Every generation gets a panic about its kids — and every generation’s panic looks deeply stupid in hindsight. In Part 1 of a new three-part series, Chris and Des trace how the modern “teenager” was even invented, then walk the timeline through Elvis’s hips, James Dean, the 70s nihilism of Over the Edge, Chris’s 80s coming-of-age in Ames, Iowa, and the slacker label that never quite fit. The setup for everything coming next: it’s not that the kids aren’t all right. It’s that the kids aren’t supposed to be all right — and adults keep forgetting their own teenage years.
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Subscribe, watch and listen to I'm Not Even Supposed to Be Here Podcast

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🖥️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeHerePod

📱 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today/id1867373928

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3bypMpSmcoIjt4bHk0nvzz?si=18eab826d1394fd9

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Sponsored by Bearing 287 https://www.bearing287.com/

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#BeHerePod #NotEvenSupposedToBeHere #CulturalCommentary

Timestamps:
0:00 — Cold open: “the kids end up okay at the end”
1:30 — Welcome + a new three-part series
4:00 — The Michael Jackson biopic conversation
8:00 — The teenager was invented after WWII
13:00 — “Kids these days” — the cyclical hand-wringing
15:00 — Elvis’s hips and rock and roll panic
21:00 — “Cut your hair” as the universal theme
23:00 — The 70s: latchkey kids and Iowa childhood
29:00 — Over the Edge: the dark side of 70s teen life
32:00 — “It’s 10 PM. Do you know where your kids are?”
33:30 — The 80s: the “fake decade”
36:00 — Jocks, bullies, and 80s masculinity
41:00 — John Hughes brings teenagers to cinema
43:00 — MTV, hairbands, grunge, and the rise of rap

48:30 — Why we got called “slackers”
52:00 — Where does that energy go?
55:00 — Kids aren’t SUPPOSED to be all right
57:00 — Belonging, generational labels, and what’s next

References:
Project MUSE
University of Southern Indiana
https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2022/10/the-senate-comic-book-hearings-of-1954/
https://www.archives.gov/legislative/resources/education/comic-books
https://the-artifice.com/masculinity-gender-roles-tv-1950s/
AAIHS
Springer
https://www.history.com/articles/the-stonewall-riots
https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/stonewall-era
Latchkey kids
Over the Edge (1979)
Info on Stonewall
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0044118X211001096

Produced by Julia Bevolo

The melting pot was supposed to be America’s most generous self-description. Turns out it’s one of our most carefully curated myths. In the finale of the Crumbling American Myths series, Chris and Des trace ‘melting pot’ from a 1908 play to a Schoolhouse Rock earworm to the 2026 Supreme Court. Chris discovers that ‘melt’ always meant assimilating into whiteness, and even then only a narrow band of Europeans were ever really welcome. Expect history, pop culture, and a sharp read on present-day ICE raids, the H1B brain drain, and the wedge politics keeping working people fighting each other instead of looking up. Welcome to group therapy disguised as cultural commentary and enjoy episode 16 of I'm Not Even Supposed to Be Here Today.

Check out Kareem’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SubwayTakes
Schoolhouse Rock - ''The Great American Melting Pot''

Timestamps:
00:09 - Intro
10:24 Click here to skip Sirat spoilers!
10:45 The Melting Pot Myth
16:46 Historical Context of the Melting Pot
21:18 Cultural References and Reality of Immigration
29:01 The Impact of Immigration Policies
38:44 Contemporary Issues and the Political Climate
48:25 Suggestions for Understanding Immigration
56:59 Conclusion and Future Topics
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Subscribe, watch and listen to I'm Not Even Supposed to Be Here Podcast

====================

🖥️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeHerePod

📱 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today/id1867373928

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3bypMpSmcoIjt4bHk0nvzz?si=18eab826d1394fd9

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Sponsored by Bearing 287 https://www.bearing287.com/

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#BeHerePod #NotEvenSupposedToBeHere #CulturalCommentary

References:
Harvard Pluralism Project
Newsweek
EBSCO Research
Wikipedia: Melting Pot
ResearchGate
Sosyalarastirmalar.com
SSRC
Gale
CMS
Global Boston
National Archives / State Dept
Penn Today
American Immigration Council
TIME
American Immigration Council, Jan. 2026
Vera Institute
Deportation Data Project

Produced by Julia Bevolo

Part 2 of our Crumbling American Myths series tackles the big one: American exceptionalism and the U.S. global brand. Chris and Des trace the arc from WWI creditors to post-WWII superpower to—as Chris puts it—“the Sears of global brands.” They walk through three body blows that shattered the “shining city on a hill” image, share international polling data that will make you flinch, and close with real actions you can take to rebuild soft power from the ground up. Plus: the launch of Bearing 287’s Paradox Platform for mission-driven organizations navigating AI.

The Paradox Platform on Substack
Take the Paradox Assessment

Timestamps:
0:00 — Intro & Paradox Platform announcement
8:30 — The myth of American exceptionalism defined
13:00 — How the U.S. rose to superpower status (WWI–WWII)
19:00 — The American hero narrative vs. reality
24:00 — Reagan’s “shining city on a hill”
30:00 — The hypocrisy: voting rights, torture, foreign intervention
35:00 — The Iran backstory most Americans don’t know
44:00 — “The Sears of global brands”
46:00 — Three body blows: Iraq, 2008, Trump
57:00 — Where the U.S. brand stands today
1:00:00 — Comparing fallen empires
1:04:00 — What we can do about it
====================

Subscribe, watch and listen to I'm Not Even Supposed to Be Here Podcast

====================

🖥️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeHerePod

📱 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today/id1867373928

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3bypMpSmcoIjt4bHk0nvzz?si=18eab826d1394fd9

====================

Sponsored by Bearing 287 https://www.bearing287.com/

====================

#BeHerePod #NotEvenSupposedToBeHere #CulturalCommentary

References:
Reagan’s Farewell Address
WSJ Opinion Piece
Project Syndicate - Soft power
Federal Reserve History (wiki)
Harvard - USAID
Bright Line Watch
Forbes
Forbes - Tourism
Internat’l Trade Administration

Produced by Julia Bevolo