How “Millennial Cringe” Became “Millennial Optimism”
Slate Culture Feed
Slate Podcasts
4.2 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 13 December 2025
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Gen Z expert and After School writer Casey Lewis to talk about how Gen Z TikTok users are switching up on Millennials. After years of mocking the generation for being “cringe” online, now people are longing to return to the 2010s and the culture that came with it. But were Millennials really as “optimistic” as the fancams make it seem? And what does Gen Z have, if anything, to be nostalgic about?
This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | There's a reason we re-watch Home Alone every year. |
| 0:03.0 | Merry Christmas, you filthy animal. |
| 0:05.0 | It's because the best stories stay with you. |
| 0:08.0 | And Disney Plus is where you'll find your next great story. |
| 0:12.0 | Whether it's Fantastic Four First Steps. |
| 0:15.0 | We will protect you. |
| 0:16.0 | High-power drama, All's Fair. |
| 0:18.0 | Tell us your story. |
| 0:19.0 | Or brand new Percy Jackson. |
| 0:22.0 | That was just the beginning. |
| 0:26.1 | A lifetime of great stories awaits on Disney Plus. Now streaming 18 plus. |
| 0:27.8 | Subscription required. |
| 0:29.0 | T's and about internet culture. |
| 0:52.0 | Joining us today, we have Casey Lewis, author of the newsletter After School. |
| 0:56.6 | Casey, welcome to the show. |
| 0:58.2 | Thank you so much for having me. |
| 1:00.5 | I have been a follow of your newsletter for some time. |
| 1:04.2 | For those who don't know about after school, it is a newsletter all about basically |
| 1:08.8 | teen trends, Gen Z trends in particular. |
| 1:12.6 | Casey curates news, but then she also writes these trends stories. |
| 1:16.6 | And I have to admit for longer than it is like polite, for some reason, I kept calling your newsletter after school snack. |
| 1:25.6 | I'll take it. I don't know where it came from. |
... |
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