Listen "Why does middle school suck?"
Episode Synopsis
Hillary Frank, the creator of the podcasts The Longest Shortest Time and Here Lies Me, talks with journalist and author Judith Warner about middle school. They discuss the history of middle school in America and abroad, some of the formative social forces at play for middle schoolers, why the journey through middle school is akin to a kind of death, and why it is that children of this age — on the verge of adolescence — often act like such... jerks.
Host: Hillary Frank (@hillaryfrank), podcast producer, author
Guest: Judith Warner, author
References:
And Then They Stopped Talking to Me: Making Sense of Middle School by Judith Warner (Crown; 2020, paperback, 2021)
Here Lies Me podcast (written, produced, and directed by Hillary Frank; produced in collaboration with Lemonada Media)
Weird Parenting Wins by Hillary Frank (TarcherPerigree; 2019)
Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.
Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
This episode was made by:
Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Host: Hillary Frank (@hillaryfrank), podcast producer, author
Guest: Judith Warner, author
References:
And Then They Stopped Talking to Me: Making Sense of Middle School by Judith Warner (Crown; 2020, paperback, 2021)
Here Lies Me podcast (written, produced, and directed by Hillary Frank; produced in collaboration with Lemonada Media)
Weird Parenting Wins by Hillary Frank (TarcherPerigree; 2019)
Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app.
Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
This episode was made by:
Producer: Erikk Geannikis
Editor: Amy Drozdowska
Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
More episodes of the podcast The Gray Area with Sean Illing
It’s okay to not be okay
22/12/2025
Forgiveness is optional
15/12/2025
The pornification of everything
08/12/2025
What counts as progress?
01/12/2025
How to survive awkward encounters
17/11/2025
Truth in an age of doublethink
10/11/2025
The case against free will
03/11/2025
What the climate story gets wrong
27/10/2025
The Great Enshittening
20/10/2025
America chose violence. Now what?
13/10/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.