Millennial: Pretend Adulting, Real Talk

Determine Your Top Two Personal Values For 2026

Support #Millennial! * The holiday season is here and so is our best offer at https://Patreon.com/millennial [https://Patreon.com/millennial]! Sign up for an annual membership and receive 20% off your subscription, guaranteeing perks through 2026!⁠⁠⁠ [https://patreon.com/millennial] * Visit our merch store: ⁠⁠https://shop.millennialshow.com⁠⁠ [https://shop.millennialshow.com/] * Follow the show in your favorite podcast app and leave us a review! We’re kicking off our final episode of the year by revisiting our 2025 predictions to see who deserves bragging rights (and who needs to quietly log off). We also make some 2026 predictions, and can't wait to see how wrong Laura is this time a year from now! Then we're getting reflective with a deep dive into personal values, resolutions, and themes for 2026, inspired by Brené Brown’s framework of choosing just two core values [https://brenebrown.com/resources/dare-to-lead-list-of-values/] to guide your life. We unpack why clarity around values helps reduce shame, strengthens boundaries, and makes hard decisions easier, especially when life gets loud or uncomfortable. We get into how we plan to live these values in 2026, from setting firmer boundaries and protecting work-life balance to journaling, changing family dynamics, and choosing alignment over comfort. And we've got your final 2025 recommendations locked and loaded: Santa Fe Style Salad with Chicken - Fresh Retail, Private Label, Foodservice [https://www.fivestargourmetfoods.com/deluxe-santa-fe-style-salad/] (Andrew), giving the gift of time with you to a loved one this holiday season (Laura), and Softymo deep cleansing oil (Pam).  And in this week's installment of After Dark, we go deeper into our values and share some recent life events and realizations that have helped firm up our values and our boundaries. 2026 will be the year of boundaries, self-advocacy, equity, and having absolutely zero patience for bullshit as we get older. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Australia Bans Social Media For Kids - Will It Work?

Support #Millennial! * The holiday season is here and so is our best offer at https://Patreon.com/millennial [https://Patreon.com/millennial]! Sign up for an annual membership and receive 20% off your subscription, guaranteeing perks through 2026!⁠⁠⁠ [https://patreon.com/millennial] * Visit our merch store: ⁠⁠https://shop.millennialshow.com⁠⁠ [https://shop.millennialshow.com/] * Follow the show in your favorite podcast app and leave us a review! This week we're rooting on Australia’s bold new experiment: a nationwide social media ban for teens under 16 (even though we're not quite sure how it's gonna work). With companies on the hook for massive fines, we break down how the government plans to enforce it, what apps are included, and how we would’ve handled this kind of restriction as teens ourselves. Would we support something similar in the U.S., and would parents actually help enforce it? We also talk VPN loopholes, whack-a-mole app workarounds, and the nostalgia of being slightly less online growing up. We're also talking Hollywood’s latest attention-grabbing strategy: vertical micro-dramas. With Netflix’s bombshell bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery and streamers scrambling for our eyeballs, these 45-second, swipe-friendly “shows” are becoming a real investment. We discuss whether they work, why the “second screen problem” is driving this trend, and if TV has actually gotten worse, or if we’ve all just gotten too distracted. We wrap with recs: Think of setting New Year’s themes, not resolutions (Andrew), vibration plates (Laura), and buying cleaning brush attachments for your drill head instead of buying a whole new cleaning appliance (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark: We get some follow up tea on family holiday drama, and we ask each other some probing questions about ourselves inspired by Teen Vogue's list of 215 questions to ask your friends. What happens when we die? Which host almost ended up with Beverly as a name? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

2025's Most Unforgettable Moments (6-7, Coldplay, Tariffs, and More)

Support #Millennial! * The holiday season is here and so is our best offer at https://Patreon.com/millennial [https://Patreon.com/millennial]! Sign up for an annual membership and receive 20% off your subscription, guaranteeing perks through 2026!⁠⁠⁠ [https://patreon.com/millennial] * Visit our merch store: ⁠⁠https://shop.millennialshow.com⁠⁠ [https://shop.millennialshow.com/] * Follow the show in your favorite podcast app and leave us a review! This week we’re kicking things off with the latest chaos in the news: Costco is suing the Trump administration over tariffs, and why your relatives may be adjusting their spending limits this holiday season. Then we dive into the year-defining weirdness of 2025, starting with the rise of “6-7,” the phrase so big it reached Andrew’s young nephews and somehow became Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year (wtf). We look at whether millennials ever had any comparable internet-inspired brain rot, then broaden out to the phrases, moments, and cultural oddities that shaped 2025. We're crashing out over all the new slang that we don't understand, but we're "letting them" enjoy this 6-7 trend. Shoutout to the viral moments that made 2025, like cheaters being exposed at a Coldplay concert, America losing TikTok for half a day, and Kendrick Lamar obliterating Drake at the Super Bowl. We also revisit the Epstein Files, our favorite cities that trolled ICE this year, Dick Cheney’s non-mourned death, tariffs on literal penguins, and the recent Louvre robbery fiasco. 2025 may have felt like it was 300 years long, but all this and more was jam-packed into just 365 days. Pam mentioned listening back to our episode on Jimmy Kimmel and the FCC - here it is (Episode 11x35) [https://millennialshow.com/episode-11x35-why-the-fcc-and-trump-overstepped-with-kimmel/]! This week's recommendations: 'Heated Rivalry'  on HBO Max (Andrew), the Consumer Class Action Lawsuit Database [https://www.consumer-action.org/lawsuits/by-status/open] (Laura), and exploring privately owned public spaces (POPS [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privately_owned_public_space]) in your city (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark: Andrew has a Bumble BFF gossip update, and we’re talking about people crawling out of the woodwork for favors and why 2026 is all about embracing being a “villager.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Wow, We're Actually Getting the Epstein Files

Support #Millennial! * The holiday season is here and so is our best offer at https://Patreon.com/millennial [https://Patreon.com/millennial]! Sign up for an annual membership and receive 20% off your subscription, guaranteeing perks through 2026!⁠⁠⁠ [https://patreon.com/millennial] * Visit our merch store: ⁠⁠https://shop.millennialshow.com⁠⁠ [https://shop.millennialshow.com/] * Follow the show in your favorite podcast app and leave us a review! This week, we’re guessing Andrew’s biological age (place your bets), diving into the political circus surrounding the imminent release of the Epstein files, and asking: is this another Russia-gate dud for Trump, or will we actually see some real fallout this time? Then, with the holiday season in full swing, we’re also talking about bang-for-your-buck activities: the kind that enrich your life without draining your wallet. Think day-pass mini golf, free museum days, sneaky movie-theater snack hacks, online courses, cheap social hangs, and the ultimate budget savior: libraries. We’ve also got tons of Pen Pal picks on the best low-cost, high-reward ways to spend your time, from swing dancing to community theater to Costco hot dogs (a classic). We've also got some great budget friendly recommendations to look into ahead of the holidays: Uno Show 'em No Mercy [https://www.amazon.com/s?k=uno+show+%27em+no+mercy&i=toys-and-games&adgrpid=186371382173&hvadid=779531071878&hvdev=c&hvexpln=0&hvlocphy=1015325&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=1595320036981519849--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=1595320036981519849&hvtargid=kwd-2225025267776&hydadcr=4120_13263594_11934&mcid=11f8322db70a32e09f83818e87a22cc0&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_8cnvzx39ca_e] (Andrew), One Night Ultimate Werewolf [https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00HS7GG5G/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_plhdr=t&aaxitk=3db615c6db788ee0c6ff6d42308d0168&hsa_cr_id=7913104610501&qid=1763573019&sr=1-1-9e67e56a-6f64-441f-a281-df67fc737124&ref_=sbx_s_sparkle_sbtcd_asin_0_title&pd_rd_w=zAABL&content-id=amzn1.sym.9f2b2b9e-47e9-4764-a4dc-2be2f6fca36d%3Aamzn1.sym.9f2b2b9e-47e9-4764-a4dc-2be2f6fca36d&pf_rd_p=9f2b2b9e-47e9-4764-a4dc-2be2f6fca36d&pf_rd_r=Z0RHR71N3AW6046W90G1&pd_rd_wg=5g4p8&pd_rd_r=abe1f783-9990-4f02-86ef-3974eeb60bcf] (Laura), and creative reuse centers [https://www.valleyforge.com/VFF-Sustainability-Creative_Reuse_Centers-Directory_Listing.pdf] (Pam). And in this week's After Dark, available on Patreon: We're unpacking how Gen Z and Millennials are revitalizing the cruise industry and why “mini cruises” might be the new go-to budget getaway. Cruise lines have been trying to modernize their offerings, including providing sex toys to guests?? 👀 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The Highs and Lows of Being a Flight Attendant

Support #Millennial! * LAST DAYS to get a handwritten letter from your PALs! Pledge at the BAE level or higher at https://patreon.com/millennial [https://patreon.com/millennial] by November 14 and fill out the order form to receive yours!⁠ [https://patreon.com/millennial] * Visit our merch store: ⁠https://shop.millennialshow.com⁠ [https://shop.millennialshow.com/] * Follow the show in your favorite podcast app and leave us a review! In light of recent air travel developments impacting Americans, this week Andrew and Pam are speaking to a flight attendant, Amanda, who shares the pro's and con's of taking on this always-on-the-go job! The travel opportunities are amazing, but is it worth being away from home so often? The good news is that it may be possible to fit it into your existing work life! Plus, we discuss the some travel tips and why you shouldn't grow too concerned about the headlines you're seeing about travel delays in the media. In more fun travel news, where are people intending to travel to in 2026? (Also: Where can I get some cheap botox?) This and much more is discussed! Elsewhere in the episode, we celebrate some good news for LGBTQ+ Americans, look on Senate Dems with disappointment, and drop recommendations for the savings app Oportun [https://app.oportun.com/refer?code=ANDSIM684] (Andrew) and Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ (Pam). This week in After Dark, exclusively available on Patreon, we discuss the art of complaining, and how to be a better complainer so that your concerns don't haunt you for a lifetime. We also share some recent complaints we've shared with our friends, and what people probably don't like about us. Yes, it's time to look inward! Please do tell us what you think people complain about regarding Andrew and Pam in the comments 👀 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]