Jacob Savage, author of the ultra-viral Compact essay "The Lost Generation," was digital media's man of the month in December. Meghan interviewed him on December 26 for a special episode for paying subscribers, and here it is now from behind the paywall. Jacob's argument in a nutshell, is this: Starting around 2014, the push to diversify hiring in elite institutions, particularly academia, journalism/book publishing and entertainment, hit millennial white men hardest. Despite talent, hardwork, and even privileged connections, many were denied professional opportunities solely because of identity. Many were left stuck, sidelined, or quietly drifting.

Jacob describes his path after graduating from Princeton in 2006 and sampling a few different fields before trying to become a television writer in Hollywood. Spoiler: it didn't work out well. Was his mistake his insistence that, as he writes, "the world treat me fairly, when the world was loudly telling me it had no intention of doing so"? Or were the systemic forces that conspired against him part of a larger movement that will have negative downstream consequences for generations to come?

Guest Bio:
Jacob Savage writes from Los Angeles.