Hey, you found us. Come on in. Welcome to deeply human. Today, we're talking with and about teenagers, and I'm your host, former adolescent Dessa.

During the teenage years, there's a rite of passage around every corner. A bar mitzvah, a kintaniera,

maybe a driver's license, or a first kiss, if you're into that sort of thing.

When I was 14, my best friend Maria had moved away to Sweden, and I got to visit her.

I remember that trip so vividly. The weird chemical taste of the salt

licorice, the crush I developed on a dark-haired boy, the way that music moved me, almost to the

point of physical discomfort, the discovery that the dark-haired boy liked me back, which both

thrilled and nauseated me. There's a term for our heightened recall of adolescence and early adulthood.

It's called the Reminiscence Bump.

The adventures, both innocent and illicit, of our teenage years, make lasting impressions.

We're branded with the memories of our first breakup, fierce arguments with parents,

the friend who tried to skateboard off the roof, the songs that electrified us, the sick sweet smell of

Swedish wine cut with Fanta.

The general intensity of experience in adolescence is due in part to our neuroanatomy.

We're going to look inside the teenage brain to find out why the

world burns brighter in your teens.

Hi, I am Piper Wilson and I'm 18 years old. I have been 18 for about a month now.

Awesome. Do you think that high school turned out to be what you

imagined it would when you were a little kid? I thought like once I got to be like 16, 17, I would

feel just like the top of the world. It's like being a kid, but with more benefits. So I grew up just like imagining that, like, my teenage years are going to be, like, just the

epitome of fun. Things like staying out too late or, like, making bad decisions or, like,

partying. It's just like, if I don't do this now, then, like, when will I get to?

...