Hi everyone, I'm Susie Weiss, and I've noticed there's just simply not enough podcasts in the world. So I'm launching my own. Let's go. Let's go, baby. Second Thought is a weekly show about pop culture. The stuff everyone's been binging, arguing about, obsessing over. Here's the thing about heated rivalry. I mean, even the most devoted swifties, I think we can agree, not our best work. We'll be hosting thoughtful conversations with culture's most important figures. Talk about genius.

Talk about generational talent.

Coming to headphones near you on can agree not our best work. We'll be hosting thoughtful conversations with culture's most important

figures. Talk about genius. Talk about generational talent. Coming to headphones near you on April 17th,

with a first guess you won't want to miss. Available wherever you get your podcasts. I don't know this

is a generational thing or if this is a youth thing, but there's a lot of like, my life is over. I can't do anything else. I'm ready to pack it up.

From the outside, I'm like, oh, this is so ridiculous. We're 21 years old. Like, how can you say

your life is over? But then I think about the fact that like the world is so confusing,

it's really frustrating to sit in the unknown.

Welcome to how to. I'm Courtney Martin. Do you remember how confusing, how totally frustrating it was

to be 21 years old? This is much longer ago for some of us than others, obviously,

but even though I am twice that age, I remember the feeling of being 21 so vividly. I lived in this

railroad apartment in Brooklyn with my bestie, Christina, and my big brother, Chris. I had this horrible job

as some real estate tycoon's assistant. I remember sitting in her high-rise office in Midtown.

She smoked long skinny cigarettes while I tried to figure out how to do a mail merge.

There was other stuff I was trying to figure out too. I wanted to be a writer,

but I was so far from it. I was totally disillusioned with politics. And this may not surprise

you. I was broke. I wanted to hit fast forward on my life so freaking bad. To zoom past mail

merges and rejection letters from editors and to just

like enjoy the good life, whatever that meant. Some of you might be thinking you were 21. Nobody has

it all figured out at that age. But I think Gen Z might have it even worse for a whole bunch of reasons. Climate change,

economic inequality, political polarization, war, pandemics. I mean, it's crazy out there,

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