The Generation Gap

Clive’s new Gen Z guest Emma knows quite a lot about witches through her university studies of English literature. So they have a lively discussion about the role of witches in the 17th Century and their relevance today - IF they still exist of course!

Gabriella tells Clive about her Generation’s attitude to marriage and relationships. Fewer Gen Zs want to get married or have children until their 30s. Around 30 per cent of their Generation still live with their parents as they can’t afford their own place to live. It is now socially embarassing for Gen Z women to have a boy friend. Is it COVID to blame or a completely new society being developed?

Clive and Gabriella check their horoscopes and consider whether Astrology is a serious subject or just a pseudo science based on the idea that the positions of planets and stars at the time of your birth can predict your fate. Astrology was taken seriously by famous scientists like Galileo but is not now - or is it?

Clive and Gabriella are both fans of stories about Time Travel such as Back to the Future and Dr Who. But is it or will it be possible to travel in time either backwards or forward? They don’t know but try to work out some of the repercussions of doing so!

Clive and Gabriella discuss the impacts Social Media has on young people and conclude they are mainly bad. Social Media sites encourage young people to spend many hours every day "doom scrolling" through often age inappropriate contents. The UK Government is considering banning under 16 year olds from accessing sites as has already been done in Australia and being considered elsewhere. Is this a good idea? Is it practical? Clive and Gabriella have answers.

Clive and Sara consider the impact of the annual Eurovision Song Contest on our image of the various countries taking part. Along with football matches and Summer holidays it is one of the things which creates cliches about our European neighbours. Clive and Sara listened to all the songs and express their opinions on some of them. This programme was recorded before the event so they didn’t know the results.

Clive and Sara talk about the changes in how we listen to music.Clive used to spend his pocket money as a teenager on buying 7 inch single records but since then we have dealt with tape cassettes, Sony Walkmans, CDs, mini-disks, iPods, smart phones and streaming. He brought some of these into the studio to show Sara too! It seems that Sara’s generation are now embracing retro gadgets like Walkmans and iPods!

There are a lot of cliches about Gen Z young people, the "Digital Natives" born in the 21st Century. Clive tests Gabriella on some of these cliches to see if she does fit the Public image. It seems that Social Media is the cause of many of these cliches so the discussion centres on the negative and positive effects of Social Media.

A lot of people are worried about AI (Artificial Intelligence). Clive and Sara consider whether it will destroy jobs - especially for young people - or perhaps take over the world and destroy humans. Or is it just a new and powerful tool that will help people do their jobs faster and better?

In the 1960s the Apollo space programme captured the imagination of Clive’s generation when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the Moon. Over 50 years later will the successor Artemis programme capture the imagination of a new generation? GenZ Gabriella thinks so and is already fascinated with the Moon!