In the demo
Adam Pierno and Farrah Bostic
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A show about the stories that get told about groups, how those stories got made, what we think those stories get wrong. And why it matters. Your hosts, Farrah Bostic and Adam Pierno look at the data behind the narrative.
In our first season, we explore the myths about the Millennial generation.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Available episodes
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Sep 14, 2023
S1E16: Book Club! The Selfie Vote by Kristen Soltis Anderson
We started with headlines from the New York Post and other extremely online publications and our research overall has shifted heavily into the journalistic media narrative arc that has been assigned to Millennials; a group we’re not even sure we would say exists. Now we decided we need to read the most visible and influential books over the past 20 years that coincided with shifts in the story. Up first, Kristen Soltis Anderson’s 2015 book The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up).
Find the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Selfie-Vote-Millennials-Leading-Republicans-ebook/dp/B00O7XISSC?ref_=ast_author_mpb
We reference the author's appearance on 538 here: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/politics-podcast-good-or-bad-use-of-polling-extended-cut/
Introduction
Interview with Echelon Insights (5:02)
The selfie vote and selfies (11:01)
How the GOP could connect with Millennials. (17:20)
The selfie as voting metaphor. (22:10)
How can they win back the vote? (27:44)
Millennials not worried enough about aging. (36:34)
How much you can know through data about voters? (42:12)
The decline in union membership. (46:41)
Shareholders vs. Investors. (52:06)
What the republican autopsy had to say about Millennials. (56:18)
Taking advantage of every opportunity. (1:00:37)
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Our host is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.
In the Demo is edited by Allison Preisinger and AMP Studio. Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Learn more and find research and supporting materials at inthedemopodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Aug 31, 2023
S1E15: Mediated Sex with Katy Coduto, PhD
The story about Millennials and dating is all about apps, sexting and ghosting - the habits of the toxically online. But it’s not all toxic - it can help people discover how to be intimate and confident in their romantic relationships. Still, real concerns about privacy and security abound. We sat down with Katy Coduto, PhD, an assistant professor of media studies at Boston University and author of the forthcoming Technology, Privacy, and Sexting: Mediated Sex.
Find out more about Katy here: https://kdcoduto.com
Introduction
The role of generational differences in online dating and dating. 9:52
Dating apps. 15:30
Dating tropes. 17:14
The gamification layer. 24:00
Millennials and dating apps. 27:15
Swipe right on everyone. 31:48
Why hookup culture? 36:08
Sexting is good. 43:53
The nuances of privacy in online relationships. 45:54
Branding millennials. 59:08
The good and the bad of social media. 1:02:59
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Our host is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.
In the Demo is edited by Allison Preisinger and AMP Studio. Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Learn more and find research and supporting materials at inthedemopodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Aug 17, 2023
S1E14 - The (Millennial) Social Sex Revolution, with Cindy Gallop
We're starting a mini-series on intimacy. First up, Cindy Gallop is the founder and CEO of Make Love Not Porn. They are pro-sex pro-porn Pro-knowing the difference. It's her personal experience with Millennial lovers that opened her eyes to the challenges they were faced with in relationships. Intimacy has been pushed out of culture, and replaced with a variety of distractions, entertainments and stories. Cindy's direct style makes her a sought after voice in this conversation. As you'll hear, she's seen the challenge up close and personal.
Learn more https://cindygallop.com/ and makelovenotporn.tv
Introduction
Cindy Gallop (7:46)
How Pornhub is shaping minds (12:55)
Make Love Not Porn (19:16)
Millennials are more open about sex and relationships than older generations (25:34)
What does porn look like for millennials? (34:07)
The importance of having a committed partner (42:08)
The story of millennials and intimacy (46:39)
Challenging preconceptions (51:35)
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Our host is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.
In the Demo is edited by Allison Preisinger and AMP Studio. Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Learn more and find research and supporting materials at inthedemopodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Aug 1, 2023
S1E13: The flattening with Benish Shah
Generalizations can be damaging. In this episode, Benish Shah joins us for a conversation about how marketers, in an attempt to simplify the huge Millennial consumer group, over-simplified them en masse. She looks at how power structures are shaped, people on the margins are held there and others are pushed there by the narrative perpetuated to make it easier to sell things.
Benish Shah is a marketer, builder and advisor to companies and brands around the world. Learn more here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benishshah/
Every generation is the next great generation. (6:13)
The power of the box. (10:04)
The collective good vs. the individual good. (16:30)
Finding a balance between individualism and community. (22:14)
Setting respectful boundaries. (25:02)
Free will is an illusion. (29:49)
Disruptions of complacency. (35:06)
Everybody gets a trophy trope. (39:23)
Being a millennial boss to millennial employees. (43:22)
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Our host is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.
Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Learn more and find research and supporting materials at inthedemopodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jul 18, 2023
S1E12 - Breaking news in demographics with Kim Parker, Pew Research
BREAKING (kidding, sort of). In late May, Pew Research announced they would "only do generational analysis when we have historical data that allows us to compare generations at similar stages of life" after a year-long analysis of their own approach to reporting on differences by generations, and the overall landscape of such content and reporting. This announcement supports a lot of what Farrah and Adam have been circling while conducting their research into the Millennial narrative, and Pew's got the data to explain why their approach makes so much sense. Kim Parker, director of social trends research at Pew Research Center, joins to share more context on the thinking and data that got them to this exciting (to us) conclusion.
Read the article from Pew here: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/05/22/how-pew-research-center-will-report-on-generations-moving-forward/. Learn more about Kim Parker here: https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/kim-parker/
How did you know Millennials were coming into their own? 3:39
Methodological considerations for comparison. 8:09
How the narrative has shifted over time. 13:11
The knock on effects of not reporting on generations. 18:40
Gen Z vs. Millennials. 26:40
Why do we skip over Gen X? Millennials? 30:48
How Millennials have become a synonym for young. 36:50
How do you segment millennials into different political parties? 40:04
Stereotypes about Millennials. 46:29
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Our host is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.
Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Learn more and find research and supporting materials at inthedemopodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Jun 12, 2023
S1E11 Looking at the narrative with Christina Blacken
The Millennial Myth was created in the late 1990's to help provide context about the coming juggernaut of a generation. As with most stories about huge groups, the narrative held on to broad generalizations and chose odd anecdotes to incorporate, while eschewing other detailed experiences and perspective. Early on, people on the fringes took notice, and have been hanging on ever since. We spoke to author expert on narratives and Founder of The New Quo, (https://www.thenewquo.com/) and host of the Sway Them in Color podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sway-them-in-color/id1487837712) to help add context about how people are left out as a narrative and others this size are being shaped.
How generational segmentations are useful to marketers and business. 10:23
The problem with social media. 15:04
Falling in love with storytelling. 18:19
How did you receive the stories of millennials in America? 25:59
Where did the fear of college debt come from? 31:54
The conflicting narratives of Millennials and Millennials. 39:36
Marketing starts as soon as a kid can walk. 45:25
The hidden polemics of boomers. 49:51
Most media organizations are owned by one person. 55:15
The myth of colorblindness in Millennials. 1:00:41
The problem with colorblindness. 1:04:39
How do I become more culturally competent? 1:08:58
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Our host is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.
Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Learn more and find research and supporting materials at inthedemopodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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May 2, 2023
S1E10 The idealists
In the beginning was the word, and the word was hopeful. Or optimistic. Or idealistic. The people crafting the Millennial Myth branded 70 million people as bright eyed and positive that they would make the world a better place. Which is a bit weird because very clear recurring data show that they were no more or less idealistic in their senior year of high-school as the generations before or after them. No more trusting of government. Millennials were defined in this way and have been held to account for the label for the next 20 years and counting.
How idealism is just equity. 7:52
The Coddling of the American Mind. 12:09
The template set by coddling of the American mind. 17:22
Millennials and green consumerism. 23:01
The importance of having a brand manifesto. 27:54
Sustainability rises to the top. 34:21
Millennials rooting for a housing bust. 39:41
More sophisticated and capital requires more capital. 48:20
The cult of the young and how to appeal to them. 52:43
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Our host is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.
Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Learn more and find research and supporting materials at inthedemopodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Apr 7, 2023
SIE9 Rose Cameron is taking the long view - Audio only BONUS episode
This is a bonus, audio-only episode. Did you even know In The Demo is found on YouTube? We were a little surprised, too.
You can find In The Demo on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@inthedemopodcast1834
Rose Cameron joins Farrah and Adam to talk about her work leading research of the Millennial generation going back to when they were still just babies. Working for global brands, she saw first-hand some of the drivers of the interest in this audience; deemed both an opportunity and a threat. Maybe more importantly they were viewed as the unknowable children of Baby Boomers facing their own parenting shortcomings and mortality.
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Our host is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.
Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Learn more and find research and supporting materials at inthedemopodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Mar 17, 2023
BONUS EPISODE: Eliza
This episode features our robot Eliza. She queried her cousin, ChatGPT, to write a summary of the Millennial generation. We think they nailed it.
Let Farrah and Adam know what you think they got right and wrong by crawling the open web and twenty years of content marketing.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Mar 10, 2023
S1E8 Cash rules everything around me
This time, Farrah and Adam look at the supposedly 100 million people–well, not people–CONSUMERS that had marketers mouths watering. We look at how that plan to receive and sell to Millennials drove the wishful thinking about their behavior and preferences, along with how it might reshape workplaces.
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Our host is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.
Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Learn more and find research and supporting materials at inthedemopodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Feb 23, 2023
S1E7 Behind the research curtain with Paul Soldera
In this episode, Farrah and Adam talk about the research that went into Millennials Rising. As always, they have questions. An entire generation–supposedly 100 million people–defined by one survey in one school district? Farrah talks to quantitative researcher, Paul Soldera, who opens the curtain on segmentation and best practices in the most interesting conversation on research methodology that you will hear this year.
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Our host is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.
Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Learn more and find…
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Feb 9, 2023
S1E6 The quote that started the myth
In this last episode, Farrah and Adam look more closely at the beginnings of the Millennial Myth, literally the opening quote of Millennials Rising. We discuss how much of the myth hangs on one short quote written in an essay by a (then) high school girl living in McLean, Virginia where the authors set their work. Then, Adam talks to the woman behind that very quote to understand how she feels the myth has defined, served and punished her generation.
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Our host is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.
Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons li…
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Jan 28, 2023
S1E5 The gang goes to McLean!
In the last episode, Farrah reveals the source text for the Millennial Myth was written by an economist and a cultural commentator based on light research they did in McLean, VA in the late 1990's. Farrah and Adam asked themselves, is McLean an appropriate stand in for the entire world? The entire U.S.? As it turns out, it might not be an appropriate representative sample for the state of Virginia. Farrah and Adam compare the U.S. census around the time of this book and since to shed light on possible challenges to the conclusions of the book, and the ongoing crumbling myth. Then, Adam is joined by historians of McLean, Merrily Pierce and Paul Kohlenberger who give a quick history and talk about the unique origins of city and surrounding area.
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a…
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Jan 5, 2023
S1E4 Millennials Rising
They've found it! Hours of research and hundreds of clicks on Google spam links have led to the beginning. Farrah has found what we believe is the source text. A pseudo ethnography by a economist and a cultural commentator published in 2000. The ur text is (appropriately) called Millennials Rising. Farrah and Adam discuss the book and its background and attempt to track the sources cited within for clues to an earlier text.
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Our host is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.
Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Learn more and find…
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Dec 22, 2022
S1E3 Unraveling the Millennial Myth
In Episode 3, Farrah and Adam look at the misguided reporting on data that positioned Millennials as over-indexing on trust of government and leaders. In this follow-up conversation, they examine the split in the story, in which the media begins to look less certain that Millennials are the saviors of America's future. The bifurcation of the original, straightforward story leads to the unraveling of the powerful myth spun in the early 2000's. The narrative mirrors the shift from the optimistic end of history rhetoric to Great Recession nihilism, with one generation treated as the fulcrum.
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand st…
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Dec 8, 2022
S1E2 State of love and trust
In the beginning, there was the word. And the word was trust. Initial reports told us that Millennials were trusting in government institutions and authority. Over time, we have seen that shift as Millennials (and um, the rest of us) were witness to the failures of the banking industry, the federal and local government and other institutions over time. In this episode, Farrah and Adam find some data from the early days that served as the basis for some of these conclusions on trust, but look at them in comparison to other generations surveyed at that same young age to see if the data holds up.
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of bra…
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Dec 1, 2022
S1E1: Current headlines
Seen any good headlines about Millennials lately? Do they seem a tiny bit slanted? Why does the entire world believe every Millennial eats avocado toast for every meal? In this episode we look at some of the wildest headlines and examine what may be behind the editorial angle and the reasons why? This leads us to think about the current trajectory of the story and how it's changed over time.
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Our host is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.
Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Learn more and find research and supporting materials…
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Dec 1, 2022
S1E0: We have questions about Millennials
How on earth did Millennials go from being the glowing, favorite child of an entire nation–our primary source of hope for the future–into the enemy? The bad guys. Murderers. Sort of. Killers of the housing market, fast food and the napkin industry. For 20 years, we've observed and participated in the crafting and re-crafting of this narrative to help sell things from policy, economic strategy and yes, um, napkins.
In The Demo, a podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, we pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Our host is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.
Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Learn more and find resear…
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Nov 20, 2022
Introducing In The Demo
How did the generation defined by hope become the enemy? Where do stories this big come from? And why does it matter?
Introducing In The Demo; a new podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, experienced strategists and researchers Farrah Bostic and Adam Pierno pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth.
Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University.
Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Learn more and find research and supporting materials at inthedemopodcast.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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