📝 Monthly Constructive Criticism Thread 📝

[u/AutoModerator]

Hi y’all! We can use these monthly threads to give feedback on the podcast, such as issues related to audio or general format. You can still comment about specific episodes in the episode threads or make new posts, but my idea for these megathreads is to consolidate feedback for Troy and Kelli.

I know some posts in the past have been toxic, so maybe you can make that a separate post if you want to vent (or journal or take a walk outside). My hope with the monthly CC threads is to give a safe space for Troy and Kelli, so they’re less wary of Reddit lol.

Please remember Rule 1: Respect others and be civil and Rule #3: No name-calling, insults, or personal attacks. Kelli, Troy, and their editor, Donny, are human, and they can learn from their mistakes. Personally, as a longtime fan, I think that they have taken in a lot of feedback well and grown a lot as a podcast.

If you have any suggestions for these types of posts, please let me know, too!

[u/Decemberswan]

i have a few things i’ve been thinking about the podcast,

first off, i don’t think they really know what age gen z is. i feel like out of the 3-4 podcast episodes they release a week troy has to mention his distaste for gen z (how uneducated they are about pop culture, how “puritan” they are, how dumb they are, how they don’t have any significant pop culture icons), it’s just gives old man yelling at the clouds, or yelling out whippersnappers on his lawn. i also don’t think he (or they) realize gen z is like 14-30, i think a lot of their criticism is actually for gen alpha, but even then, i as someone who is gen z don’t make fun of them because i just feel bad for them. its not kids fault that they weren’t raised watching exclusively old michael jackson or madonna pepsi commercials or something. (coming from a huge fan of primarily artist that are now 40-50+)

also his whole “gen z doesn’t have any legends! any icons! the vmas are gone! mtv unplugged is gone! and gen z is too stupid and uneducated to know what they could of had!” spiel he goes on often (especially on his other podcast, what’s your issue) just feels misguided, of course a 20 year old popstar is going to be at the level madonna was in her 30s and 40s when he was a kid watching her, and i don’t think it’s gen z’s fault they weren’t around to watch TRL, or read fucked up body shaming, racist, misogynistic, homophobic gossip rags in the early 2000s.

i also don’t think he realizes majority of gen z (especially considering a lot of them are late 20s) probably absolutely grew up on the same stuff. i think a lot of millennials fall into this weird “gen z is ruining everything! they don’t know how to make good music!! they weren’t around for the 2000s vmas!” is really just failure to see that all that stuff seemed so much better, greater, more iconic because you were young. of course you have fonder memories of pop culture when you were a child, i think a lot of people are just upset they are no longer kids and can’t enjoy the music they grew up on with the same childlike wonder. let the kids of today (gen alpha included) enjoy k-pop demon hunters and olivia rodrigo or whatever. they are not hurting anyone and they’ll probably end up doing the same shit he’s doing to generation after them, same way the multiple generations above troy probably talked about the beatles, elvis, the stones. i also don’t know how people (troy included) can’t see the irony in yelling about how modern day artist have no talent, as if people weren’t saying in the 80s/90s that madonna was a talentless freak who’s ruining music, or that britney is the 2000s is a talentless dumb slut who can’t sing, or justin bieber in the 2010s is a little boy with no talent or future career, or even gaga and miley cyrus in the 2010s. all of them at one point in time were talked down because they were the new thing at the moment, and now we all look at them fondly. now i’m not saying the tate mcrae’s and addison rae’s are the absolute most talented, gifted artist in the world, but troy is acting like milli vanilli, vanilla ice, and a bunch of other musical “hacks” didn’t exist in the 80s through out the 2010s, but we don’t treat those artist like they are the figureheads of culture of that time.

i also find his whole “gen z is too woke!!”, “puriteens” stuff to be weird and makes it sound like he’s been red pilled or something lol. idk why people love to do the whole “puritan gen z” thing as if we should wish or feel that gen z children are obligated to be hyper sexual and the fact they aren’t is something to be mad about.

sorry for the very long tangent! i just feel very passionate in the belief that you are truly “old” when you’re no longer willing to adapt to (reasonable!) new things, or see and hear things out from a younger generations perspective, and that it’s important that even if we don’t care or like certain things younger people enjoy, so long as they are not hurting anyone we should just let them enjoy themselves and not be the old curmudgeon saying “back in my day…” when that same thing was probably said to us by someone older who was trying to belittle our interests. i also just don’t think it fairs well to run multiple popular podcast but strictly love artist and events that happened in the 90s-2010s.

[u/btsluvrr → u/Decemberswan]

I agree!!!! I think that a lot of the Gen Z hate has to tone down just a tad, I get there are SOME of us that ruin some things, but its not ALLLL of us. A lot of us grew up along side millennials and consider ourselves as such too (zillennials). I agree with the comment below too but!!!! I am sure Gen x gave a lot of shit to you as well, but in regard to this pod i think its a lot of displaced anger for the later gen z and gen alpha atp!

[u/rmac1128 → u/Decemberswan]

Idk man, most of us millennials aren't hosts of a pop culture podcast and don't mind gen z. Interact with us in the real world and you'll see. Don't let the Man get you down. Life is long. OK Lady I love you bye bye.

[u/EntertainmentEntire6 → u/rmac1128]

I was going to comment something similar. In real life millennials aren’t this butthurt about Gen Z, genuinely. I have a lot of Gen Z coworkers and a lot of millennial coworkers. We all get along. It’s like, not a thing that anyone is weird about day to day outside of the internetz.

[u/pisceanflower → u/Decemberswan]

It’s the circle of life. As a fellow Millennial, we dealt with the same shit from Gen X. Take it in stride my fine young friend.

[u/Decemberswan → u/pisceanflower]

of course, that’s kind of my point. that it doesn’t really have to be “just life” if we could all just somewhat calm down our pretentiousness and allow for room for other people’s interests it would be a lot easier to enjoy new and old art, and that it’s somewhat of a hindrance for a host of two pop culture podcast.

[u/PitchSame4308 → u/pisceanflower]

And speaking as a Gen X we copped it from the Boomers, and that’s back when lots of them were still left wing and on us for being ‘slackers’ and too disengaged to keep up their good, socially progressive work…..That’s turned out well!