Derek Thompson

You have published several essays recently on how Gen Z thinks about the world that I think are pretty exceptional. And they really cover just about everything. Young people's relationship to finance, media, politics, romance, dating, work, psychology. And we're going to try, try to run through all of that with the upfront proviso that

Every time somebody says, this generation is like X, they're engaging in some massive, unforgivable overgeneralization. So let's start, actually, by addressing that generalization problem head-on. Let's get specific. When we say Gen Z today, that means everybody born between the late 1990s, early 2010s.

Every time somebody says, this generation is like X, they're engaging in some massive, unforgivable overgeneralization. So let's start, actually, by addressing that generalization problem head-on. Let's get specific. When we say Gen Z today, that means everybody born between the late 1990s, early 2010s.

Every time somebody says, this generation is like X, they're engaging in some massive, unforgivable overgeneralization. So let's start, actually, by addressing that generalization problem head-on. Let's get specific. When we say Gen Z today, that means everybody born between the late 1990s, early 2010s.

That is to say, all teenagers 13 and up and most 20-somethings today are in this category of Gen Z. You write that the best way to see Gen Z clearly is to divide this generation into three subgroups that you call Gen Z 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0. Break that down for us.

That is to say, all teenagers 13 and up and most 20-somethings today are in this category of Gen Z. You write that the best way to see Gen Z clearly is to divide this generation into three subgroups that you call Gen Z 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0. Break that down for us.

That is to say, all teenagers 13 and up and most 20-somethings today are in this category of Gen Z. You write that the best way to see Gen Z clearly is to divide this generation into three subgroups that you call Gen Z 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0. Break that down for us.

I love this distinction between the smartphone as a tool and the smartphone as an environment. The air you breathe, something as invisible and boring as just like oxygen. How does that distinction, even within Gen Z, shift the relationship they have to their phones?

I love this distinction between the smartphone as a tool and the smartphone as an environment. The air you breathe, something as invisible and boring as just like oxygen. How does that distinction, even within Gen Z, shift the relationship they have to their phones?

I love this distinction between the smartphone as a tool and the smartphone as an environment. The air you breathe, something as invisible and boring as just like oxygen. How does that distinction, even within Gen Z, shift the relationship they have to their phones?

One observation that you've made in some of your essays is that even young people have a very complicated relationship with, say, TikTok and Twitter. About half of young people wish those social media apps didn't even exist.

One observation that you've made in some of your essays is that even young people have a very complicated relationship with, say, TikTok and Twitter. About half of young people wish those social media apps didn't even exist.

One observation that you've made in some of your essays is that even young people have a very complicated relationship with, say, TikTok and Twitter. About half of young people wish those social media apps didn't even exist.

Is there a way in which we can look inside this generation and say, the group that sees smartphones as a tool think this way about technology, and the group that sees smartphones as the oxygen they breathe see it as a different force in their life?

Is there a way in which we can look inside this generation and say, the group that sees smartphones as a tool think this way about technology, and the group that sees smartphones as the oxygen they breathe see it as a different force in their life?

Is there a way in which we can look inside this generation and say, the group that sees smartphones as a tool think this way about technology, and the group that sees smartphones as the oxygen they breathe see it as a different force in their life?

I think it's really interesting to think about bringing to the foreground these two forces of the smartphone and the pandemic, and thinking about ways that not only is this group shaped by them, they're also shaped by the backlashes against those forces. You describe the 1.5 generation as being more distrustful of institutions.

I think it's really interesting to think about bringing to the foreground these two forces of the smartphone and the pandemic, and thinking about ways that not only is this group shaped by them, they're also shaped by the backlashes against those forces. You describe the 1.5 generation as being more distrustful of institutions.

I think it's really interesting to think about bringing to the foreground these two forces of the smartphone and the pandemic, and thinking about ways that not only is this group shaped by them, they're also shaped by the backlashes against those forces. You describe the 1.5 generation as being more distrustful of institutions.

having maybe spent all four years in college or many of their high school years in schools that were shut down or schools that limited their mobility. So it's not just that they were shaped by the pandemic, they're shaped by the politics of backlash against the pandemic response.