Howdy Doody Reboot

No Howdy Doody Reboot

A recent post on the Pop Cult occasioned a salient and topical discussion in the comments. Author JD Cowan writes: That’s just it, isn’t it. Nothing is made for younger generations anymore. The average age of Cartoon Network viewers is 29. Disney World is filled with single wine aunts and…
February 28, 20249 Comments
Millennials’ Spiritual Affliction

Millennials’ Spiritual Affliction

Last week's testimony from a reader who's experienced strange nocturnal visions drew overwhelming comment. Based on the flood of responses, it appears that Millennials' spiritual affliction may be a real phenomenon that bears more investigation. The following are samples of reports from the comments and from X. I used to…
February 19, 202413 Comments
Generational Wealth

Millennials’ Generational Poverty

If you've witnessed intergenerational arguments online, it's a near-certainty you've seen Baby Boomers taking flak for hoarding their wealth and leaving their posterity in generational poverty. A while back, Business Insider backed up those complaints with data. The numbers show that not only have younger generations been robbed, the scope…
February 12, 202421 Comments
Late Night HypnoJournoClowns

Late-Night HypnoJourno Clowns

If you were of college age back in the aughts, it was impossible to miss the late-night news parody show craze. Once Comedy Central's saucy puppet shows went off air for the day, the syncopated sounds of smug one-liners punctuated with mindless laughter would filter from dorm rooms, cheap apartments,…
February 6, 202416 Comments
Millennial Nonparticipation

Millennials’ Nonparticipation Trophy

The unemployable Millennial male has become a stock antagonist of Gen X managers and regime journos alike. While the former trade workplace horror stories of helpless yet self-entitled snowflakes who balk at face-to-face interaction, the latter whine about basement-dwelling incel NEETs failing to provide strong, independent women the lifestyle they…
February 5, 20243 Comments
SpiritualGroundZero

The Pop Cult’s Pyrrhic Victory

  Something unprecedented happened in America in the years between 1991 and 1998. Christian religious affiliation fell from around 90 percent to 75 percent among young adults of ages 18-35. As frequent readers know, something noteworthy happened around the same time. If you take the average of people who were…
January 31, 202410 Comments
Gen Y More Millennial

More Millennial Than Millennials

This blog's ongoing project to beat the boundaries of forgotten generations has drawn a surprising amount of interest. Especially posts dealing with Gen Y and Millennials. You would think these observations self-evident, but Madison Avenue has consigned these cohorts to the memory hole since they're not longer profitable to ad…
January 24, 20249 Comments
nostalgia jukebox

The Nostalgia Jukebox Effect

Nostalgia for pre-Ground Zero pop culture is a subject that comes up a lot on this blog. Pining for the awesome 80s and rad 90s is such a defining feature of Generation Y that this cohort is almost solely responsible for the glut of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles retro action…
January 18, 202416 Comments
Millennial in Hall of Mirrors

Millennial Hall of Mirrors

Talk to Millennials long enough, and they'll turn the topic of conversation to their preferred pop culture brands. Discussing these corporate IPs with them for any length of time will give you the definite impression that this generation doesn't just consume these entertainment products, they project themselves into them. To…
January 15, 20249 Comments
Pandora Hope

The Responsibility of Hope

This week's posts on the challenges faced by the Millennial generation and ideas for how to help them meet those challenges sparked a lively discussion that ranged across multiple posts. Being an editor, I have spliced a selection of comments on related themes into the following dialogue. Author JD Cowan…
January 11, 202417 Comments