We spend way to much time imagining how this would play out - absolute nightmare fuel.) Andrew hits us with a super secret surprise question... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! The juice is loose (in hell) and our buttholes are puckered as things in the Middle East teeter dangerously towards a regional conflict. We were all little when the OJ drama went down, but raise your hand if you remember the bronco chase on the news? We're struggling with being over the hill: "peak millennials" (aged 33-34) are shaping the economy. Where do we see ourselves living, and do we like our living situations now? "So are y'all good?" "Uh... emotionally?" Is homeownership really the American dream we were all sold? There are definitely some perks to renting after all. Andrew is going to shadow drop news of his nuptials, so don't expect a wedding invite sorry not sorry. Like our other milestones, will millennials just have kids later in life? We don't want kids, are we part of the problem? There is no common thread in this week's recommendations: 'Fallout' on Amazon Prime (Laura), investing in a walking pad (Pam), and using this tool to check the status of your tax refund (in the United States). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: AMA part 2! We cover questions we didn't get to last week, as well as add some new ones to the mix! Do we still talk to former podcasting partners, and is there bad blood there? Andrew and Pam pique Laura's curiosity about freelancing, and Andrew gives some solid practical tips for success on Bumble BFF. Have we ever been recognized in public? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the show whose name can't be spelled without three massive L's! It may have been a total eclipse of the heart in the path of totality, but Laura was underwhelmed by what 85% coverage during the solar eclipse looked like in Atlanta. Would you spend $949 to stay in a Super 8 motel to watch a major event like the eclipse? The moon ain't done slaying yet: the lunar queen is set to get her own timezone! We look at other examples of rare-ish events, and bucket list destinations and adventures! Who wore it better? Manhattanhenge or Andrew's Homehenge? Looks like most millennials have a 50-50 shot of seeing Halley's comet in 2061. Will Andrew re-evaluate his death age again in light of this knowledge? We share our own bucket list destination goals: Balloon fiesta, Devil's Pool at Victoria falls, and the Monarch Butterfly Migration. As 90's kids, it's impossible to not address 'Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,' which reveals the downright abusive environment of Nickelodeon live action shows through the 90's and early 2000s. In response to the popularity of this documentary, a 5th episode ("Breaking The Silence") aired this past weekend - do we feel it added anything to the documentary? And why was it arranged so... weird? What was it like to watch this as Nickelodeon kids ourselves? Does this completely taint our memories of the channel? We hope this week's recommendations inspire you to make things easier for yourself: Take a mental health day (Laura), TravelPro luggage (Pam), and signing up for a Spotify family plan in light of plan prices increasing (Andrew). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: It's AMA time! We take our Patrons' burning questions about the BTS life of podcasting. Do we ever worry about someone we've talked shit on finding their way behind the paywall? Why have Andrew and Laura been saying no to a certain annual event? Some never before revealed MuggleSuck tea... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! Andrew recaps meeting Chloé and throwing her to the 'wolves' (Or as a normal people would call them, his friends) Vinyl records have outsold CDs for the second year running, and even cassette tapes are having a moment - what year is it?! Billie Eilish faces backlash for calling out artists who sell multiple variants of an album on vinyl, despite partaking in that practice herself. You don't want to see Pam angry: even Taylor's amount of vinyl variants have pushed her over the edge, and she's pissed! Pam provides a mini-review of Beyonce's Renaissance Act 2: Cowboy Carter and plugs her favorite tunes from the new album! Somehow Laura ended up on home surveillance footage Tiktok, and it's shocking how easy it is to go down THAT rabbit hole. What is it with people who have every single notification turned on? Let Pam water her flowers in peace! Andrew and Laura don't usually watch their live doorbell feeds, but when they do, it's because the neighbors are up to some shenanigans. Get the popcorn! PSA: You aren't obligated to hand over your home surveillance footage to law enforcement unless presented with a warrant or court order. This week's recommendations will keep you entertained and organized: X-Men '97 (Laura), Switched on Pop's podcast episode 'Beyoncé's Country' (Pam), and these custom vinyl dividers to keep your record collection nice and neat (Andrew). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: Who's a petty bitch? raises hand It turns out many people self-identify as petty, so we indulge ourselves in our pettiness for a half hour. Break checking on the road, trolling online gamers, cold shouldering, and more! We've done and seen it all. We absolutely don't recommend sending your enemies exotic animal poop or gummy dicks to get petty revenge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and REAL tech talk! With a heavy tech focus this week, we look at Meta's sneaky inclusion of a new content filter, the US Department of Justice's lawsuit against Apple, and the most horrifying revelation of all: the Facebook poke is having a resurgence. We're all fans of Apple products and have no plans to ditch our iPhones anytime soon, but we can definitely see how Apple makes switching to another smartphone brand difficult. The DOJ says this amounts to harming the competitive process and costing consumers more money. At this point, Smartphones are a public utility and probably do need some regulation - but to what extent? "We 'discovered' a revolutionary secure texting technology that no one has ever thought of integrating into iPhone (until we were legally forced)." Facebook "poke" usage is reportedly up by 13x after Meta increased the feature's prominence. Let your inner child cringe at the memories of flirt poking and creepy posting. Let. it. consume. you. What even IS poking? It's flirting, right? We visit our own poke pages and find some very stale pokes we left on read for 17 years. Sorry! This week's recommendations are a grab bag: 'Quiet On Set' (available on Max, Hulu, and Amazon Prime) (Pam), Balatro (Andrew), and the glow deep serum by Beauty of Joseon (Laura). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: Are you a millennial who still cuts up the plastic rings that hold six packs together to save the turtles? This installment on compulsory habits instilled during childhood is for you! Close the fridge, turn off the water, and cut the lights: YOU'RE WASTING SO MUCH ENERGY, IT'S JUST FLOOOWWING OUT! Did D.A.R.E actually work on us as a generation? Probably with most things except weed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're taking this week off from recording a regular episode, so we're releasing a recent installment of After Dark to the masses! In this chat (which was recorded after our Love Languages episode in February with Dr. Morgan Levy), our string of friendship-oriented discussions continue as we discuss the idea of "loud budgeting." How can you temper the expectations of friends when your spending habits are misaligned, but you still want to be their friend? We also discuss friendship boundaries more broadly. We record a new installment of After Dark every week! You can hear every episode by joining our Patreon or by signing up for Mega #Millennial through Apple Podcasts. By subscribing, you'll be helping us run and grow the show, so THANK YOU! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real TikTok talk! Is a TikTok ban imminent? Where do we stand on whether or not it should be? FYI college applicants: words like "tapestry" and "beacon" are common tipoffs that you might have used ChatGPT to write your college admissions essay. We discuss how to use ChatGPT without revealing you did. We ask ChatGPT to write our hypothetical Harvard admissions essays, and the rumors are true: ChatGPT is really stuck on words like "tapestry" and "mosaic." How different is this latest trend from what has been happening since the dawn of time? People always look for ways to outsource work to save time. It's important to know how to use AI as a tool, not make it your entire strategy. This conversation reminds Pam (who is a stellar writer btw) of a college professor who really had it out for her and made her take remedial English. Critics were served some crow after months of criticism about Biden's age and cognitive sharpness when he showed up at the State of the Union and did okay. This political check in touches on all the fuckery: SCOTUS, Trump trials, and a foolish decision by the Fulton County DA. This week's recommendations will soothe and intrigue you: 'Jazz in the Rain' playlist on Spotify (Pam), Squishmallows (Andrew), and Neil DeGrasse Tyson's podcast Star Talk (Laura). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Let's go back to high school, specifically for the DANCES. How on earth did our schools think it was a good idea to include "Get Low" (a millennial fan favorite) in our middle school dances? And yes, there was bumping and grinding! "Con balls were my prom" "Come again?" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Nicole and Lexi from the Fantasy Fangirls podcast! We discuss the popularity of their show and why people connect to fandom-oriented podcasts. And they've become full time podcasters!? Millennials always have to use their brains for hard adulting things (Don't forget that tax season is coming up!). Let's normalize using our brains for FUN things just as often! We learn about A Court of Thorns and Roses, what types of audiences would be interested in this fantasy series, and why it's been huge for nearly a decade. The ACTOAR TV show has been in the works at Hulu but seems to have hit some development snags - What's going on, and will it still see the light of day? What would Nicole and Lexi like to see from an ACOTAR TV series? We criticize because we care! As "prominent voices in fandom," we discuss the backlash we receive as podcasters and how we handle it all. Have we tempered our expectations for book-to-screen adaptations after the various works we've seen so far? And who's actually done it RIGHT? How many times can we forgive an author until they authorize too many changes from the original canon? (Nicole is still recovering from The Cursed Child....) Recommendations: What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez (Pam), AViewFromMySeat.com (Andrew), Everand (Nicole), and Anomolie and Throne of Glass (Lexi) And this week in After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: Smut can be a fun and light topic to talk about, but this discussion gets real when we analyze why it's so popular: How can smut help improve one's self, your confidence, and your relationship(s)? Reading these books can also help someone find out what's exciting to you, in order to feel fulfilled with your partner(s) or yourself. How do us podcasters deal with with discussing smut when you might have kids listening? Well, we've got too many other problems to juggle (And smut discussions have seriously empowered listeners, so those talks are not going away) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! Biden and Trump are each rolling out strategies to appeal to younger voters and... this is one of the results. What can major party candidates do to reach out to younger voters without being cringe? Maybe ask Chat GPT for ideas. Biden leaning into Dark Brandon conspiracy theories? Yes please! Biden answering complicated geopolitical questions while clutching an ice cream cone? Nooooo. It's time for the hosts to reveal their monthly and yearly spends in the era of streaming wars when the average U.S. consumer is spending nearly $1k a year on streaming services. How do we stack up? Inflation relief may be coming soon to your favorite fast food joint or snack company: McDonald's, PepsiCo, and Coca Cola have all announced plans to slow their roll on price increases, and even cut some prices altogether. Wendy is trying to fuck around and find out with dynamic pricing. Who's gonna wanna pay surge prices for a square hamburger?? Watch out for increased costs to check baggage - American Airlines just announced theirs, and we suspect other airlines will soon follow. This week's recommendations will keep you organized and entertained: Clipa bag hanger (Pam), TooGoodToGo (Laura), and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Andrew). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon: MuggleSuck, Twilight Source and Hypable edition! Because we've worked with lots of muggles who suck. Persistent resistance to new ideas, walls of text sent at all hours of the night, and entitlement are a few of the things we've dealt with in our heyday as fandom creators. "How old is this person??" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! Ethical consumerism: is it truly possible, what are the pros and cons, and do we feel like we're better than everyone else when we make sustainable choices? :eyes: #Millennialproblems: Turns out lab-grown diamonds aren't totally conflict free (just like the millennial experience, yolo). We rag on the trend of using sustainability as a status symbol - ethical consumerism often comes with a high price tag, rendering it inaccessible for some. Let's be real: how often are we actually following up on the ethics of a company of product we like? If a deinfluencer convinces you to buy something you don't need in the name of minimalism, is that a net positive? In related news, an EU study has found that most influencers fail to disclose advertising, so how many times have we been advertised to without our knowledge? Andrew (aka your internet savvy big bro) has some helpful tips and tricks to spot when advertising is happening, even if it's not clearly disclosed. This week's recommendations are for all y'all on the move: Do a sibling road trip with your bro/sis/brother from another mother (Laura), prAna hiking gear (Andrew), and elastic shoelaces (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark: The friendship series part 4: dealing with picky friends. Who else face palms over friends with no service industry background making a scene at restaurants? Excessive pickiness with little self-awareness can be a red flag for bigger issues. The stunning update to Andrew's Bumble BFF journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real LOVE talk! It's Valentine's Day, and for the occasion we're joined by friend of the show, clinical psychologist, and host of That Nerd Thing, Morgan! But first (ugh) Donald Trump is obsessed with the Supreme Court - what are they gonna do about the Colorado ballot case and his immunity appeal? Ever wonder how conversations around love languages became so mainstream? Like all good millennials, we took a Buzzfeed quiz to find out what our love languages are. What is yours? The father of the love languages framework, Dr. Gary Chapman, is a homophobic sexist douche, but is there still something to be gained from his theory of love languages? Andrew is such a love bug this episode, Morgan pushes him to share what makes him feel loved! What's more important? Knowing your partner's love language, or knowing your own? Were you looking for a common theme in this week's recommendations? We have two! STAY HOME IF YOU'RE SICK FOR THE LOVE OF GOD (Laura), Emergen-C (Andrew), “Where Are Your Boys Tonight? The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008” by Chris Payne (Pam), and BookClubs.com (Morgan). And in this week's installment of After Dark: The Friendship Series part 3 - Loud Budgeting. Are we comfortable enough with our friends to speak up when we can't afford to do something? How have we handled friendships where there is a significant disparity in incomes and spending behavior? "I don't want to spent gas money to listen to you complain about your ex for 3 hours girl!" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! First: DC Circuit Court issues a breaking announcement: the President actually isn't above the law! As relations crumble between music giant UMG and TikTok, Taylor Swift, BTS, and other major acts may leave the platform. The latest drama with TikTok is leaving many creators without the musical tools to create their regular content. To add insult to injury, music has been removed from old videos. Our very own Andrew in the Air has been impacted - will our TikTok behavior change forever? A good reminder that nothing is guaranteed? You've heard of tiny houses, but have you heard of people buying tiny houses off Amazon? For all the good reasons to invest in a tiny house (sustainability, affordability, minimalism) there are caveats (renting land for the tiny house to sit on, lack of value appreciation, and lack of multiple bathrooms). While there is a lot to appreciate about tiny houses, let's not forget that these are just fancy mobile homes with good PR. We're practical with this week's recommendations: Whiskey making kits (Laura), BrickEconomy.com (Andrew), and Rain-X original glass water repellent. And in this week's installment of After Dark: Andrew is one step closer to making his cruise ship dreams become a reality. Touching grass and eating ass comes with new friends who like cruises! A panel divided: Laura enjoys cruises, Pam is triggered by the thought, and Andrew is thinking about the 274 night cruise around the world. What is the party scene on a cruise ship like? Sex, drugs, & (sometimes) rock 'n roll. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real JON STEWART IS COMING BACK TO THE DAILY SHOW OMG OMG OMG talk. As a Jon Stewart super fan, this is the revival Laura has been waiting for. Why did Jon's Apple TV+ show come to an end? And why did he leave us during the Trump years? Trevor Noah made the Daily Show his own, and updated it in many much-needed ways. Will the second era of Jon Stewart as host keep up the momentum? Whether it's Jon Stewart or Mean Girls, it is our time to watch childhood nostalgia come back around. Are we tired of the entertainment sphere recycling the same ideas over and over? No Elmo, we're not doing okay. Pam finds catharsis in the latest news about the scrapped Lizzie McGuire reboot, but sometimes even the most anticipated revivals can feel hollow and out of pace with the original material, so maybe Lizzie is better off. How soon is too soon to reboot a beloved story or franchise? (Hollywood vs fan takes on this question) This week's recommendations are (sort of) on theme: The West Wing special to benefit When We All Vote on Max (Laura), Planet Fitness (Andrew), and "The Greatest Night in Pop" on Netflix (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Our friendship series continues! This week's theme: timeliness and reciprocity. How being chronically late with little to no communication has impacted past friendships for the panel. What are we looking for in terms of reciprocity? Are relationships always 50-50? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! We're watching the results of the New Hampshire Republican primary come in over the course of this show, but tbh, there were no big surprises. Friend of the show and host of Shaken and Disturbed John Thrasher is back with us this week to talk about the intersection of true crime and stan culture. We ask John to specifically look at the recent release of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who served 8 years in prison on second degree murder charges in the killing of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard. Gypsy Rose has seemingly gone from inmate to influencer overnight. Is there a pipeline from prison to fame? After the initial spike in interest and popularity, some of the social media tides seem to be shifting as more detractors speak up about the attention and celebrity being afforded to Gypsy Rose. Does stan culture in general infantilize high-profile people and make their hardcore fans operate under the delusion that they can do no wrong? We touch on famous figures we used to stan and when and why those shifts happened for us. Are we guilty of confirmation bias? This week's recommendations are across the board: "American Nightmare" on Netflix (Laura), Love's travel stops for a delightful roadtrip experience (Andrew), StoryGraph for reading recommendations (Pam), and Pokémon Go for the throwback and motivation to get outside (John). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Friendship bitch fest! We love our friends, but they're not always the best at communicating or making plans. "I don't know what to do for my boyfriend's birthday, can you give me ideas? Also you're not invited." PSA: A friend agreeing to be in your wedding is doing you a favor. Be respectful of their time and communicate what you need from them in advance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! Hot on the heels of the Iowa caucus earlier this week, we aren't at all surprised by the outcome. Are pre-teens ruining Sephora, or are we turning into "olds"? The lack of pre-teen spaces (shops, online spaces, for socializing) is leading to some adolescent girls leaning into trends that may not be healthy for them at this age. The value of social currency still impacts us all, but it was at its height for our panel during those tween years. What are the impacts of Gen Alpha not having their own Lizzie McGuire, Limited Too, and skincare brands? Lest we forget that we are easily influenced: let's discuss the rise (and soon to be fall) of the Stanley Cup (no, we're not talking about hockey). Suburban moms and kids getting in on viral trends are basically the kiss of death. Given the Stanley's spot as a hot gift this holiday season, how long does it have before it's usurped by the new hot trend in hydration? Given these challenging economic times, our theme for this week's recommendations is 'little luxuries,' or things you can still do to treat yourself without breaking the bank: Paleo Pines, which is on sale for $23.99 through 1/22 (Laura), TheLipStickLesbians on Tiktok for all your lipstick recs (Pam), and Celsius energy drinks (Andrew). And in this week's installment of After Dark: How boomers ruined Facebook, and why our parents joining the platform changed the dynamics of how we were using it. Are we too hard on boomers? "They started it!" What are we thankful to boomers for? Rock n roll and birthing us (we guess). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and our TENTH YEAR of real talk! What could have possibly happened in the two weeks we were off air? The panel recounts, and pays special tribute to the dearly departed creator of avocado toast. We have to kick off 2024 with another round of 'New Year, New Laws.' What progress (or regress) will our union see this year? Laura might have ruined indoor vaping for Pat by scaring Andrew with some info from the American Heart Association. Sorry Pat!! Illinois and California are taking steps to combat censorship and discrimination, while North Carolina and Montana are trying to stop teenagers from accessing porn. Pornhub says "good luck with that!" Nevada has given Laura another reason to prioritize a trip to see Andrew in 2024. Will Georgia's state income tax reductions come at the expense of higher costs elsewhere? More than 20 states will raise minimum wages for workers which is great and all, but people are still battling inflation! The Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse has entered the public domain, so get ready for creators to leverage this iconic version of the Mouse. New laws from abroad: England and Wales' ban on XL Bully breed, NZ makes a far-right pivot, and more! Start the new year right: Watch 'Leave the World Behind' on Netflix (Laura), 'The Artful Dodger' on Hulu (Pam), and use Waze when driving for the police alerts (Andrew). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Is Mr. Brightside by The Killers the anthem of the millennial generation? The millennial experience we love sing shouting about in bars: desperately wanting something we can't have. We age ourselves by reflecting on other possible millennial anthems, many of which are 20+ years old! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are off the next two weeks, so enjoy this recent installment of our flagship Patreon benefit After Dark in the mean time! Happy Holidays and have a safe New Years! Do you ever worry about being overheard gossiping in public? Well buckle up: the latest trend on TikTok involves regular people eavesdropping and then relaying the gossip they overhear in great detail to the masses. Let’s think about this, would someone want to find out they are being cheated on over TikTok? Did Andrew ever drive your Uber? If so, he has a catalogue of all the best gossip he’s heard from passengers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real year-end talk! Chloé, Marc, and Pat join us for another holiday gift exchange and 2024 predictions! How many of our 2023 predictions were wrong? Tbh the majority. In a show first, the USPS has failed us with getting all gift exchange packages delivered on time. "Touch grass, eat ass." #Millennial's new slogan encouraging expanding your social circle! What's to come in 2024 according to our panel? Biden will win re-election, Trump VP pick predictions, Andrew's yearly death prediction, how AI will break news, and upcoming entertainment release predictions. This week, we're giving our RECOMMENDATION OF THE YEAR! Future (Laura), Lancome Monsieur Big in Waterproof (Chloé), the Steam Deck (Marc), Bumble BFF (Andrew), getting a foldable chair with a canopy (Pat), and Dossier for dupe fragrances (Pam). And in this final 2023 installment of After Dark: Oxford's 2023 Word of the Year is... Rizz? Does this resonate with anyone? We review previous words of the year and evaluate whether they have any staying power, or if being designated 'word of the year' is a death sentence for a word's popularity. What happened in prior years to inspire these selections? Much like a Magic 8-Ball, answers are (somewhat) unclear. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real 2023 talk! This week, we wrap up 2023 by running through the most memorable moments, news stories, snafus, and phenomenons. What is time? You're telling me that head of lettuce lasted longer than Liz Truss as PM happened in 2022? Shut up. How could we forget the Chinese spy balloons? (Don't worry, they haven't forgotten about you or all the sweet intel they picked up.) The Titan submersible, aka the reason we're all getting coal in our stockings this year aka the funniest memes of 2023 aka the reason we're all going to hell. "Tell the rich. I want them to know it was me!" Barbenheimer took the world by storm this summer, and Glitch McConnell is still shook. A melancholy, heartfelt Beatles reunion rounded out the year with the wholesome energy we all needed. See, AI ain't all bad! How could we forget the Renaissance and Eras tours? Laura gets called out for replacing George Santos with a better congressman named Santos. #WestWinggirlieforlife What was the most memorable 2023 moment for our Patrons? Strikes, Tay Tay, the Titan submersible, Prince Harry's "todger," and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. This week's recommendations will set you up for success this holiday season: Lethal Company (Laura), CeraVe Acne Foaming Cream Cleanser (Andrew), and Beyonce's 'Renaissance: a film.' And in this week's installment of After Dark: Thinking of hate stalking an ex or former friend this holiday season? You probably shouldn't but tbh, we love mess. Turns out there are some really common reasons we all hate stalk. Is it to feel better about ourselves? MAYBE. We toy with posting Insta polls to see how many of our exes participate. "The last time I texted him Happy Birthday he didn't answer lol." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! Girl bye: The rise and fall of George Santos, from the House of Representatives to Cameo. Don't forget to check out the #Millennial and MuggleCast Overstock Store for all your holiday shopping needs! Apparently avocado demand in the US is ruining the planet and leading to spikes in violence. WHY CAN'T WE JUST HAVE AVOCADO TOAST IN PEACE? Laura is buying an avocado tree. Has she thought this through? No. Does she have anywhere to plant it? Also no. What other guilty pleasures do we partake in despite knowing the negative consequences of using them? We wish we knew how to quit Amazon. Patrons also weigh in on their guiltiest pleasures, including long showers, styrofoam go-cups, eating meat, and more. The Biden campaign is exploring legal strategies for dealing with the inevitable impact of AI deepfakes on the 2024 election. What deepfakes do we predict we'll see? Tons of misinformation, but absolutely fake nudity. This week's recommendations are helpful and productive: Consumer Class Action Lawsuit Database (Laura), GHOST Protein (Andrew), and Naturium bath and body products (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Do the hosts of #Millennial validate the Shopping Cart Theory? Honesty time: who always returns their shopping cart and who leaves them rolling free in the parking lot? Do we do the right thing when no one's looking? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real Thanksgiving drama talk! RIP Andrew's Black Friday joy. Don't forget to check out the #Millennial and MuggleCast Overstock Store for the podcast fan in your life this holiday season! This week's episode is a Confessional-palooza serving up some piping hot tea from our listeners' most dramatic Thanksgiving encounters. Estranged sibling say something shitty? Dad ruined the pie by putting raw Turkey in the fridge with it? Uncle Bobby ruin Thanksgiving by describing his erection in gory detail? We've got it all chronicled here! How do you even when Grandma's friend Irish goodbyes after having explosive shits in your guest bathroom? "Why aren't you married yet?" "Idk Ethel why aren't you dead yet?" Is it Thanksgiving if the menu doesn't involve mashed potatoes? How to handle Dad being a little too giving to an employee? This week's recommendations will give you a reprieve from stressful interactions this holiday season: Hero Cosmetics Mighty Patches (Andrew), ‘Doctor Who: Special 1 - The Star Beast’ (Pam), and 'Spider-Man 2' on PS5 (Laura). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Our own Thanksgiving tea! There's always that one person who insists on driving a joke into the ground. A significant other who can't even fake it at family functions... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're off this week because of Thanksgiving, but today we're publicly releasing one of our favorites from our After Dark archives! In September, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis were canceled for writing character letters about their 'friend' Danny Masterson. The character letters spilled out into public, which inspired us to write character letters for each of the three of us, as if we were on trial and needed an assist from each other. We had a lot of fun writing these letters and sharing them with one another on air, and we hope you enjoy them too. For more great content like this, pledge to our Patreon or sign up for a paid subscription on Apple Podcasts. You'l receive a new After Dark installment every week, along with ad-free episodes of #Millennial! Happy Thanksgiving, and we'll see you next week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! Check out the newly launched #Millennial and MuggleCast store on Etsy! Grab extras of our awesome Patreon gifts while supplies last! American news roundup: are y'all tired of this shit? So are we. Let's keep it fun and short! Another social media legacy encounters some woes: Tumblr is reportedly downscaling after failing to 'turn around' the site. With Tumblr's attempts at growth in recent years falling flat, their CEO admits it's time to pivot. Is Tumblr already dead to us? We reminisce about the apps and sites of yesteryear: MySpace, AIM, Vine, Foursquare, and more! Our walk down memory lane makes us realize that Google is at its best when it acquires companies for its ecosystem - not so much when they try their hand at launching their own platforms. Listeners sound off on some of their favorite OG internet fixtures: forums, Stumbleupon, Nimbuzz, Livejournal, Xanga, and Neopets. Don't forget to send your funniest, cringiest, most annoying Thanksgiving stories to our Confessional! This week's recommendations are helpful and fun: Get your flu shot and covid booster if eligible (Laura), PointsYeah (Andrew), and 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' on Netflix (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Do you ever worry about being overheard gossiping in public? Well buckle up: the latest trend on TikTok involves regular people eavesdropping and then relaying the gossip they overhear in great detail to the masses. Let's think about this, would someone want to find out they are being cheated on over TikTok? Did Andrew ever drive your Uber? If so, he has a catalogue of all the best gossip he's heard from passengers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and some (real quick) election talk! We kept an eye on a couple of important races and ballot measures, but were excited to see Ohio enshrined abortion rights in its constitution AND legalized recreational marijuana. Toke up y'all! We also took a few moments to get to know our new Speaker, a predictably homophobic Trump sycophant. DoorDash warns consumers: if you don't tip in advance, expect a longer wait. Andrew and Pam say the solution is to require tips in advance, Laura isn't so sure about that. Tl;dr American tipping culture is a scam that fucks over the working class and consumers. Millennials and Gen Z are setting new records for the purchase of alternatives to luxury products, aka DUPES. How has the culture evolved from brand pride to dupe pride? Would our adolescent selves have survived middle school this way? Good dupes vs bad dupes: a lot of stuff can be "duped," but you shouldn't skimp on things like mattresses, shoes, and skincare. This week's recommendations are DUPE themed in honor of our dupe discussion: Heatless curler headband ($27 instead of the hundreds you'll spend on brand name curling irons) (Laura), Anker products for your charging and backup battery needs (Andrew), and Trader Joe's Daily Facial Sunscreen (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark: A listener feels the sting of a close friend forgetting their birthday. Have we ever been on the receiving end of this hurtful behavior? Additionally, have WE ever been the flaky friend? Andrew's the friend who tends to do all the planning and booking reservations - does this ever get tiresome? What to do if you spend more time on your friends than they do on you... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! Buckle up for a slightly unhinged ep - in a historic moment for the show, we recorded this one in the MORNING! Andrew and Pat are the "cool" Halloween neighbors between throwing sexy parties and giving out full size candy bars. Get ready for more adaptations: 'The Hunger Games' is set to get the stage play treatment. (Real talk, does anyone want to feel immersed in the Panem environment?) 'Spongebob the Musical' ran so that Ethan Samuel Slater could throw his family away for Ariana Grande. Is 'Hunger Games' trying to pull a 'Harry Potter' by continuing to expand the universe? A new study out of UCLA indicates that teens are looking to see less sex depicted on screen. Were we just way hornier as teens, or is there something more to this? How have depictions of sex in popular media changed since we were kids? The introduction of intimacy coordinators on set has had a noticeable impact on the nature of sex scenes depicted in tv and film. A confessional prompts us to have a spicy conversation in After Dark: "Can my neighbor hear me using my vibrator through the walls?" There is no common thread in this week's recommendations: Yeti Nano microphone (Laura), Rollo Thermal Printer (Andrew), and investing in an electric fabric shaver to keep your sweaters looking fresh this fall (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark: As promised in the main show, we're getting personal about getting down when you live in connected or shared spaces with neighbors and family. Tips for keeping things discreet if you're at home or in a dorm... Vibrator recommendations! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real DEATH talk! This is your LAST chance to get this year's physical gift by signing up at the BAE tier over on our Patreon! Sign up today, and fill out the form to receive this year's gift: signed album art with a couple of surprise gifts (and some secret bonus content!). Funeral director and home death educator Lauren Carroll of Deathwives joins us to talk about a very spooky topic: DEATH! Just kidding, death doesn't have to be scary! Without death, there can be no life. Lauren soothes our fears and anxieties about death, and explains her tips for having a better relationship with it. It's decided: we're all having water cremations. TBD on what we do with our ashes (Laura might blast hers into space). Be sure to check out the Deathwives Class Library, and if you're in the New York City area, you can get $100 off their live death doula training on 11/11/23 with code OMGIMDEAD. According to home improvement app Thumbtack, 40% of millennials believe their house is haunted. While this is really just a brilliant October promotional opportunity, it inspires a conversation on the panel of our own creepy experiences with the paranormal. As always, our recommendations run the gamut: 'The Fall of the House of Usher' on Netflix (Laura), @PersonalFinanceClub on Instagram (Andrew), and freezing your cookie dough for seamless baking this holiday season. And in this week's installment of After Dark: The #Millennial HR team is going to have to intervene because Andrew is OUT OF CONTROL! While we're talking about death, Andy decides (by coin toss) who will be his Legacy Contact on Facebook when he dies. Pam and Laura share tales of being haunted by the Facebook profiles of dead people. "Hi! If you're receiving this email, I am out of life and will not be returning ever. Go to hell." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! Don't forget to subscribe and fill out our form to receive this year's physical gift - signed album art with a couple of *surprises*. We recommend following NotYourGoodJew on Instagram for more information on the war. Karma is my rocket ship of a career changing cinema goers' etiquette: Pam recounts her experience at the 'Eras Tour' movie. "Mother said it was okay" for Swifties to dance in the aisles, sing their hearts out, and take a million selfies with their friends. As Andrew says, don't yuck someone else's yum! BREAKING: Andrew has never seen 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' and Pam and Laura are devising ways to help Andy lose his RHPS "virginity." It's the end of an era as we know it: Best Buy (aka standard depressing brick and mortar electronics store) has announced it will stop selling DVDs and Blu-rays in 2024. Why do some still prefer physical copies, and in another 10 years, will DVDs and Blu-rays be the new collectible nostalgia item? (We hope not, the early 2000s were a cursed time, let them RIP.) With Disney also announcing it is discontinuing the sales of physical movies in certain regions, it seems certain that the days of buying physical copies of movies, games, and music may be entering their sunset era. This week's recommendations check all the boxes: Juan Luis Guerra (Laura), this Sony DVD/Blu-ray player for the nostalgia (Andrew), and the Singer sewing machine for beginners (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Did someone say Spooky Szn? Laura's ready with some folklore and tales out of Appalachia. "If you heard mothman's ass cheeks clapping in the woods... No you didn't." (Credit to supporter Sean for this gem!) Superstition and the melding of cultural influences that produce today's unique blend of horror folklore tales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! We're excited to announce our 2023 physical gift for BAE+ Patrons: signed album art with a super secret gift you can only get as a BAE Patron for a limited time! #iykyk Do we judge people who work with ghostwriters to publish their memoirs? Is it dishonest to use a ghostwriter and not credit them? Is there a difference between using ghostwriters for fiction vs non-fiction? We expect to need to hire experts to do a variety of jobs for us - why is ghostwriting any different? TikTok has fallen: our latest social media fav is considering rolling out an ad-free subscription tier. Will Pam and Laura be able to resist the temptation? Is Meta setting itself up to fuck around and find out? The platform is reportedly rolling out paid ad-free plans and the requirement for non-paid customers to opt in for free with personalized ads to get around European Union data privacy regulations. How many European citizens do we think will go for this? And getting into truly ridiculous subscription model territory: Tinder's new Select model will cost $499 per month and come with additional features to boost the advantage of meeting their "most sought-after users." "If I'm paying $499/month for Tinder can it just blow me?" This week's recommendations are practical with a pinch of the abstract from Andrew (because ofc): Touch grass and become less dependent on streaming apps (Andrew), Glossier's new Stretch Foundation (Laura), and the Cuisinart immersion blender for all your fall soup needs (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Inspired by the story of known con artist Coco Berthmann, we talk about internet ghosts: the people you thought you knew who ended up being someone else entirely. Laura shares a personal MuggleSuck example of a friend she met through fandom who ended up lying about their entire life story. For more fandom drama, we recount a scandal that is still rocking us to this day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! Need a primer on the House Speaker drama that has unfolded in the House of Representatives in the last week, but don't have the energy for long-winded explanations? Laura's got your back with a quick and dirty 2-minute explainer! Please don't forget to take our 2023 Listener Survey! You can help shape the future of the show - survey is open through October 9th, don't miss your chance to leave your mark on #Millennial! Nearly 3 decades after the murder of Tupac Shakur, a major break in the case has led to an arrest for his murder. Pam and Laura get into the overlap between pop culture and true crime by digging into the logistics of why it took so long for authorities to make an arrest despite long-term certainty around who was responsible for Tupac's murder. Phones in Japan make a shutter sound when you take a photo, even if they're on silent mode. Why? While the privacy concerns are certainly valid, consumers have found creative ways around this. How do we think Americans would react to implementation of a similar policy? Have we been guilty of taking sneaky pics in public? (Yes.) This week's recommendations will keep you health and informed! 'In The Dark' season 2(Laura), requesting free covid tests courtesy of the US government (Andrew), and 'Hip Hop Evolution' on Netflix (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Apparently coffee consumption is okay to a certain degree, and diet sodas might give us cancer. Are we making any changes to our caffeine consumption habits? At what points in life have we hit caffeinated beverages the hardest? What life events made us change our habits? Which of the hosts drinks the most coffee? The answer may surprise you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! Laura is off, but she’ll be back next week! In her absence, Andrew and Pam welcome their friend (and former Hypable staffer!) Tariq Ra'ouf, to the show! You can find Tariq online at Twitter and Instagram. It looks like the Writer’s Strike has officially come to an end! We react to the news at the WGA has reached a tentative deal with the AMPTP Pam fills us in on what happens next now that picketing has stopped, and Andrew details some of what fans can expect after writers in Hollywood resume work. It’s a pop culture palooza this week! To kick things off, we dive into the rise in popularity of universities offering courses on some of today’s biggest pop stars. Is teaching classes on Taylor Swift and Beyonce a smart tactic in getting students excited to learn, or is it all just good PR for the universities greenlighting these classes? Is there space in the classroom for pop culture? We definitely think so! As our discussion on cool college courses comes to a close, Andrew and Tariq get vulnerable as they discuss dropping out of university. Check out Professor Julian Wamble on TikTok, who teaches a Harry Potter course! ‘Fourth Wing’ fans, rejoice! Your excitement over our recent recommendations of the Rebecca Yarros written novel didn’t go unnoticed! To wrap up the show, we host a little spoiler free book club dedicated to this year’s hottest fantasy read! We talk about what it is that sucked us into the book and kept us reading. Pam and Andrew have some fun recounting the spicy plot point they didn’t see coming. ‘Fourth Wing’ sequel, ‘Iron Flame,’ is coming out this November— will any of us be heading out to Barnes & Noble’s planned midnight release parties for the book? We take the opportunity to reminisce a bit on all the midnight release parties we attended growing up. This week’s recommendations: ‘Crying In H Mart’ by Michelle Zauner (Pam), WaterPiks (Andrew), and recording artists Jungle and Whethan (Tariq). And in this week’s installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: WTF news is back! Tariq joins us as Andrew shares a carefully curated list of news stories centered on the overarching theme of “butts.” This time around we’re trying something new: ending this latest installment of WTF news on a high note with some cute news! Is After Dark always this gross, Tariq asks? *shifty eye emoji* Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! Off the top, we tune into the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on banned books and free speech, see the full clip HERE. We'll love you forever if you take a few minutes to fill out our 2023 listener survey to help us improve the show! Rumors of an NSYNC reunion began swirling earlier in the year when the first trailer for ‘Trolls: Band Together’ seemingly made several references to iconic 90s boy bands. Anticipation reached a fever pitch when all five members of NSYNC attended the MTV Video Music Awards to present the Best Pop Video award to Taylor Swift. A couple of other cryptic messages from the band culminated in NSYNC announcing their first single in over two decades... for the 'Trolls 3' movie. In a deep dive on Vulture, we learned that studios and publicists are able to successfully skew movie rating scores. Do movie reviews mean anything to us? Are we easily influenced by the Tomatometer? Have we ever been influenced by reviews or even publicists trying to wine and dine us? Cancel culture in 2023 vs 2017: Lizzo sued by former backup dancers for creating a hostile work environment and Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis take heat for writing character letters for Danny Masterson in the wake of his rape convictions. What is the line between boss/friend for Lizzo's backup dancers? Have inappropriate behaviors towards underage minors reduced, or just shifted and look different now? This week's recommendations will keep you entertained, educated, and well-rested! 'Hot Ones' featuring NSYNC (coming Thursday) (Pam), scheduling "learning time" for yourself (Andrew), and establishing a good pre-sleep routine of journaling, meditating, and winding down (Laura). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Inspired by Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, let's get canceled for writing character defense letters for each others' crimes against humanity. "Hey all he had to do was buy you a slice of pizza to avoid being axe murdered." Pam is on her Vigilante Shit! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! Laura "wins" a longstanding "game," and Andrew toasts to the end of an era. LendingTree and Credit Karma have conducted surveys of millennials and Gen Z’ers to look at reasons why our age groups may be incurring debt in the pursuit of love. Younger generations are more likely to accrue "dating debt" than older generations. We get personal and share how much we've spent on dating. Even though it feels like we're always spending, spending, spending, traditional shopping is dying. (Yet another thing to blame millennials for!) Believe it or not, the majority of consumers (54%) prefer shopping in-store, as opposed to online. (We could never.) If you think listening to podcasts helps combat loneliness, how do you think it helps podcast hosts? This show is our social lives!! If you lean on podcasts for companionship, check out this article in the Washington Post about how people use podcasts to fill this gap. What is the relationship between arousal and focus? What content do we consume to help us focus? This week's recommendations will empower and entertain: SHOOT YOUR SHOT (Andrew), 'Once More with Feeling' by Elissa Sussman, and Baldur's Gate 3 (Laura). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: Laura opens up about a crazy squatting situation her complex experienced last year. The reason police couldn't do anything about it is WILD. Andrew provides a neighbor update, and may or may not be doing surveillance droning to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! We kick off the show on a somber note as another one of Andrew’s death predictions comes true. The hosts reminisce on the legacy of legendary ‘The Price Is Right’ host Bob Barker, as well as recently passed artists Jimmy Buffet, and Smash Mouth’s Steve Harwell. The drones are coming-- at least in New York. The NYPD is officially using surveillance drones to monitor large, outdoor events. If you’re worried about how surveillance drones flying overhead might affect your privacy, you’re not the only one! The hosts weigh in on whether or not they trust law enforcement departments with this new surveillance technology. America is getting loud no matter where you live, and new research now proves that high levels of noise pollution could come with some pretty big health risks. Andrew shares his concerns over living in a developing neighborhood with frequent construction noise. Pam and Laura ruminate over whether or not they’re worried about hearing loss as they age. Home interest rates are high, so when should you buy? Unfortunately, the answer doesn’t seem so clear cut. If you’re feeling mortgage rate envy, you’re not alone! (But that doesn’t seem to be a problem for Andrew and Laura. Both are locked in to some pretty sexy interest rates!) Laura shares how having student loans affected her as a first time home buyer. This week’s recommendations are geared toward enriching your mind and body! CeeCee’s Closet sleep Bonnets (Pam), CeeCee’s Closet African exfoliation net (Laura), and ‘Fourth Wing’ by Rebecca Yarros (Andrew). In this week’s installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: School’s back in session for students all across the country, so we’re hitting you with our very own Back to School special! The hosts reminisce on their old school days. What silly traditions did each of our schools have? Will we be hitting up our respective high school reunions? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! Spotify has a $38 million white noise problem. They're paying ad dollars for their own algorithm to direct listeners to independent white noise podcasts instead of Spotify's own white noise music. Some white noise podcasts are raking in $18k per month - we clearly got into the wrong podcasting business. Still, we try our hand at #Millennial branded white noise. Would you sub?? More steamer price hikes: Disney+ has announced a 27% price increase, which Hulu promising a 20% increase. Take one well-educated guess about which streamers are on the chopping block for our panel. Hurricane Hilary gave something unexpected to the US Southwest, and we look at the up and coming hurricane names for the 2023 forecast. Watch out for Hurricane Gert! It was not until the year of our Lord 2023 that menstrual products' absorbency was tested with blood, not water. #Tampongate strikes again. 'TikTok Music' is in beta mode in Brazil, Indonesia, Australia, Mexico, and Singapore. Is this the future of learning about new music?? How do we find new music? We've got hot recommendations fresh off the press this week! NOAA's National Hurricane Center (Laura), VPNs (Andrew), and ‘Never Say Never with Jeff Jenkins And in this week's installment of After Dark: An Illinois law forcing parents to share part of their revenue with their children is going into effect in 2024. What aspects of this law would have helped us when we were unpaid minor workers? Another MuggleSuck entry: Andrew recounts a time when a certain someone wanted to pay him in experience and exposure, not cold hard cash. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real friendship and romance talk! The Hot Indictment Summer hits just keep coming: TRUMP. IS. INDICTED. FOR. A. FOURTH. TIME! This week's episode is a mailbag show, so we're covering as many confessionals and pieces of feedback as we can (*in 90 minutes, Andrew is flying the night of our recording, and he'll kill us if we give him another 2 hour edit). Uh oh, we influenced too close to the sun: using ChatGPT to write cover letters. The Adventures of Ronald the SAG President and Nancy the Throat Goat. Ugh Chrissy, stop inviting yourself to your coworkers' weddings. No one invited you! A confessional writer grapples with supporting their child's preferences while also protecting them from a family of Trumpers. We're all inspired by a confessional writer who did a boudoir photoshoot for her husband-to-be. Free those titties! Is it possible to say "I love you" too soon? What's the right amount of time? Why is being unfollowed on social channels by people we personally know so hurtful? Do we spite unfollow people? Honestly, there's no thread to connect this week's recommendations: The TWA Hotel at JFK International Airport (Laura), Pluto TV (Andrew), and Beauty of Joseon sunscreen (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Instead of breaking a celebrity death, TMZ recently broke news of a death HOAX! We reflect on the celebrity deaths that shook the culture, and look at why TMZ isn't following the same rules of journalistic ethics as more mainstream outlets. Does that somehow make them better at breaking news? Hide your nudes - a member of the panel has sold footage to TMZ before! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership! If you have federal student loans that will go into repayment this fall, be sure to check out the SAVE plan and enroll before interest resumes 9/1! Andrew might start a side hustle filming reaction vids. His latest: reacting to a baby bear in Yosemite National Park. Spotify users who support us on Patreon can now get our exclusive audio content right within the Spotify app! Woohoo! Tired of dating apps? Some are kicking it old school with Date-Me Docs (think personal ads in newspapers). Here's one directory Would we connect with someone through a Date-Me doc? We analyze a real life example of one and try to play matchmaker for Pam (she's not having it). Our inbox is open: send us your dating docs, OkCupid profiles, etc, and we'll give anonymous, on-air reviews! 'Try That in a Small (Sundown) Town:' we dig into the controversy behind this chart-topping song from Jason Aldean, and why the tune and its music video are proving so divisive. Laura grew up in Forsyth County, Georgia, which not-so-long-ago had sundown laws in place. For a taste, check out this early episode of Oprah where she visited the belly of the sundown beast (warning: offensive, frequent use of racial slurs). The lyrics and imagery of 'Try That In A Small Town' serve as a racist dogwhistle, harkening for the days of Jim Crow and sundown policies. Laura shares her perspective growing up in a place where the echoes of history are still resounding to this day. You know we always come with the best recommendations: 'Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America' by Patrick Phillips (Laura), 8Sleep Pod Cover (Andrew - click the link for $200 off!), and Tyler Childers as a palette cleanse for all the Jason Aldean talk (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: We're life pathing. What we mean by that is, we're discovering what our life path numbers are! Some of our life path results resonate, some make us feel attacked tho. What's the best way to use tools like this? Is there one "right" way? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and REAL talk! In breaking Trumpdates: Orange Julius has had four new indictments dropped against him, this time, out of a Washington D.C. court. Read the full indictment here. Hot indictment summer is still hot y'all! Glitch McConnell and the Congressional Geritocracy: give term limits a chance! We review some of our oldest senators and representatives: basically, if you've existed longer than the chocolate chip cookie recipe, please consider retiring. Kplzthx. Are age limits ethical for elected positions of leadership? FYI, aliens aren't called UFOs anymore - the 2023 approved term is UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena). In a recent congressional hearing, former military officials auditioned for lead roles in an upcoming X-Files spinoff series. The US has possession of "non-human" bodies of UAP pilots?! Is Andrew's biggest 2023 prediction coming true? Bonus rec from Andrew: Find Starlink - this is a free app that lets you see when you’ll be able to view Starlink satellites flying over your area! It's getting hot in here, so turn on all your fans. Heat waves across the globe are cause for concern and discomfort as we navigate some of the hottest months on record. Is there any cause to be optimistic? Our friend Micah provides an official statement of his experience flying out of Las Vegas on a day with record heat, straight from the MuggleCast news room. National outlets tend to lead with the most deadly news updates for engagement, but you'll likely be able to find more positive updates in your local news. Consider composting, recycling, voting, making home efficiency improvements, and more to help "paint your corner of the sky a little bluer." Check out this episode of #Millennial in which one of our listeners helped us understand best recycling practices. This week's recommendations will keep you entertained and clean?! The newest season of 'Black Mirror' on Netflix (Laura), using bar soap instead of body wash to stick it to Big Bath (Andrew), and 'What We Do in the Shadows' on Hulu (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Concert etiquette: what happened to it? In recent months, trends of hurling objects directly at performers have picked up. Did we go feral during the pandemic? We share our biggest pet peeves re: bad behavior at concerts. PUT YOUR FUCKING SIGNS DOWN. Why spend $500 on concert tickets just to spend the entire show watching it through your iPhone? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real BARBIE talk! Our resident Barbie expert and social media manager Chloé educates us on the history of Barbie, and delves into how her legacy is represented on the silver screen. Barbie was originally based on a German escort doll?! The real life Barbie and Ken were brother and sister?! Justice for Allan and Midge!!! Is the message of this movie that men are stupid? We don't think the haters are aware Ken-ough to understand the layers of Barbie. With the success of 'Barbie,' Mattel has some major tailwinds to help project it towards future motion pictures adaptations of their other properties: think magic 8 ball, Doug, and American Girl dolls! Wtf is girl dinner? If you're anything like us, you've been eating girl dinner for years not knowing it was a "thing." Girl dinner isn't a prescribed menu, it's a #lifestyle. For some of us, the center of girl dinner is cheese. For others, it's diet coke and a blunt. Popeyes was prepared: they rolled out their girl dinner menu when the trend went viral. This week's recommendations are mostly fun with one notable super responsible exception! 'They Cloned Tyrone' on Netflix (Laura), Figo Pet Insurance (Andrew), 'Fourth Wing' by Rebecca Yarros, and princessmovies.to for a super legitimate, totally legal way to watch all the Barbie movies for free (Chloé over here trying to get us sued). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available to Patrons and Apple Podcast subscribers: Comparing our millennial and gen z experiences of diet culture in the 90s and 2010s. Chloé has some tea about the perception that gen z is more body inclusive and positive (they're not). We take a a walk down memory lane and reminisce (or cringe) about our public school lunchroom experiences. California out here with the bougie cafeteria set ups, we were totally robbed out East! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real STRIKE talk! We ain't crossing the picket line: why we support the WGA and SAG strikes. Writers, actors, directors, and other creators are receiving PENNIES on their streaming residuals, meanwhile corporate execs are yachting and complaining about not having money. Studios are hoping background actors will agree to one day of shooting and granting the studio perpetual ownership of their likeness with no further compensation. Other industries, like airlines and parcel shipment services, are also staring down the barrel of looming strikes. Are we at a cultural turning point in the push for workers' rights? Shoutout to unions, who got us weekends, paid sick leave, higher wages, and safer working conditions to name a few of their accomplishments. We explore some examples of historical strikes, and examine what caused them to be successful vs what caused them to fail: Flint United Auto Workers Sit-in, Memphis Sanitation Workers’ strike, Postal Workers’ Strike, Air traffic controllers walk-out, Hornel Minnesota Meatpackers, UPS Workers’ Strike (1997), and General Motors Workers’ strike (2019). AI is a hot topic across the board, but it is no stranger to controversy in the writing world: G/O Media, who owns sites like Gizmodo, A/V Club, Jezebel, io9, and Kotaku, announced that they would start testing AI-written content, a controversial announcement made days after laying off several writers. The AI articles were simply published with by an author named “Gizmodo Bot,” and one of the first ones published at the entertainment site io9 went really badly. Where is the line with using AI to streamline work? How are we continuing to use Chat GPT? This week's recommendations will literally make you cool for the summer: Glossier's Universal Pro-Retinol (Laura), after sun gel with aloe and lidocaine (Pam), and Spotify's AI DJ (Andrew). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon and Apple Podcasts: We can't talk about AI without talking about the AI face filters that are triggering us on Tiktok. Tiktok's 'Aged' filter is either making you look like a hot granny or a melting crypt keeper. The slippery slope of using face filters on social media and on Zoom: you forget that having smooth, textureless skin isn't reality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices