Shows
The Teen AgeEp 16.2: A School-Mandated-Literature Book ReviewClare Zhang and I continue our book review, this time of the literature we read during our freshman and sophomore years. Prepare yourself to hear probably-wrong summaries, our memories of group presentations on "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", and a tangent on the sexiness of vampire neck-biting (thank you "How to Read Literature Like a Professor").To make room for our 15 minutes of raving about "Song of Solomon", I am sorry to tell you I omitted our discussion on a few books. My deepest apologies to the die-hard fans of "The Baron In The Trees", "The Thief...2020-02-2537 min
The Teen AgeEp 16.1: A School-Mandated-Literature Book ReviewAs second-semester high school seniors, my buddy Clare Zhang and I decided to take a look back at all of the books we've had to read for school over the past 4 years. In this first part, we look over works from senior and freshman year, including grade-wide favorites such as "Unflattening" and breeze-throughs like "Omeros". Unfortunately, I did have to cut out our discussion on some works to keep a reasonable episode time duration. So if you only came for Huckleberry Finn, Beowulf, Oedipus Rex, Antigone, or Macbeth - sorry to disappoint.Fun Quiz for this...2020-01-2631 min
The Teen AgeEp 15.2: A Look Back at 2019Comrade Ayesha Khawaja and I continue our review of 2019 (until she had to leave, after which I had to go SOLO - how could she?). We cover July through December, recalling "Old Town Road", ranting about the Amazon wildfires, discussing Trump's impeachment, as well as MANY other things.After doing a total of TWO (2) Look Back's of the year, I think 2019 overall was pretty alright. It's the end of the decade too, which is strange to think about. I wonder what the 2010's are going to be known for. I hope you enjoy our review, and...2019-12-3033 min
The Teen AgeEp 15.1: A Look Back at 20192019 is almost over... which mEANS ANOTHER ANNUAL RECAP OF THE YEAR!!As per tradition (built over 2 eps), I invited my pal Ayesha to talk about (nearly) everything that happened in 2019. We laugh (in fear) over the Fyre Festival's Evian water meme, roast the Operation Varsity Blues scandal, and marvel at the black hole photo, discussing events from January to June.It feels like a mere 12 months ago I was recording the last look back....strange.Enjoy the episode, and don't forget to check out the second half of the year!-Kaylen2019-12-3034 min
The Teen AgeEp 14: From Teachers, To Students - Handling the College Admissions ProcessAs many anxious high school seniors know, a large amount of early decisions from colleges were sent out this Thursday. I knew that, no matter what, emotions would be turbulent and solace required. So, a few days beforehand, I went around asking teachers for what they would like to say to students going through the college admissions process, and compiled their responses into this episode.This can be one of the happiest or stressful moments of your life so far. I hope you receive the news you want, and if you got accepted, congratulations! If not, well, let's...2019-12-1324 min
The Teen AgeEp 13: Insult His Meat! A Lesson from the Dobe Ju/'hoansi [Minisode]A mini anthropology lesson! For free! Incredible! Who needs college when you have 11 minute minisodes! (Haha just kidding,... unless...?)As per suggestion from my swolemate Katie (check out Ep 11!), I share a story from anthropology class that I told at least 5 separate people immediately after learning. A hilarious but strikingly fascinating way to manage overprideful hunters, this facet of Dobe Ju/'hoansi culture is something I think we can all integrate a little into our own lives.INSULT! HIS! MEAT! A necessary burden we all must take for the good of our society. Truly....2019-12-0111 min
The Teen AgeEp 12: [Let's Go Clubbing with...] The RM Black MaskersEvery time fall rolls around, you know what that means... Time for the RM FALL MUSICAL!! 🍁🎭In the first edition of the Let's Go Clubbing series (yes, night clubs aha ha just kidding... unless..?) I followed our drama club as they prepare for their autumn production of "The Addams Family". I got to talk to...2 weeks before opening night:- Nikita Karitsky (lighting chief)2 days before opening night: - Tudor Postulache and Lilah Katz (principals)- Remond Arteche (props chief)- Sierra Villemez (props chief)- Todd Rosemblatt, Sami Jones-Quartey, Guy Felix...2019-11-1030 min
The Teen AgeEp 11: Take Care! A Health and Wellness Reminder #SwolematesI know that a lot of teenagers put their health on the back-burner in favor of that sTuDenT GRinD, but my friend and I wanted to CHANGE that (or at least remind you guys to take care of your health).(Un)professional health nut Katie Zhang and I discuss her favorite health gurus ("I am a straight male, but I would get with Dr. Mike"), becoming the Voltron of your best self, the secret to a long life (from what we've read), peer pressure as a tool to maintain habits, and more! At the end of the episode...2019-11-0833 min
The Teen AgeEp 10: The Student Athlete Grind TMAfter finishing up the high school golf season for the last time, I wondered what it felt to be an athlete for a different sport, and furthermore, what it felt to be a really committed one. Personally, I play golf but not super seriously (as in, compete in 10+ tournaments in the summer), but I was curious to find out about students who really go HARD for their spot, who are actually on the Student Athlete Grind TM 💪😤💦.For this episode, I interviewed two student athletes from our high school. - Swimmer Katherine Blake dives into the world of waking...2019-10-2131 min
The Teen AgeEp 9.2: A Look Back at Elementary SchoolMy "friend" (aka nemesis) Clare and I continue our reminiscing on elementary school memories, this time from 4th to 5th grade, which is when we finally meet. In this episode, we cover the struggle to quell an epic fail of a math quiz, stabbing a kid with a paint brush, the perils of double dutch, playing instruments, and other things.Childhood memories will never fail to make me cringe and cry laughing. I feel like I was such a different person- back then I stayed up until midnight on my tenth birthday as a special treat. Now I...2019-08-3128 min
The Teen AgeEp 9.1: A Look Back at Elementary SchoolBefore I (along with most of the people who listen to this podcast) head into the final year of high school, I thought it would be fun to look back at the ol' elementary school days. I invited my "friend" Clare to recall some memories from kindergarten to third grade. This is more of an audio montage of unrelated memories, ranging from my old music teacher (who was possibly Thanos), Catholic school SCAMS, getting locked in the bathroom as punishment, using Junie B. Jones as writing inspiration, and other things.In the next part, you will...2019-08-2632 min
The Teen AgeEp 8: School Systems Around the World [Ramble]School is starting in THREE WEEKS! I can't believe it! (But at the same time, I totally can.)Ever since my mom has told me her childhood (horror) stories about going to school in South Korea, I thought it would be fun to learn about school systems around the world, just to find out how this whole experience of education varies from country to country. For this episode, I go over school systems in Finland and Singapore, countries hailed for their (extremely different) methods and processes for teaching children. Then I delve into the U.S. school system...2019-08-1532 min
The Teen AgeEp 7: [Would You Rather] $10 million vs. SoulmateThis all started from last year, when I was fooling around with my friends and started putting out random Would You Rather's. Somehow, we eventually got to "Would you rather have love or money?" and narrowed it down further to "At age 29, would you rather have $10 million or your soulmate?" Our conversation moved on, but the question kept at my mind. So, at the end of this school year, I did a survey in a few of my classes asking this question to other classmates.In this episode, some of the people surveyed explain their choice of money...2019-07-2631 min
The Teen AgeEp 6: Student Activism for Gun ControlI remember how dramatic a shift there was after the 2018 March For Our Lives - since then, U.S. has seen a huge tide of student activists ready to take to the streets and government offices to demand stricter gun control laws. However, public interest in gun control can easily wane after the news of shootings due to the constantly shifting news cycle. To take you into the lives of people for whom gun control is a year-round issue, I interviews three student activists about their work and perspectives on the problem: -Lydia Levy discusses the importance...2019-07-1636 min
The Teen AgeEp 5: LGBTQ+ Pride Month!It's June, babies! And that means it's Pride Month! In this episode, I chat with two bisexual/pansexual non-binary high school students about their experiences being LGBTQ. We start off with Logan, who talks about their journey to understand their gender identity and how the school only has gender-neutral bathrooms on the first floor (which is really inconvenient if you gotta go two floors up). Later, Lew discusses their story of being non-binary, changing their name, and the importance of Pride Month. After the interviews, I recap on LGBTQ+ history, ramble about the commodification of Pride, and so...2019-06-2933 min
The Teen AgeEp 4: Leaving the Teen Age [Eowyn]My sister (maybe) Eowyn is about to enter her twenties. To reach our 1 hour/year spend-time-together quota, I interview her about her teen years. We talk about her high school grind (she grinded HARD), middle school parties, advice, childhood, her favorite things, and hypotheticals ("If you could travel back in time, where would you go?" "[The] Big Bang." -ok NERD), amongst other things.Have fun in your twenties Eowyn. Don't party too much (strategy: sleep in every day at 5 pm). Hope you all enjoy listening to our nonsense :)-Kaylen2019-03-3035 min
The Teen AgeEp 3: The College Board [Ramble]Every year since I was a wee freshman, CollegeBoard slaps in the face with fees for AP exams. This time, I decided to research why CollegeBoard charges so much money for a single test and why exactly it exists. In the process, I learn about how CollegeBoard works, their "non-profit" status, amongst other things.Love getting slapped in the face again finding out that 52.7% of students failed the AP Lit exam in 2018. Not a sign of a good system. Hope you learn something from this ep :)-KaylenMain Sources Used:The College Board...2019-03-0337 min
The Teen AgeEp 2.2: ReligionIn this episode, I continue learning about the role of religion in the lives of my schoolmate buddies. Lilah Katz joins me to talk about Judaism and her own Jewish identity ("If someone asks,"Who is Lilah?", they would probably respond, "Oh she's, you know, that-that Jewish girl."" - classic Lilah). Anaum Khan also comes to the show to discuss Islam, from her view on her duty as a Muslim in America to Islamic holidays ("Every day's a holiday, you know?" - classic Anaum).Yes I know it's 50 minutes long... I'm trying to fix that. But the content's...2019-02-1450 min
The Teen AgeEp 2.1: ReligionReligion has always been an interesting concept to me, but I didn't really know much about different faiths. In this episode, I open with a story about how I learned, in 9th grade, that I went to Catholic school in 1st grade. After that, Emnet talks about catholicism/Christianity (and her chatting with Jesus in the school hallway). I'm also joined by Jasmine to learn about Buddhism, karma, and mindful meditation.Always remember: if you go to school and start off every Wednesday with a prayer at a church and then go to class where all the teachers...2019-02-1146 min
The Teen AgeEp 1.2: A Look Back at 2018My (eh) acquaintance Ayesha Khawaja and I continue our recap of 2018. We reminisce on memories from May to December, talking about our experiences from the Fifa World Cup to Let's get this bread.Take a shot (or dab) every time you hear us try to discreetly take sips from our ice cups - hope you enjoy it :)-Kaylen2019-01-1340 min
The Teen AgeEp 1.1: A Look Back at 2018Cannot BELIEVE 2018 is over. Feels like just 12 months ago I wrote my New Year's resolutions (that I kept for maybe half of January then forgot all about). To commemorate the year, I invited my (ok) friend Ayesha Khawaja to take a look back at all that happened in 2018. We discuss events from January to April, ranging from our thoughts on the National Student Walkouts to the Walmart yodeling kid.Hope our voices aren't too shrill - enjoy :)-Kaylen2019-01-1334 min
The Teen AgeEp 0: What This IsWhen I told people about this project, I got a lot of questions about what exactly this podcast was going to be. So, for all those people, this episode is where I talk about what I'm going to talk about. Here I explain why I created a whole podcast dedicated to "The Teen Age", what it's going to be about, how it will be formatted, and extend an invitation to you listeners.Hope you enjoy the zeroth episode :)-Kaylen2019-01-0112 min