Talking ‘Bout My Generation: December 2020 podcast playlist

What does it mean to be part of a “generation?” It defines us by age, era, experience, and values. And the generational divide can feel all too real with one generation blaming another for the impending downfall of society. Yet many of our loved ones do not belong to the same generation as we do and we often have to navigate tricky terrain when it comes to mutual understanding. This month’s playlist highlights generational stories and intergenerational conversations as a way to examine this cultural phenomenon.

(Curated by Joseph Hawthorne, a freelance podcast producer and editor who is a member of our NYC and global virtual chapters.)

Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something PBC may earn a commission.

Podcast Listening List on GENERATIONS

Get the full listening list on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

Podcast: Today, Explained
Episode: Ok boomer (November 2019, 25 min)
A discussion of the generational divide, generational amnesia, and a chat with the Brian Resnick, who wrote “Why old people will always complain about young people.”

Podcast: Nancy
Episode: Taiwan! (May 2019, 36 min)
“Traveling to Taiwan with her mom, Kathy imagines the life she might have lived had her family stayed.”

Podcast: Multi Story
Episode: Generations (June 2019, 33 min)
“People with at least four decades between them, share and compare their life experiences.” Note: this podcast is created by PBC’s very own Becca Bryers, chapter leader of our chapter in East Midlands, UK.

Podcast: How to Talk to [Mamí & Papí] about Anything
Episode: She Had to Choose Her Career Over Her Parents (September 2020, 20 min)
A chat with Olga, journalist and author of the book Weird, followed by a debrief with Cynthia Pong, feminist career strategist guest expert and author of Don’t Stay in Your Lane: The Career Change Guide for Women of Color.

PBC Podcast Episodes about the Generations Podcast Playlist

• Roundup discussion about Generations playlist
• Juleyka Lantigua-Williams, host of How to Talk to [Mamí & Papí] about Anything
• Host of Multi Story, Becca Bryers

Bonus podcast episodes:

• Latino USA: The Quevedos (August 2018, 44 min) *Note: this episode would have been chosen for the main list if it was still available on the Latino USA current feed.
• We Share the Same Sky: a 7-part podcast that “documents a granddaughter’s decade-long journey to weave together the thin threads of her family history”
• Making Gay History: “Season 1: Episode 6: Jeanne and Morty Manford” (November 2016, 18 min)
• 1stGens: “S2 | E4: To Raise a Child” (April 2018, 32 min)
• BackStory: “307: Those Were The Days: Nostalgia in American History” (January 2020, 1 hr 10 min)
• Radio Drama Revival: “The Weeksville Project”
• Ologies: “Genealogy (FAMILY TREES) with Stephen Hanks” (February 2020, 1 hr 8 min)
• See Something Say Something: “Episode 33: A 91-Year-Old Imam Still Finds Joy In The Podcast Studio” (September 2017, 29 min)
• Heavyweight: “Vivian” (October 2020, 43 min)
• Hong Kong Confidential: “S1E55: 55| My Centenarian Nan” (September 2018, 46 min)
• The Mash-Up Americans: “Bubbes Know Best” (October 2017, 30 min)
• Radio Diaries: “Centenarians (Still) in Lockdown” (November 2020, 16 min)

Recommended Books

• Weird by Olga Khazan (book by the guest in the How to Talk to [Mamí & Papí] about Anything episode)
• Don’t Stay in Your Lane: The Career Change Guide for Women of Color by Cynthia Pong (feminist career strategist guest expert on the How to Talk to [Mamí & Papí] about Anything episode)
• Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen
• The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown by Paul Taylor and Pew Research Center
• 1619 – Twenty Africans: Their Story, and Discovery of Their Black, Red, & White Descendants by Stephen Hanks
• Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam
• Akee Tree: A Descendant’s Quest for His Slave Ancestors on the Eskridge Plantations by Stephen Hanks
• Happy Days and Wonder Years: The Fifties and the Sixties in Contemporary Cultural Politics by Daniel Marcus

Conversation Starter Questions

1. What generation(s) do you consider yourself a part of?
2. Do you think each generation is defined by different values? If so, what are those values?
3. Are generations consistent around the world?
4. What kinds of Generational divides did you notice in the episodes?
5. What are common stereotypes people make about ‘other’ generations?
6. Do you believe that there are clear generational divides? (ie. Millennial vs. Gen X) If so, how do these generational divides affect our lives?
7. Do you think people before the mid 1900s would have group themselves by generation?
8. Are generations getting shorter? Longer? More or less important?
9. What do you think FUTURE generations will be defined by?