Fast Facts for Gen Z

This episode is about a goose. Photo at www.fastfactsforgenz.wordpress.com

How do power dynamics inform our everyday interactions? What about our advocacy? What helps - or hinders - true progress? How can we move closer to equity? In this episode, I examine authority, inequality, and human behavior to try and figure out how we will ever make progress towards justice.

Welcome to Season 2 of Fast Facts for Gen Z! It's time for a new school year - what does that mean for me? What does that mean for all students? Aren't we still in a pandemic? In this episode, I evaluate my observations of how Kids These Days are doing and make predictions for the upcoming school year.

We've come nearly full circle around the year since the podcast has begun, and I'll be taking a hiatus to improve the show. Here's why!

What is it like to teach Gen Z? What was it like to teach during a pandemic? How do we create learning environments that meet students' wants and needs? In this episode, I talk to a high school teacher about working with Gen Z students and challenging the norms and expectations of the American public school system. The thoughts and opinions discussed in this episode are our own and do not reflect the thoughts and opinions of Xavier's employer (or mine).

Why does spending time in nature feel so different from everything else? What kinds of connections do we feel? What benefits are there, and why do they exist. In this slower-paced episode, I recount times that I've felt connected with and disconnected from nature and wonder how those times affect my well-being.

The 2020-21 school year is coming to a close. What has the entire experience, pandemic and all, been like? How has it changed throughout the year? What does it feel like to graduate right now? In this episode, I look back at my previous reflection on online school and think about change, growth, and how you know when you're ready for something to end.

Why is giving feedback so hard? Why is TAKING feedback so hard? What obstacles stand in the way of effective feedback, and what obstacles stand in the way of overcoming those obstacles? In this episode, I think through my experiences and conversations relating to feedback and try to figure out what makes it so agonizingly necessary.

What value can acting and theatre have for kids and teenagers? Why would someone want to be an actor over a director, or vice versa? How do the lessons you learn in theatre apply to real life? In this episode, I take a trip down memory lane to my own experience in middle school and high school theatre and attempt to explain how it built up to where I am today. No tea was spilled in the making of this podcast. (no, you don't get to know why I quit)

I don't know guys, I haven't been able to think of anything but turtles and food insecurity for like a week and I already talked about food insecurity (go listen to "Charity and Policy") so here's the turtles bit.

Why do people seem so addicted to work? Why do we experience feelings like fear and guilt when we aren't working, or when we take time off? How did this happen? In this episode, I research some historical periods and societal problems that I think contribute to our unhealthy relationship with work and realize, yet again, that it's more complicated than I thought.

What exactly went down at the Salem Witch Trials? The women, known only as witches - who were they? What were they? How did this happen? In this episode, I dive into a primary source about my fourteenth great-grandmother's witch trial in Salem, Massachusetts, and examine how something that reads so much like fiction could be so deeply, depressingly true. Content warning: I don't speak very favorably about Christianity in this episode, particularly Puritanism. This episode also contains long discussions of witchcraft, executions, and misogyny.

Where's the value in test-taking? Where are the problems? How is a teacher - or a college - supposed to evaluate a student, if not through a test? In this episode, I'm joined by friend Halle Boroski as we discuss our separate experiences with testing and how it has impacted our learning experiences throughout the K-12 public school system. Disclaimers: We know that teaching is hard. A lot of the suggestions we have - more personalized education, more focus on teacher/student communication than testing, etc. - is very difficult and can't be achieved without things like better pay and smaller class sizes. Like everything, it's a multifaceted issue with a multifaceted solution.

What is it like to be an Emergency Medical Technician? What is it like to be a really young EMT? What's up with the healthcare system? In this episode, I'm joined by EMT and fellow Gen Z Anna Grace Burns as we discuss our takes on the American healthcare system and what, if anything, can be done about it. This episode contains mentions of medical negligence and insulin rationing, and contains longer discussions of broken bones, eating disorders, and medical racism.

What does it mean for a person to have a brand? What's the difference between a brand and an identity? How can you ever know the real you? In this episode, I look at what it means to create a brand for yourself and the ways people have come up with to define themselves and others.

Why is community service important? What kind of work are charity organizations best at? When are charities necessary, and when is it time for policy and legislation to take over? In this episode, I reflect on my own community service and failings of government that make community service necessary.

What do you do when high school isn't really high school anymore? How do you prepare for college when it's still many months away? How do you deal with stagnation? How do you trust your brain to be ready for a transition in a confusing and unexpected time? In this episode, we look at why Zoom high school isn't quite high school, but definitely isn't college, and how I'm surviving an entire senior year during a pandemic.

What was the Stonewall uprising, and why was it important? What factors influence the stories we tell about our history? Why is queer friendship a survival tactic, and what is there to survive, anyway? In this episode, I delve into an influential event in queer history and attempt to explain why there's still a long road ahead to equality.

How do our public schools harm the students it thinks are intelligent? How does that harm follow them through their school career and later life? How can we grow and heal from a system that told us we had to be perfect? In this episode, I examine the roots of my own educational trauma and tell the stories that are often missed by educational reform.

How important is the freedom of the press? How to protections for that freedom differ across the world? In this episode, I take a trip to Reporters Without Borders' Uncensored Library and think about how social media and video games impact societal-level change.

What are we teaching kids about staying safe on the Internet? What should we be teaching them? How does the Internet actually interact with our data? In this episode, I discuss rules that might be necessary, and some that might not be, and share a bit of my limited knowledge of the technical side of the Internet.

An open letter addressing student mental health, the difficulties students have with advocating for themselves, and the responsibility of authority figures to create space for students to advocate.

What are some ways to help kids (and adults, and yourself) deal with big feelings? What makes a behavior management strategy effective or ineffective? What are the stories that stick out to me the most from working at a summer camp?

What makes a good college essay? What makes a bad one? Can you write an essay about hot sauce and actually make it work? In this episode, I give you VERY dubious advice about writing a college essay and tell the tale of my family's ungodly obsession with hot sauce.

A Christmas-themed episode in which special guest Evan Wheeler makes a return to tell, cringe at, and rate Christmas jokes on a 1-10 scale. Are they good jokes? Are they good Christmas jokes? We'll tell you all about it. Music licensed under Creative Commons from Free Music Archive. "Pleasant Anticipation" by Dee Yan-Key.

What makes a tradition good or bad? How have they changed this year? What will happen to them next year? In this episode, I look at the way my holiday traditions have been affected by a year of change and wonder how many of them will stay, change, or go away next year.

What do pets do for us? Why do humans insist on being friends with everything in sight? What is the Chicken Journal, and what could possibly be inside? In this episode, I dive into my family's documented pet history and discover some long-forgotten memories.

What is Twitch? What is it like to livestream video games to hundreds of people? What is the importance of a community? In this episode, I'm joined by Twitch affiliate Equipy to talk about her journey on the platform and why she's stuck with it long enough for it to become, essentially, her job. twitch.tv/equipy

What is football from the perspective of someone who actually played? Are Canadian and American football culture different? How does racism and homophobia impact a player's ability to enjoy the game? In this episode, I'm joined by a Canadian guest as we dive into a real-life experience of mediocre high school football and how a person's identity shapes their relationships with the people around them.

What makes the Star Wars franchise so incessantly popular? Isn't every movie basically the same? Why, if every story is just a repeat of another story, do I love Star Wars so much? In this episode, I delve into what I think the hero's journey means to society and why humans gravitate towards the comfort of a repeated story.

For this 18th birthday special, I address what it means to become an adult the day after an incredibly polarizing election, and how I cope with both known and unknown unknowns.

Why do we like aquariums? What does it mean to have an inner child? Why do we need to take care of it? In this episode, I recount my most recent experience with an aquarium, and discuss how it led to an epiphany about my own inner child.

What was online school like back in March? What is it like now? Should we go back to in-person school? In a (probably) soon-to-be outdated episode, I reflect on what online school is like for me right now and what I think we should do about reopening.

What do you do when you're bored in class? Can we figure out what we were thinking eight or nine months ago? In this episode, I'm joined by a special guest as we reread the haikus we wrote together in Latin 2 and try to decipher what was going on in our heads.

What does etymology have to do with understanding daily speech? How can we track the evolution of certain words and definitions through time? Do words actually mean things? In this episode, I explore my fascination with etymology and marvel at how words can have historical meaning that we never even think about.

How do social media algorithms actually work? What are brands doing on Twitter? What do advertisers actually want? Tune in to this week's episode as I take a deep dive into the psychology of advertising and the subtle shenanigans of posting memes on Twitter.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming because the world is a disaster and I just want to talk about potatoes.

An amateur book review on Douglas Adams 1979 novel An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. As abstract as it is interesting, this satirical novel takes the brain for a spin as it explores the beauty of improbability and how we come to terms with the fact that we don't matter.

What is College Board? How did one company take over college prep and admissions? Why am I morally opposed to AP classes? In this episode, I take a look at the company that has controlled so much of my high school career and why I will fight that system until I am far removed from it.

Why is seeking attention a bad thing? What impact does social media have on our self-worth? Why, if it's so harmful, is it also so fun? In today's episode, I look at the effects of likes and comments on social media and wonder how it has changed how we interact with the people we admire.

What are longleaf pine trees? Where did they all go? How do you decide when it's okay to spend too much money on something you don't need? In this episode, I learn about the history and significance of the longleaf pine tree and wonder about the privileges in my life that make it possible to not worry about money.

New series! An amateur book review on Hank Green's 2017 novel An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. This witty, honest, and thrilling science fiction novel received several starred reviews and is chock-full of aliens, fame, and striking social commentary. Warning: contains spoilers

How intense is high school football culture? Is popularity real? Will I have a cheesy YA romance-type relationship with the star football player? (spoiler, no) In today's episode, I discuss my observations of football at my high school and wonder whether Instagram followers matter in our lives.

How do you light a fire? How do you light it differently? What do you do when you don't succeed? How can we make failure hurt less? In this episode, I work back in time as I explain how to get a fire started, and I explore my own relationship with failure and how it came to be.

What makes a crime a felony? Why do those people lose their right to vote? Do I need to vote? On today's episode, I take you through my research process and remind myself that racism is everywhere.

What makes summer camp memorable? How does fear help us grow as people? What do snakes and feedback have in common? On today's episode, I recount my memories of summer camp and the challenges that come with wanting to learn and improve.

What makes a Millennial teacher different from anyone else? Why do we get along better with them? What are they like as parents? Tune in to hear my observations, thoughts, and memories on Millennials becoming authority figures in our lives.

What are podcasts? How did they get here? Why do we care? Join me as I try to figure out why I like podcasts enough to make one, how they became so popular, and what the rules and regulations are that govern them.