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What Can We Learn From Teenagers?

Teens march in Madison on March 14, 2018

Teens march in Madison on March 14, one month after a deadly shooting at a high school in Parkland, FL. Mark Riechers (TTBOOK)

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Original Air Date:

March 17, 2018

All over the country, a chorus of hope is coming from an unexpected group — teenagers. They are marching, protesting and demanding a better future as we – the adults – watch them with a kind of heartbreaking pride. These teenagers are not waiting for adults to figure things out for them.

They have superpowers — innocence, idealism, and Instagram — and they aren't waiting for permission to use them to reshape the conversation around everything from gun control to education to climate change.

What can we learn from teenagers today? What do they have that the rest of us don't?

Angie Goes To Washington

Angie Jiang goes to Washington

Audio

Have you ever tried to lobby a US Senator? How about when you were 17? Angie Jiang did. She’s a high school senior. She’s on the swim team. She loves Beyonce. And she’s an advisor to the UN.

Length:

7:11

Bullying, Buses, Environmentalism, and Donald Trump: The Poetic Thinking of Teens

Teens on stage

Video

Charles Monroe-Kane recently sat down to talk with the founder of the "Louder Than A Bomb" youth poetry — poet Kevin Coval — as well as two high school poets — Luis Carranza and Kee Stein — to hear more about how poetry is empowering teens.

Length:

12:48

I'm 17 And I'm Running for Governor

Tyler Ruzich

Audio

Generation Z is arguably shaping up to be one of the most activist generations in recent memory. Teenager Tyler Ruzich ran in 2018 for governor of Kansas, as a Republican "for a new generation."

Length:

7:49

Learning Machines: The Wired Teenage Brain

Teen brain

Articles

If teens have trouble remembering where they put their homework, how are they going to marshal a legislative agenda? On the other hand, maybe teens have mental advantages adults don’t. Steve Paulson asked neuroscientist Frances Jensen to weigh in.

Length:

11:09

Author Angie Thomas: Burn It All Down Or Use Those Emotions In My Art

Angie Thomas

Articles

The hit young adult author on how she channeled feelings in the wake of a tragedy into her debut novel, "The Hate U Give."

Length:

9:46

What Teens Need From Adults To Change The World

Teens walk out against gun violence on March 14 in Madison, Wis.

Interactive

As we hear out the ambitions of today's teen activists, politicians and artists, what do they think adults need to do to help them change the world?

Length:

0:43

Extras

Show Details 📻

Airdates

January 04, 2020

January 12, 2019

March 17, 2018

Guests:

Angie Jiang

Angie Jiang

Youth Activist

Kevin Coval

Kevin Coval

Poet and Activist

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Luis Carranza

Poet

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Kee Stein

Poet

Frances Jensen

Neuroscientist and Author

Angie Thomas

Angie Thomas

Author

Tyler Ruzich

Candidate for Governor of Kansas

Categories:

Politics and History

Last modified:

January 03, 2020

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