AI Summary
5 min readIt must suck to be young. That is not a line from a cynical older generation dismissing Gen Z. It is from Abdullah El-Sayed, a progressive Democrat running for Congress in Michigan, and he said it to a room of young voters he was trying to win over. He meant it as a diagnosis. Young people in 2026, he argued, are being told they cannot afford a home, that the planet is doomed, and that their tax dollars are being spent to kill children abroad. The candidate who wins them over, he believes, is the one who tells them the truth about how bad things are, not the one who sugarcoats it. This episode of Today, Explained follows host Noel King and producer Peter Balonon-Rosen to Michigan to understand why young people there vote at higher rates than almost anywhere else, and what happens when a generation raised on Donald Trump and social media decides that both political parties have failed them.
The Michigan Turnout Machine
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **The Michigan Primary as a Populist Flashpoint** - The episode opens by framing a 2026 Michigan primary where a young, left-populist challenger, Abdullah El-Sayed, is running against a centrist Democrat, Haley Stevens, fueled by deep dissatisfaction among young voters.
- 2 (02:30) **Why Michigan? The Infrastructure of Youth Turnout** - The host and producer travel to Michigan to investigate why the state had the highest youth voter turnout in the last midterm cycle, starting with the mechanics that make voting easier.
- 3 (06:23) **The Myth of the Monolithic Youth Vote** - Edevbie challenges the assumption that higher youth turnout automatically benefits Democrats, noting that many young people are concerned about inflation and are open to persuasion by either party.
- 4 (08:56) **The Crisis of Disillusionment** - The reporting reveals that the most significant shift among young people is a growing belief that their vote doesn't matter, driven by economic anxiety and a sense that the entire system is corrupt.
- 5 (10:41) **Abdullah El-Sayed: The Populist Pitch** - The focus shifts to El-Sayed, the candidate who is successfully tapping into this disillusionment by directly attacking the Democratic Party's establishment and its "bullshit."
- 6 (14:36) **"It Must Suck to Be Young"** - El-Sayed delivers the episode's central, bleak assessment of the moment, arguing that young people have been told their future is hopeless on every front—housing, climate, and healthcare.
- 7 (18:32) **Two Friends, One Deep Divide** - The episode introduces Oscar and Will, two 17-year-old best friends whose friendship is tested by their intense, opposing views on Israel and Palestine.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Young people used to vote reliably blue. But they're burnt out on politics as usual, which means their votes are up for grabs.
This episode was produced by Peter Balonon-Rosen, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Gabriel Dunatov, engineered by Patrick Boyd and David Tatasciore, and hosted by Noel King.
Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan Abdul El-Sayed at a youth coffee event in Ann Arbor. Photo by Peter Balonon-Rosen/Vox.
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