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Gen-Z to Boomers #3

  • Changing fatherhood
  • The youth vote
  • Klarna and debt
  • Recovering from COVID
Published every Friday

Barrons

How the New Longevity is Changing Fatherhood

Even in the time of Covid-19, we are in the midst of a longevity revolution, living longer than ever before. Throughout 99% of human history, the average life expectancy at birth was fewer than 18 years. There have always been some 40-, 60- and even 80-year-olds, but not very many. Then, during the 19th and 20th centuries, with incredible breakthroughs in public health, antibiotics, refrigeration, pharmaceuticals, and self-care, more and more people started living longer and longer.

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Editor’s Note:

Beyond existing as abstract concepts, generations are also seen in the relationships between parents and children. Here psychologist Ken Dychtwald explores what it means to be a father for longer and the “third age” of life.

POLITCO

How a New Wave of Podcasts Is Shaking Up Chinese-Language Media

Some listeners complained that the first episode was “too theoretical and abstract” — the discussion touched on the French philosopher Franz Fanon’s criticism of Hegel’s master-slave dialectic — but that didn’t prevent people from tuning in. Since it launched, the podcast has racked up 17,000 downloads in eight countries plus Taiwan and Hong Kong. That might seem a drop in the bucket relative to the 1 billion Mandarin speakers worldwide, but the podcast’s goal isn’t to go mainstream. Instead, it aims to open up space for progressive conversation and build community among a select group of Chinese-speaking people, highly educated and many of them young, who might go on to have influence over politics and policy. Over 60 percent of the audience is in China.

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Bakersfield Californian

COMMUNITY VOICES: Young voters, this is your moment

It is my understanding that younger generations do not like to be “talked at” but “talked to.” I say this, because as I approach the fall semester, I cannot help but want to dialogue with you (college students and young people) about the significance of the youth vote (typically ages 18 to 29). I would especially like to talk to you about your fierce and palpable electoral power, as Millennials (born 1981 – 1996) and Generation Z (1997-current) comprise the largest voting block this coming election, bolstering 37 percent of the electorate!

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CBS News

From TikTok to Black Lives Matter, how Gen Z is revolutionizing activism

Muhammad Najem’s Twitter and Instagram feeds are filled with selfies, but the self-portraits he shares are far from what many might expect of a teenager. Najem’s face takes up just a small portion of the screen — the rest shows exploding bombs, falling buildings, and the cries of pain, anger and frustration that have been the norm in Syria since its civil war began in 2011.

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London Evening Standard

The cool lender getting Gen Z hooked on debt

It’s so easy to spot the hot pink Klarna logo winking at you from the bottom of your pricey back-to-workwear Asos order that you swear is actually flirting with you at the online checkout. It’s easier still to find yourself jumping on its cutesy bandwagon when you know the free ride that’s in store: an option to buy what you want now, pay for it later, which has grabbed the attention of cash-strapped would-be shoppers during lockdown. “Absolutely Klarna’d up to my eyeballs thanks to Covid,” grumblebrags one tweet typical of Klarna’s fanbase.

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Editor’s Note:

Many companies try to target their services towards younger generations. Here Samuel Fishwick looks at a British company and criticism of it beyond its fluffy pink image.

Jewish Forward

TikTok is a quirky hub of Jewish culture worth fighting for, despite anti-Semitism

There’s a new song making the rounds in the Jewish corner of TikTok, the colorful video-based social media platform so beloved by tweens, teens and people in their twenties: Nicki Minaj rapping over the Hora.

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The Globe and Mail ($)

As restaurants and bars closed, younger Canadians saved during COVID-19. But will it last?

Amid closed bars, restaurants, and concert halls, younger Canadians are spending less and saving more during the pandemic. Many say they plan to maintain these habits even after lockdown restrictions are lifted, suggesting that the pandemic has created a unique opportunity for some to build up savings and get on firmer financial ground.

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CNN

I can’t shake Covid-19: Warnings from young survivors still suffering

Daniel Green is still hobbled by the severe viral infection that struck him in March and left him coughing up blood.

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Editor’s Note:

One of the other ways that generations have experienced coronavirus differently is the disease itself. Here Ryan Prior looks at young people and what happens to some of them as they recover.

The Atlantic

Colleges Are Getting Ready to Blame Their Students

As campuses reopen without adequate testing, universities fault young people for a lack of personal responsibility.

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Economic Times (Times of India)

Brokerages offering user-friendly tech features and products to lure millennials

Retail investors who bought June dip favored back-to-work stocksIndian millennials, riding on the digitisation of the equity market herded by traditional and new discount brokerages offering user-friendly features and products in play, have rushed in droves to invest in stocks. Brokerages said 70% of the 30 lakh who opened demat accounts in the last five months are millennials.

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