The Karol Markowicz Show: Christian Schneider on SNL, Parenting, Generational Identity & America’s Cultural Future

Summary

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The Karol Markowicz Show: Christian Schneider on SNL, Parenting, Generational Identity & America’s Cultural Future

Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show / iHeartPodcasts
Episode: "The Karol Markowicz Show: Christian Schneider on SNL, Parenting, Generational Identity & America’s Cultural Future"
Date: January 14, 2026
Host: Karol Markowicz
Guest: Christian Schneider (National Review columnist, author, host of “Wasn’t That Special? 50 Years of SNL”)

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Overview

This episode features a lively, humorous, and reflective conversation between Karol Markowicz and Christian Schneider. Together, they delve into nostalgic stories about Saturday Night Live, the evolution of generational identity, the quirks of modern culture, and their personal approaches to parenting and happiness. Christian shares his professional journey, generational pride, thoughts on America’s tech-driven future, and his philosophy on cultural adaptation in fast-changing times.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Beginnings & Personal Anecdotes

• [00:55] Karol introduces Christian Schneider, highlighting his background as a writer and podcaster.
• The two reminisce about a memorable post-Covid night out in Manhattan, involving free drinks, overserved friends, and Karol’s infamous “water round.”
  • “It was as if Timothee Chalamet was at the bar.” — Christian ([01:22])
• Karol jokes about her now-modest alcohol tolerance and the perils of aging.

2. Christian’s Career Path and Writing Origins

• [03:06] Christian recaps his unusual career trajectory:
  • Polytechnic background (“the Sorbonne of southeast Wisconsin”).
  • Role as a legislative staffer in Wisconsin.
  • Early adoption of blogging under the pseudonym Dennis York, paralleled with Karol’s own pseudonymous blogging (Cache).
  • Winning blogging awards in 2005, once accepting as a pig puppet, due to anonymity.
• Transition into mainstream writing at National Review, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and authoring the book 1916, with Karol’s endorsement:
  • “It’s basically just about, like, what if the Internet existed in the year 1916?” — Christian ([06:55])

3. Podcasting: “Wasn’t That Special? 50 Years of SNL”

• [07:20] Christian describes his podcast project:
  • Co-hosted with Scott Bertram, covering a full season of SNL every two weeks.
  • They graded every sketch (over 1,000 episodes), creating a unique database.
  • SNL insiders are apparently listening in.
  • Karol: “They should have you on the show.” Christian: “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen.” ([08:35])

4. SNL Eras, Comedy, and Generational Change

• [08:51] Discussion of which SNL era was the funniest:
  • Conventional wisdom: “Everyone thinks their high school cast was the best.” ([09:01])
  • Christian’s favorite: The late 1980s (Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz).
• Modern teens engage mainly through clips rather than full episodes; specific sketches (like the “Domingo” sketch) resonate for generational reasons.

5. Alternate Paths & Reflections on Politics

• Christian admits he might have remained in politics or law, if not for writing, joking his college blood-alcohol content surpassed his GPA.
  • Politics is competitive, like sports—“Building up to Election Day where it’s the Super Bowl.” ([11:29])
• Karol and Christian note that the relentless coverage of “must-win” elections echoes sports commentary.

6. Proudest Achievements: Parenting & Generational Identity

• [15:35] Christian on his top life accomplishments:
  1. His children—the clarity and transformative power of parenthood:
     • "As soon as you’re holding this thing...suddenly you know what your life is about.” ([15:44])
  2. Being Gen X—pride in what he sees as an underappreciated generation:
     • “We didn’t complain... and then suddenly the millennials came through and they just started bickering with the boomers and we just got skipped completely.” ([17:09])

7. Generational Culture Wars: Who Owns the Music?

• [18:31] Karol and Christian banter about Woodstock ‘94, drugs, and band loyalty.
  • Christian laments millennial “stolen valor”—claiming Gen X cultural icons:
    • “Nirvana, which is the quintessential Gen X band...This is Stolen Valor. You cannot take Gen X’s bands from us.” ([20:07])
  • Agreement: Generational “ownership” of music and culture should have “hard and fast rules.” ([20:25])

8. Future Forecasts: Technology, AI, and Privacy Concerns

• [20:43] Christian’s five-year prediction:
  • Technology and AI will further depersonalize relationships:
    • "It's basically just like...two computers talking to each other." ([21:03])
    • Worries over facial recognition, surveillance (even at NFL games), and social tech like Meta’s camera glasses.
  • Karol notes a shift among younger generations toward analog tech (digital cameras, less social sharing).
• Both worry about the erosion of privacy via everyday platforms like Venmo and Pinterest.

9. Practical Life Advice

• Christian’s #1 tip:
  • Find New Music — Don’t let nostalgia freeze your musical tastes in the 90s; new bands and sounds can reinvigorate happiness.
    • “Go find it. Your life will be better. It just makes me so happy when I find a new band that I feel like is specifically mine.” ([25:44])
• Karol’s tip for new music: Check out Noah Kahan.

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Notable Quotes

• Christian on Early Career:
  "My grades in college were terrible, so I always wanted to be a lawyer. I think my BAC was actually higher than my GPA." ([10:49])

• On SNL Nostalgia:
  "Everyone thinks their high school cast was the best." — Christian ([09:01])

• On Parenthood:
  "Suddenly you know what your life is about. Like, it's like I'm worried about what job I'm gonna have... And then all of a sudden, like, in a moment, you're like, well, this is what my life is about now, taking care of this thing." — Christian ([15:44])

• On Generational Ownership:
  "Nirvana, which is the quintessential Gen X band... This is Stolen Valor. You cannot take Gen X's bands from us." — Christian ([20:07])

• On Tech and Dating:
  "It's basically just like... two computers talking to each other. And at some point there will just be like this cyberspace where like their avatars are going to be dating each other and the actually flesh and blood people are going to be sitting at home by themselves. So it's creepy and it's weird." — Christian ([21:03])

• Advice:
  "Go out, find new bands. There are thousands of bands that sound a lot like the bands that you probably loved back in the 90s... Your life will be better." — Christian ([25:44])

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Important Timestamps

• [00:55] | Guest Introduction & post-Covid stories
• [03:06] | Christian’s writing & blogging origins
• [07:20] | Why and how the SNL podcast began
• [08:54] | Funniest era of SNL; cultural shifts
• [11:10] | Christian’s alternate career paths & politics as sport
• [15:44] | What Christian’s most proud of (parenting, Gen X)
• [18:52] | Woodstock ‘94, generational music claims
• [20:43] | Five-year prediction; concerns about AI, surveillance, & privacy
• [23:39] | Analog culture making a comeback
• [25:38] | Practical life advice: Find and support new music

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Tone

The episode is playful, self-deprecating, and candid, marked by witty banter about cultural change, sharp insights about generational experience, and honest reflection on personal growth. Karol’s humor and Christian’s warmth and nostalgia keep the conversation both light and substantial, blending cultural criticism with actionable wisdom.

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For Listeners Who Haven't Tuned In

This episode is an engaging primer on cultural nostalgia, the quirks of modern American identity, and the strange optimism of embracing new media and experiences while holding onto core generational values. It combines humor with thoughtfulness, and listeners will come away feeling both entertained and invited to reconsider their own attitudes toward change, privacy, and the pursuit of happiness in a rapidly evolving world.

Transcript

[Carol Markowitz]

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[Carol Markowitz]

Hi, and welcome back to the Carol Markowitz show on iheartradio. Today is Christian Schneider. Christian is a National Review columnist, author of several books, and the host of the podcast Wasn't that special? 50 years of SNL. Hi, Christian. So nice to have you on.

[Christian Schneider]

Thank you so much for having me on. Before we even get started, I want to tell the listeners, oh, boy, what a big celebrity you are. Because the first time we ever met, I think it was like right after Covid, we went out for drinks in Manhattan with some other friends, and we're sitting there at this bar, and suddenly midway through, the waitress brings out more drinks and says, well, the owner knows who Carol is, so here's some free drinks on the house. It was as if Timothee Chalamet was at the bar.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, similar. Similar to Timothee Chalamet. It's so funny that you think it's because I'm famous and not because I'm friends with everybody. And I was friends with that restaurant owner. And the restaurant is 1803 in Tribeca, and it's amazing. So good. And my friend Rafi owns it. And it's funny because we talked about that meetup recently. You and I ran into each other over Halloween in D.C. recently, and we discussed how my drinking reduced by a lot after that night. After that night, it was like, I really can't do this anymore.

[Christian Schneider]

We were overserved for sure.

[Carol Markowitz]

I mean, we were actually. And if you recall, I ordered everybody a round of waters before we left because it was just a particularly drunken affair. Several people were, like, falling down as we left. That wasn't us. But, you know, It. It happens.

[Christian Schneider]

And I literally.

[Carol Markowitz]

I made everybody drink water. I made a round of waters was delivered to our table because I was like, you people really need it. And I went home that night, and I was like, I am too old for this. I can't do this anymore. And my drinking has, you know, declined a lot. And I talk about it on the show sometimes how, you know, people come on and they're like, oh, I want to drink less. I'm like, I want to drink more. I just can't do it anymore. I just can't. Like, I really have, like, one drink, maybe two when I go out now, tops.

[Christian Schneider]

You're not a quitter, so let's do this.

[Carol Markowitz]

So how did you get into this world? What did you first write?

[Christian Schneider]

Well, it starts off in colonial times, where. No, seriously, I am a relative of one of the Salem witches, which is interesting. I'm the 11th grade.

[Carol Markowitz]

I made that up. But okay, great.

[Christian Schneider]

Grand. No, it's true.

[Carol Markowitz]

All right, all right. I believe you.

[Christian Schneider]

Marytown Esti was. Was her name. She was burned because she had a wart that they said was used to suckle the devil. So clearly, the head of Health and Human Services at the time was RFK Jr. But, yeah, so I'm glad she had kids before they hung her. But, yeah. So in college, I worked for a basketball team. I was a basketball manager.

[Carol Markowitz]

Have you written about her, by the way? Like, is this a story that people know?

[Christian Schneider]

No, it's.

[Carol Markowitz]

Why. Why haven't you. You're a writer. What are you doing? How do you. How do you save that story for the Carol Markowitz Show? That should be, like, a book.

[Christian Schneider]

When I go to D.C. i write A. Write a broom. So I don't know if that's, like, a tip off.

[Carol Markowitz]

I've seen the broom.

[Christian Schneider]

So, yeah, I. I majored in political science in college. I got a master's in political science from Marquette University. The sore bone of southeast Wisconsin.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, that's what they call it.

[Christian Schneider]

And I got a job working in the Wisconsin legislature for a while, where I would write legislation and things like that. And then kind of in. As a side job, a guy in our office was like, you should start a blog while you're, you know, working in the legislature. And so I was like, nobody's going to read that. And so I started this blog. It was like an anonymous blog under a pseudonym, and suddenly.

[Carol Markowitz]

What was your pseudonym?

[Christian Schneider]

My senior pseudonym was Dennis York. Okay. And my best friend growing up was Dennis. And I was my big Radiohead fan. So Tommy York I used that as well. So. So, yeah, that started kind of writing a blog, and everybody was like, it was a big kind of parlor game at the time. Like, who is this person writing this? And it was kind of fun keeping that secret.

[Carol Markowitz]

But I was also a pseudonym writing blogger in New York. I don't know if you knew that, but, yeah, my. So my maiden name starts with an S H E I. So my name was Cache. One name. That was all it took.

[Guest or Producer]

Yeah.

[Carol Markowitz]

And it was also like, who is this? It's funny because that that era, you could have, like, a lot of readers for that time and become, like, famous in your, like, circles.

[Guest or Producer]

Right.

[Carol Markowitz]

Like, my blog had, like, 1800 readers a day, which now is nothing. And. But back then, it was like, oh, look at all these readers.

[Christian Schneider]

You know, my blog was, like, winning awards, and yet I couldn't. I couldn't actually, like, show up.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's amazing.

[Christian Schneider]

Accept the award. Because I couldn't tell anybody who I was. So I actually sent in a video. My daughter had, like, this pig puppet, and I accepted the award as a pig puppet.

[Guest or Producer]

I love it.

[Christian Schneider]

For, like, best blog of 2005 or whenever it was. So. Yeah. Then, like, at some point, you know, all the Wisconsin stuff happened with Scott Walker and the unions, and I was writing about that, and National Review came to me and said, hey, do you want to write for us about this? And so I did that. Then the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called me, said, you want to be our staff columnist? And I thought, great. Staff columnist.

[Guest or Producer]

Yeah.

[Christian Schneider]

And then, you know, things happen, and I end up back at National Review. I started writing for them a couple of years ago. So. Yeah. In the meantime, I wrote a book about the year 1916 that was great.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Christian Schneider]

It was blurbed by none other than Carol Markowitz.

[Guest or Producer]

Right.

[Carol Markowitz]

And I read it, which, you know, really says something.

[Christian Schneider]

Oh, you're the one that read it. I finally found you.

[Carol Markowitz]

I thought it was really funny and clever. I really did. So. Yeah, if you haven't read his book, 1916, you should check it out.

[Christian Schneider]

Yeah. And you put it on your shelf behind you when you're on tv.

[Guest or Producer]

That's right.

[Christian Schneider]

Which brought a tear to my eye. It was very nice of you, but. Yeah. So it's basically just about, like, what if the Internet existed in the year 1916? And about a guy who, like, was keeping a blog, what would he be blogging about? Et cetera. So, yeah, got good reviews. Some people thought it was funny.

[Carol Markowitz]

So what made you start a podcast about 50 years of Saturday Night Live that doesn't seem like a typical conservative endeavor.

[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

Yeah.

[Christian Schneider]

So, I mean, I'd always just been a Saturday Night Live fan. It started two years after I was born, so I've always watched it and kind of known about it. And then I met up with Scott Bertram from Hillsdale College.

[Carol Markowitz]

He's great. He's been on the show.

[Christian Schneider]

Yes. Former guest. And we hit it off, and I threw out this idea, like, hey, let's do this thing where we watch a season of SNL and then do a. A podcast episode on each season. He's like, yeah, I'm down. And we didn't. Didn't realize exactly how much work it was going to be.

[Carol Markowitz]

Is it the watching it that's the work or what's what? Which part is the hard.

[Christian Schneider]

Yeah. So we would watch a full season every two weeks. And so that means 22 or so episodes. So that's 22.

[Carol Markowitz]

Your wives were very happy about this.

[Christian Schneider]

At some point, I'm going to relearn the names of my children because it was just like, nonstop, like, I gotta get through this. And I'd plow through, like, seven episodes on a Saturday or something in order to get it done. But so we ended up watching a thousand episodes of snl, and we graded each and every sketch, and then that gave us grades for each season. And so now we have, like, this giant database of every sketch that's ever and episode that's ever been on the airs. Wow.

[Carol Markowitz]

Thank you, guys. They should have you on the show.

[Christian Schneider]

Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen. We have had people who we've seen in our subscribers, like people at SNL have subscribed to the web, to the podcast. So I don't know.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's great.

[Guest or Producer]

Wow.

[Carol Markowitz]

So what was the funniest SNL era?

[Christian Schneider]

Okay, so Lorne Michaels kind of mantra is that everybody thinks when they were in high school was the funniest cast, Right?

[Carol Markowitz]

That's probably what I was thinking. Yeah.

[Christian Schneider]

And it turns out when you and I were in high school, going back and looking, this is part of the reason why we did the podcast, was to say, okay, well, who's actually right? And it seems like my high school years were kind of the best cast. That's when you had Phil Hartman and Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz, and, like, season after season were just complete bangers. When we did our ratings of best seasons of all time, season 14, which would have been like, 1988, 89, like, that era. I mean, you can't beat it. So.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. I mean, my High school's in the 90s, but I think it's basically the same people, right? Yeah, yeah. Those are all the ones that I remember from my high school years. We'd go out and come home to somebody's house and watch snl. I don't think kids do that anymore, though. My kids, I don't even think they. They know what SNL is. And my daughter's in high school. Do teenagers still watch it?

[Christian Schneider]

They watch clips maybe. And most of the clips that just.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, she's actually. She's mentioned that Domingo skit to me.

[Christian Schneider]

That's.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's the only thing I think she's ever seen from it.

[Christian Schneider]

Right. And this is a, like, you know, this is a cultural thing. We. I had millennials in my office that were like, isn't that Domingo sketch hilarious? And I'm like, it's not really. But she was like, literally every millennial woman has had this experience of, like, going to a super awkward bachelorette party. And, like, so it was relatable to them in a way that it wasn't to me. So.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, not. Not to me at all, either. I can't think of. I don't think I've ever been to a super awkward bachelorette party where the. Where the bachelorette gets down with, like, some guys she meets. No, that didn't happen in our era. No. Sorry, ladies. So what would you be doing instead if it wasn't this? What would the plan be for Christian be?

[Christian Schneider]

I don't know. I guess I would have stuck in politics somewhere writing laws. My grades in college were terrible, so I always wanted to be a lawyer. My dad's a lawyer, so I always figured I was going to be a lawyer. And I think my BAC was actually higher than my gpa. Gpa. So that's why I went pac. Blood alcohol content.

[Carol Markowitz]

You and the drinking. You know, it's. It's Wisconsin, isn't it?

[Christian Schneider]

It probably is, but yeah. So let's see, I was. As I was in grad school, I was working my way through as a basketball coach. Would have loved to have kept doing that.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's cool.

[Christian Schneider]

Basketball, that was always a lot of fun. So I've always.

[Carol Markowitz]

Basketball your favorite sport to watch?

[Christian Schneider]

I think so, yeah. I mean, I was on a scholarship in college to be a manager for the basketball team. And so I went on all the trips and did all that stuff, and so that's how I learned how to coach. And, yeah, it was super interesting. So I'm really competitive, which is kind of why I got into politics because it's like, it's a nerdy office job, but it's also like super competitive. Like you're building up to election day where it's the super bowl and it's.

[Carol Markowitz]

The super bowl every year, basically.

[Christian Schneider]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Carol Markowitz]

I mean, every four years, really, but really every year. Now we're like talking about races where, like the school board election in Blanktown, Pennsylvania didn't go our way. I don't know, I feel like too much.

[Christian Schneider]

I just wrote a thing about this. It's like, like the, like the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections. Like if you don't live in those.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. They actually don't mean that much.

[Christian Schneider]

Who cares? They mean absolutely nothing. But we have all this time that we need to fill up.

[Carol Markowitz]

We do need to build a cable tv. Well, when I watch sports commentary, it's like, I mean, they're doing the same thing we're doing with much less important stuff. Like when I hear them talk about how the teams are looking for the week, it's like they just have to win. Like, yeah, every week they have to win. That's usually what's going on here.

[Christian Schneider]

It's a must win game this week.

[Carol Markowitz]

Every year. Every week, really. We're gonna take a quick break and be right back on the Carol Markowitz Show.

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[Carol Markowitz]

So what are you most proud of in your life?

[Christian Schneider]

Okay.

[Carol Markowitz]

All right.

[Christian Schneider]

I'll give you two things. First of all, my kids.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Christian Schneider]

All right.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Christian Schneider]

One of them didn't know that, you know, kind of as a screw up early in life, like, having a child completely changes your life in ways that you can't expect. Like, as soon as you're holding this thing, you're like, first of all, I've been a screw up my entire life. What did I do to deserve this wonderful thing that I'm holding? And it's clarity in that. Like, suddenly you know what your life is about. Like, it's like I'm worried about what job I'm gonna have, what career I'm gonna have, how I'm gonna make money, all this kind of stuff. And then all of a sudden, like, in a moment, you're like, well, this is what my life is about now, Taking care of this thing. And just the way my kids have grown up. I've got two of them in college and.

[Carol Markowitz]

Wow.

[Christian Schneider]

Another one in eighth grade. And they're just delightful people. Like, people I would want to hang out with. They're smart and they're funny. How did I do this without my wife?

[Carol Markowitz]

Of course, the biggest accomplishment to having kids who are, you know, great humans as they get older that you want to spend time with and they want to spend time with you. I mean, really, nothing beats that.

[Christian Schneider]

Yeah. The other thing that I'm.

[Carol Markowitz]

I thought there was Another thing, you were like, first of all, my kids, like, I have to get that out of the way. My children. Yeah.

[Christian Schneider]

I am so proud of being Gen X, being of Generation X, it's. Which everybody knows is obviously the best generation. We just don't go around telling everybody about now.

[Carol Markowitz]

We do kind of tell people we've gotten to where we're like going to have to let you know now we are the best generation.

[Christian Schneider]

You know, we came up and people talked about us in the same way that people talk about Gen Z and millennials. Like they're the lazy generation. They're self entitled. And we got through it. We didn't complain. And then suddenly the millennials came through and they just started bickering with the boomers.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Christian Schneider]

And we just got skipped completely.

[Carol Markowitz]

Completely. They just like started their own war and left us out of it, which was nice. Listen, I mean, we don't necessarily want to be part of their thing, but. Yeah, you're right. I, I also feel like we're kind of skipped over in politics. Like there, there hasn't been a Gen X, you know, president or anything.

[Christian Schneider]

There's not going to be a Gen X president unless like Josh Shapiro shows up.

[Carol Markowitz]

And is he Gen X?

[Christian Schneider]

He's my age. He's 15. I'm like right in the middle. Right in the middle of Gen X?

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah. Because Even like Ron DeSantis is like, he's younger than me. He's a millennial, I would say. I mean, maybe he's like on the cusp, but yeah, all of these people.

[Christian Schneider]

Is he a millennial? Wow.

[Carol Markowitz]

I think so. His early 40s.

[Christian Schneider]

Nikki Haley's like, right about our age. She missed.

[Carol Markowitz]

She's also a little younger, but like, I think, yeah, I mean, look, I'm 48. I think that that's the cusp of Gen X. People try to put me in the millennial column. I'm like, absolutely not. I stay Gen X, but I am right on the border. So anybody younger than me, they're sort of millennial.

[Christian Schneider]

All I really want to do these days is just sit around and talk to other Gen Xers about Gen X stuff. Because we obviously had the best music.

[Guest or Producer]

Yeah.

[Christian Schneider]

One of the first conversations we ever had was on online where you mentioned that you went to like woodstock94 or something. I did.

[Guest or Producer]

Good memory.

[Christian Schneider]

I want to hear everything about, like your experience at woodstock 94.

[Carol Markowitz]

So awesome. It was so fun. And there's like barely any pictures. Like I have a few pictures that were taken with a real camera that I then went and printed out. So, yeah, I had a Lisa DiPasquale on my show a few weeks ago. She's the author of the Gen X Handbook. It's like coming out right as we're recording this, but I can't wait to read that. Like, I, I feel like that's, you know, we should be telling more stories about our amazing generation.

[Christian Schneider]

Were you there for, like, when Green Day had a mud fight with. In the Rain with. With people.

[Carol Markowitz]

And I don't think I was close for that. I was really close for. For Cypress Hill, for Blind Melon. Blind Melon, him and his dress. He was right next to me. Nine Inch Nails, Metallica. I was like in the, you know, in the area of like seeing them. Everybody else I kind of heard from a distance. I mean, I don't want to say there were drugs involved, but there might.

[Christian Schneider]

Have been drugs involved, but see, it's the best. Like, I've. Some millennials have come to me now and they've tried to steal Gen X culture. Like somebody came to me and was like, well, Nirvana is actually really a millennial band. Like Nirvana, which is the quintessential Gen X band.

[Carol Markowitz]

I mean, no, it is.

[Christian Schneider]

Yeah, sure, maybe you hit. You were nine years old and listening to Nirvana or something.

[Carol Markowitz]

But yeah, no way.

[Christian Schneider]

This is Stolen Valor. You cannot take Gen X's bands from us.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, it's. Look, I feel the same way, but like Fleetwood Mac or whatever. Like, yeah, I listened to Fleetwood Mac when I was in high school, but they're still not my era. It's still. They belong to the boomers. Yeah, like, come on, let's give credit where credit is due, you know?

[Christian Schneider]

Yeah, we need hard and fast rules about what generation can claim what.

[Carol Markowitz]

Forcible rules.

[Christian Schneider]

Yeah, right. Like, we're not going to take the killers from the millennials. You guys can have them.

[Carol Markowitz]

No, yeah, I like the killers, but yeah, they're clearly not our era either. Give us a five year out prediction and it could be about anything.

[Christian Schneider]

All right. I am an eternal pessimist about the future. Just with AI and all this stuff, you know, men just not being able to talk to women anymore. It's like you read these stories about how men set up their dating profiles with AI, they'll like have. And then the women, like screen the men with AI and so it's basically just like, it's like two computers talking to each other. And at some point there will just be like this cyberspace where like their avatars are going to be dating each other and the actually Flesh and blood people are going to be sitting at home by themselves. So it's creepy and it's weird, and I don't mean to sound like Scott Galloway or anything, but, like, every male human that gets laid, I think, has to go, like, report it to Scott Galloway to make sure that they're doing it right.

[Carol Markowitz]

You record it in his little book.

[Christian Schneider]

It's kind of weird, but.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[iHeart Podcast Announcer]

Yeah.

[Christian Schneider]

And then just, like, facial recognition stuff.

[Carol Markowitz]

You're worried about that?

[Christian Schneider]

I'm worried about, like. I mean, they're using it in NFL stadiums to catch people now, and. I don't know, man.

[Carol Markowitz]

Like, to catch people doing what?

[Christian Schneider]

Catch people who have, like, unpaid parking tickets.

[Carol Markowitz]

Oh, really?

[Christian Schneider]

Oh, wow.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's crazy.

[Christian Schneider]

The Dallas Cowboys, your team, they're stadium.

[Carol Markowitz]

I talk bad about my Dallas Cowboys. What did they do?

[Christian Schneider]

I'm not. But it's just so weird.

[Carol Markowitz]

And they had that at the stadium. Like, really? I'll have to read up on it. Jerry wouldn't allow that in his house. Come on.

[Christian Schneider]

Meta has these new glasses that have the cameras in them, and you can walk around, and at some point, they're going to get to the point where you can look at somebody, dial something up, and then everything about them will show up in your glasses.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yikes.

[Christian Schneider]

And it's just so gross and weird to me.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah.

[Christian Schneider]

Let's disconnect. Let's get off the grid for a little while. I don't know.

[Carol Markowitz]

Do you think we will?

[Christian Schneider]

I feel like.

[Carol Markowitz]

I almost feel like the analog life is appealing to the younger generation. They're not. I don't know. They're not, like, for better or worse, they're no longer on social media the way that we were, the generation after us. They're not photographing. They're not photographing anything, actually. They're not taking selfies anymore. They're not, like, posting anything. They're not living on the Internet, or they're for the negative. I feel like they. They carry a little TV with them, and they just watch videos whenever they're bored. It's really just going back to the television age and they no longer doing the social part of social media, which is, you know, again, good and good, good and bad. Good that they're not, like, exposing everything about their lives online. Bad that they're, like, incapable of being bored for 30 seconds without watching some random video. But I see this appeal to that analog thing. Like, digital cameras are really popular right now with the younger set. And, I don't know, maybe we. We take a step back.

[Christian Schneider]

Yeah. My son Came home from college and he's like, do we still have our digital camera? I was like, you know you have camera on your phone, right? He's like, no, no, no, no. So we pull out our digital camera, and there are pictures of him when he's like, three years old on his thing. Like, he's been sitting there forever.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, that's the thing. I personally would not go back to a digital camera because I think that there's some things that are good to have easier, and it's fun, fun to like, have a camera every single second that you needed. I, I, I like that I was always the kind of person that carried around a camera anyway. But the rest of it, I don't know. Maybe it won't be so bad. Come on, be optimistic.

[Christian Schneider]

Yeah, I'm just, I'm creeped out by how much, like, personal privacy people are willing to give up in order to, to do this. Like, I look at Venmo and scroll through, and it's like, the people that.

[Carol Markowitz]

Are telling this, I don't understand. My Venmo is private. I don't understand how people are just letting their interactions be public. Why?

[Christian Schneider]

Right. Ask Matt Gates about this. But why would you possibly want your personal, your private cash interactions to be available to everybody? It just, it makes sense.

[Carol Markowitz]

I actually wrote about this a number of years ago, why every site had to be have a social component. Like, and also, let's share this with your friends. Like, Pinterest. Like, why is Pinterest. Like, why are my, the things that I'm pinning public? I make it private, but, you know, like, my home decor pins, like, why does everybody need to see that? And the fact is that the default setting for that was, you know, add your friends and let them see what you're pinning. And the same thing for Venmo. Like, why?

[Christian Schneider]

I know people get so creeped out when I put my, like, underwear modeling photos on LinkedIn.

[Carol Markowitz]

I feel like that's a different issue. Different issue, Christian. Well, I have so enjoyed this conversation. You're always a good time. And even though you ruined drinking for me, I forgive you. Leave us here with your best tip for my listeners on how they can improve their lives.

[Christian Schneider]

Improve your life by going out and finding new music.

[Carol Markowitz]

Oh, yeah.

[Christian Schneider]

I talked about Gen Xers. Like, we tend to, like, have. Our music was so great in the 90s. We baked it in and we just listened to that. Like, I'm literally on a chat with friends that all they talk about is Guns N Roses. I'm, like, my favorite band 35 years. Yeah, but it's like, it's been a while. So. Yeah, go out, find new bands. There are thousands of bands that sound a lot like the bands that you probably loved back in the. In the 90s. And they all need fans and they all need money and they do great stuff. There's a lot of guitar rock, even though nobody listens to guitar rock anymore. It's out there. Go find it. Your life will be better. It just makes me so happy when I find a new band that I feel like is specifically mine.

[Carol Markowitz]

Yeah, I'm in a big Noah Kahan phase right now. For anybody listening who's looking for new music to listen to, he's this amazing New England musician. He's going to be huge in a few years. Everyone's going to be like, of course, Noah Kahan. But, yeah, he's just mine right now.

[Christian Schneider]

So thank you so much that he did. And I was like, mumford has a son that he doesn't know about.

[Carol Markowitz]

Oh, yeah. It's funny because I totally think that. I think that he sounds a lot like Mumford and Sons. My daughter doesn't really agree with me, but she'll listen to this and maybe she will.

[Christian Schneider]

Perfect.

[Carol Markowitz]

Thank you so much for coming on, Christian. Check him out at National Review, buy his books, and listen to his podcast about Saturday Night Live. Thank you, Christian.

[Christian Schneider]

Yeah, thanks for having me.

[Carol Markowitz]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.