From News Sidequest from Keith Conrad <[email protected]>
Subject The job market is ghosting people / Nearly one in ten Gen Zers has no human contact / New music is killing people …
Date August 19, 2026 5:01 AM
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Employers are ghosting college grads and rescinding offers, destroying morale [ [link removed] ]
It’s not just college students, it’s everybody. I’m not going to claim to know what really caused it, or how to fix it. But the job market has become an absolute dumpster fire
Shocking number of Gen Z shut-ins report zero face-to-face human interactions per day after COVID [ [link removed] ]
Some of this is probably a result of Gen Z having grown up in a position where they could successfully navigate work and life remotely. It simply wasn’t an option before
More Stories Below, but first some new content in the News Sidequest Podcast Universe…
Auditory Anthology [ [link removed] ]
SCI-FI SHORT STORIES - NARRATED BY DARREN MARLAR & PRODUCED BY KEITH CONRAD
Coffee Grinder Love by Siobhan Gallahger [ [link removed] ] [ [link removed] ]- After a disastrous divorce sparked by her fatally toxic coffee, a desperate woman navigates interspecies dating and Martian travel to prove her domestic worth—and finally stumbles upon an insectoid suitor who appreciates a decent cup of tea.
We love bringing you stories from writers just like Siobhan — if you’ve got a tale of your own itching to be told (sci-fi, horror, supernatural, or anything in between), we’d love to hear it. Submit your story at submissions.soundconceptmedia.com and you could be featured right here on Auditory Anthology
Substack [ [link removed] ] | Listen on Apple [ [link removed] ] | Listen on Spotify [ [link removed] ] | Listen on Amazon [ [link removed] ] | RSS Feed [ [link removed] ]
Also Worth A Look…
Study Links Major Album Releases to 15% Rise in Fatal Crashes [ [link removed] ] - That is an absolutely insane statistic. People are so distracted finding the new Weird Al Yankovic album on Spotify that there’s a spike in fatal crashes
Study: 4 In 10 Fifth-Graders Say They Need Mental Health Care [ [link removed] ] - That’s less than ideal. But I think we can at least say it’s a positive thing that they recognize they need help and hopefully will get it, rather than swallowing their aggression… and a lot of pizzas
Coffee shop run by robots operates 24-hours a day and makes [ [link removed] ]200 cups [ [link removed] ] an hour [ [link removed] ] - Do you want a robot uprising? Because this is how you get a robot uprising. The robots are going to need some coffee if they keep working 24-hours a day
One In Four People Globally Live In A Big City, But Growth Is Slowing [ [link removed] ] - Amazing that this headline makes it into the same newsletter about Gen Z being shut-ins with absolutely no human interaction
Man busted after customs uncovers bizarre cargo hidden inside 22 pairs of socks [ [link removed] ] - The man had 200 lizards stuffed into his socks. That’s a lot of lizards. Since he had them hidden, obviously he was trying to sneak them in. How did he think that many lizards wouldn’t be found? It was either a carry-on, in which case it would have been x-rayed. Or it was a checked bag, it which case it would have been in the cargo hold and he was have had 200 dead lizards
Mummified DOG found on top of man and woman in creepy ancient Egyptian tomb stuffed with 14 other skeletons [ [link removed] ] - People simply aren’t honoring the moratorium I declared on opening up ancient tombs
American West Quietly Having Terrible Fire Season [ [link removed] ] - The good news is we’ve barely noticed. The bad news is we’ve barely noticed because we’re dealing so many other things at the moment
Over 20 tons of squid spill onto Rhode Island road blocking traffic for 8 hours [ [link removed] ] - Imagine being the person who had to call into work and say they were going to be late because the road got attacked by squid
Couple initially told to pay cancellation fee for cable, internet after wildfire destroys home [ [link removed] ] - It seems like there should be a clause in terms of service saying that the place has to physically exist in order for the contract to still be binding
National Debt Clock Is About to Hit $40T [ [link removed] ] - That’s less than ideal
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