Derek Thompson

You're stuck.

they're enjoying their best life.

And so I think when you put all of that together, the stuckness, the internal stuckness, the external uncertainty, and social comparison on social media being a thief of joy, I do think that that altogether makes for a very difficult situation for lots of Americans, but for young people in particular.

So I guess bottom line is we're going to treat the vibes with utmost seriousness going forward.

And Roger, it was really great to see you, man.

Today, the state of religion in America and the state of America.

Perhaps you've heard the news.

America is experiencing a religious revival, and it's concentrated among young people who are flocking back to church.

From The Economist, quote, the West has stopped losing its religion.

From The Washington Post, quote, why Catholicism is drawing in Gen Z men.

From Reuters, quote, Catholicism spreads amongst young Britons longing for something deeper.

And from the Wall Street Journal, quote, a church's campaign to teach lost boys how to be men.

Big if true, as they say.

Since the early 1990s, the share of Americans who say they have no religious affiliation has been skyrocketing.

This group is somewhat confusingly called nuns, N-O-N-E-S, which is a homonym for nuns, N-U-N-S, which describes, of course, extremely religious people.

I don't know who came up with this word.

I think it's a bad one, but it is a term of art, and so we're all stuck with it.

In any case, the story of religion in America has been the rise of the N-O-N-E-S nuns for decades.

which makes it a big deal if that trend line, the long secularization of America, has hit the pause button.

But as today's guest Ryan Burge tells us, the secular pause in America is much stranger than it initially looks.