Access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world is still unequal and that needs to change. But in the US, despite the spread of some misinformation, vaccination has continued. Excitingly, sometime this week, 12-15 year-olds are set to be approved to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

In this episode, we explore our feelings about differences in vaccination status between already-vaccinated older teens vs. younger ones and we interview biologist, Dr. Lillian Cohn to answer some questions we have about COVID-19 and the vaccine.

Here are some RESOURCES if you want to learn more about COVID-19 and the COVID-19 vaccines.

Links to Articles:

• Articles from KidsHealth
• FAQ from the CDC
• Myths and Facts about the vaccine from the CDC

Some explanatory videos:

• How COVID-19 makes you sick
• What is a vaccine — a broad overview 
• COVID-19 Vaccine Explained by VOX

Sending our support to our listeners in India, given the dire Covid-19 situation there.

In this episode, we explore the question "what do you want to be when you grow up?", and share the anxieties it evokes in us. 

It has been just over a year since our quarantining and social distancing began on March 13th, 2020. We have experienced feelings of grief, loss, isolation, and now — with vaccines coming out — some hope. In this episode, we combine conversations from over the past few months with journal entries to reflect on our first year experiencing a global pandemic.

Because of the pandemic, we're no longer waking up and getting ready to go to school in the same way. What do we do instead? In this episode of This Teenage Life, which was inspired by a listener from Missouri, we talk about our morning routines.

There are all these weird implicit social rules while texting. Should I add an exclamation mark? What does their “ha” mean? In this episode of This Teenage Life, we explain some of the norms we abide by while texting.

Casual interactions are harder to come by in COVID. In this conversation, we talk about struggling to maintain friendships and struggling with ways to reach out to other people.

Hair can be a huge part of our cultural identities and sense of ourselves. However, as authentic, inner confidence grows, it can also become less important to us. In this episode, Cami and her mom reflect on hair loss and the connection between hair, race, and culture. Their conversation, while ostensibly about hair, also reveals a lot about the admiration and love between a mother and a daughter.

There's so much tied up in hair - cultural significance, identity expression, and more. On this week's episode of This Teenage Life, we're talking about our experiences with our hair.

We might be stuck inside during a global pandemic, but in our heads, we’re going places. We're rockstars, comedians, novelists, and boxers. In this episode of this Teenage Life, we discuss feelings of burn out and where we go to escape those feelings: our daydreams.