Ep. 225 | The Analog Comeback Is Real — But AI Is Already Here

The kids want tin can phones. Gen Z is buying vinyl at rates we haven’t seen since 1983. And somewhere in the middle of all that, AI quietly became everything.

Meseidy and Rachel skip the Iran cycle this week to talk about what’s actually shifting underneath it — the pull back toward analog, and the tech disruption that’s moving faster than any generation before has had to process. They don’t agree. Meseidy’s cautiously optimistic that AI frees up time for real human connection. Rachel wants to know what gets lost in the trade. They push each other, they leave it unresolved, and they’re honest about the fact that nobody — including the people building the tools — really knows where this lands.

Also in this one: Virginia’s redistricting vote, a 90s-week family experiment, the wait-until-8th movement, and the Oklahoma principal who tackled a school shooter and got crowned prom king.

Episode Highlights

• Why Gen Z is driving a $1.4B vinyl resurgence and snapping up disposable cameras — the analog comeback isn’t a trend, it’s friction
• The “tin can” phone rundown: how Rachel’s daughter is actually talking to her friends again, and why wait-until-8th pacts are catching on
• A 90s-week family experiment with six kids, one shared laptop, and zero personal phones — the results
• Where Meseidy and Rachel split on AI: useful tool vs. something we don’t understand fast enough to trust
• The CEO of Anthropic’s own admission that AI is moving faster than any previous tech — and why that matters for parents, schools, and workers
• Why the left’s next climate-panic energy is going to land on AI (and what that’ll look like)
• A feel-good close: the Oklahoma principal who tackled a school shooter getting crowned prom king

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Chapters

• 00:00 Intro & Virginia redistricting vote
• 04:00 Why we’re skipping the Iran news cycle
• 07:40 The analog comeback: tin cans, vinyl & Gen Z
• 14:45 Wait Until 8th and keeping kids off smartphones
• 26:00 AI is different — and it’s moving faster than anything before
• 41:20 What AI is actually doing to how we think and work
• 54:30 Is AI inevitable? Where Meseidy and Rachel disagree
• 1:10:30 Good news: Oklahoma principal crowned prom king

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