From Kabul & California: Resilience in the Face of Adversity

In this episode, TTL participants reflect on their varied experiences throughout the pandemic, from its beginning to what things are like now. The teens discuss anxiety, social changes, and dealing with complex grief. Some of the participants featured in this episode helped create a Teen Vogue article about high schooler's experiences during the pandemic, which you can read here: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/the-class-of-2024-didnt-know-high-school-without-covid

This week's episode is about climate and eco-anxiety. The teens discuss their grief about the climate emergency and other environmental crises. They then talk about transforming their feelings into shared action. 

Thank you to UNICEF USA and Anya Kamenetz. Look out for a future episode about young climate innovators and their inspiring solutions.

Inspired by one of This Teenage Life's newest members, this episode is about one young person's experience navigating identity development and middle social dynamics while also grappling with her experience of autism.

If you are interested in sharing a story or want to request an episode — email us at team@thisteenagelife.org.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day in the U.S. and so it feels apt to revisit a topic from a previous episodes: crushes.

In this episode, we share our thoughts on having crushes (or not), what it feels like, how and with whom to talk about our crushes, and much more.c

In this episode, TTL participants explore their own insecurities and interview Gracie and Clyde Lawrence from the amazing band, Lawrence— here on Youtube + Spotify—about how music can serve as an outlet for reframing past and present insecurities. 

This episode was made in collaboration with PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs' podcast On Our Minds." 

This is an episode about two teens who have experienced being bullied and who are working to overcome it. Being bullied can take a toll on self esteem and mental health. It can feel like you're the only one going through it and it will never end.

Even though it does end, there is still more we could do to stop bullying and to support people being bullied. At TTL, we are all about destigmatizing speaking out and making sure people don't feel alone. Listen to our episode to hear our stories but in case you're experiencing bullying, here are some more resources:

•  Thank You Next: Overcoming Bullying, a previous TTL episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
• Cybersmile Help Center
• Child Mind Institute Resources
• The Trevor Project

In this episode, Rani, one of the teen contributors to This Teenage Life, shares about her relationship with poetry. She describes how it became an important outlet for creative and emotional expression. Overcoming criticisms, she has stuck with writing, and it continues to be a faithful friend. Check out Rani's work on Instagram @a_brokencorwn.

The holidays are a complicated time for many people. They bring up all kinds of feelings — nostalgia, cozyness, goals for the future, and anxieties about those left behind.

Two days before the commencement of our next cycle around the sun, we share an episode with you that we made exactly a year ago. It's reassuring to hear this and reflect on the cyclical nature of time.

We are so grateful to have you as a listener and, as always, love hearing from you. Feel free to reach out, and say hi or share your ideas for episodes at team@thisteenagelife.org. Also feel free to check out our own TTL Wrapped 2023.

Happy New Year from the This Teenage Life team and talk to you in 2024!

For many folks, January is a theoretically a time of goal setting and self-improvement aspirations. Of course, many of us want to grow and change, but do we have to do it in a particular way in a particular way? In this episode, teens from This Teenage Life discuss their fraught relationship with the idea of New Year's driven goals/resolutions and share ways that better help them become the people they want to be.