80sNot80s

80s Not 80s

One strange aftereffect of Cultural Ground Zero has been the rise of the retrowave musical aesthetic. Like the PulpRev in fiction, this movement doesn't so much embrace a genre as an earlier state of the art - in retrowave's case, the 1980s. To a member of Generation Y, the phenomenon…
January 16, 202334 Comments
Life Teen Mass

Hopeful LibCath Listicle

Way back in the mists of time before the Trump years, #GamerGate, and even the Sad Puppies days, Fr. Dwight Longenecker's blog was on my regular rotation. Fr. D. is a former Anglican priest, Catholic convert, and indie author whose balanced commentary proved quite helpful in the early days of…
January 11, 202311 Comments
Batman Moonwalker

Speculation on VHS

Loyal readers will recall the summer of 2021, when we delved into the seedy world of video game speculation. For newcomers, what was alleged to have happened was unscrupulous grading services were colluding with auction houses to drive up prices on vintage video games. So you had carts with millions…
January 4, 202314 Comments
Broken Generation

The Broken Generation

It's often said that a definitive experience of Generation Y is getting mugged by reality. They came of age as the post-WWII economic boom and post-Cold War optimism faded. In an era when every day was Christmas, Baby Boomers' promise that getting a liberal arts degree would guarantee a place…
December 28, 20229 Comments
Christmas Toy

A Gen Y Christmas

A reader writes, Brian, My wife and I re-watched a handful of Christmas movies while wrapping presents for my side of the family last night. One section of our DVD library is just Christmas movies, most of which are now decades old, which I realize now is almost a physical…
December 20, 20222 Comments
Gen Y Swag

Swag Rich, Spirit Poor

On the occasion of a visit to the US, Mother Teresa was heard to marvel at the poverty of New York compared to Calcutta. She wasn't talking about material poverty. The US has some of the richest poor in the world, as the Mammon Mob loves to point out. Instead,…
November 14, 202215 Comments
Afterglow Gen Y

Afterglow: Generation Y

The latest collection from author David V. Stewart is out now! Who was Generation Y? Not even they themselves seem to remember. Perched between the cynical Generation X and the activist Millennials, Generation Y was a cohort that lived on both sides of the divide. They had an analogue childhood…
November 11, 20225 Comments
Two Paths

Two Different Worlds

Last week's post on Xennial Odyssey's review of the Gen Y anthology evoked fresh accusations that Ys are just Millennials in denial. This comment from a while back by Generation Y co-author JD Cowan sums up the key differences between Xers, Ys, and Millennials and suggests reasons for those differences.…
October 25, 202213 Comments
Hayter Hate

Hayter Hate

Let the above image serve to remind you that the people behind the product you consume hate you. The Death Cultists responsible for your beloved childhood IPs hold you in contempt and seek to use your attachment to convert you. Put away childish things. Put on the armor of God.…
October 20, 202212 Comments
XOP

Gen Y on Xennial Odyssey

The Gen Y essay collection co-authored by David V. Stewart, JD Cowan, and me was recently reviewed on the Xennial Odyssey Podcast. Listen here. It's cool of the hosts to review the book, and it's good to know the word's getting out. Thanks to XOP for giving the book some…
October 18, 20225 Comments