Millennials are obsessed with avocado toast, complain about student loan debt and reminisce about the time that elementary school-aged children did not have social media addictions. Generation Z’s main sustenance is laundry detergent and they know thousands of Vines by heart. But what about the inbetweeners who do not identify with either? 

Brandeis graduates Sage Rosenthal ’19 and Isabel Lahn-Schroeder ’19 premiered the first installment of their ongoing podcast project, ...And Sometimes Y, on May 9 through Spotify and Apple Podcast. The podcast is centered around Rosenthal and Lahn-Schroeder’s experience of occupying a confusing space as not quite young enough to fully identify with the antics of Generation Z and not old enough to be entirely millennial. Their Spotify profile says that the podcast is a journey “to find a balance between their generational identities by talking through their own coming of age story.” 

The first episode of ...And Sometimes Y called “Episode Z(ero): Introduction” starts with Sage saying, “If people other than ourselves are listening, then that means that we did it.” In the short, five-minute first episode, the pair talk about how Sage’s WBRS radio show, called Sage Thyme, inspired both to begin a podcast. During “Episode Z(ero): Introduction,” Lahn-Schroeder recalled that “Sage has a radio show on campus, and I’ve become a frequent guest on it ... during the music breaks, we talk to the audience about the songs and what’s going on with our lives. And we realized that’s kind of what a podcast is. A lot of our friends like listening to it.” 

Recorded in the Sound and Image Medio Studios lab, the first few episodes of the podcast took place on campus. “I think Brandeis has given me a lot of confidence in a variety of areas which has inspired this podcast. Beyond that, I feel Brandeis has offered a space for a lot of creativity confidence, which can be incredibly refreshing. The opportunity to have a radio show once a week with total creative freedom and it having nothing to do with my career aspirations, is pretty cool,” Rosenthal said in an interview with the Justice. 

Lahn-Schroeder explained that the generational focus of the show came through “wanting to do something that was true to our lives and interesting to others. We hope for it to be a coming of age podcast with a generational spin. It is also a good way for us to keep in touch,” she said. While Rosenthal and Lahn-Schroeder were roommates during their sophomore year in East Quad, the two will have to grapple with continuing a podcast from different areas of the country after graduation. Lahn-Schroeder will be moving to Brooklyn, New York while Rosenthal hopes to make Washington, D.C. her home. 

“Right now we are still trying to figure out the logistics, especially as Sage continues to figure out where she will be after Brandeis,” Isabel said. “We are hoping to record remotely through microphones and potentially video chat, take turns editing and see how it goes from there.” 

As Rosenthal and Lahn-Schroeder prepare to leave the Brandeis bubble, Rosenthal said, “I am incredibly grateful for all the opportunities Brandeis has given me, especially the connections I have made.”