Please listen to the relationship advice. Shared values are so much more important than shared interests

Dan's insistence on always using the full title "Unpaid Intern Donald" is so funny sifjsj

If you don't have good grades, start at community college and transfer. Consider doing it even if you do have good grades. You save tons of money and when you transfer only your community college grades matter. Plus, no need to ever take the SAT!

I'm not sure Brandon really understands how bad the situation is right now regarding housing. I'm a mechanical engineer who has been working in that field for a decade and I can't afford a home, despite living frugally this entire time and having low rent by living with 4 roomates. That's not a minimum wage issue, that's a salary stagnation and housing market issue.

Brandon slipping that punny joke in there casually at the end was the cherry on top of this dad episode

I worked in undergrad college admissions from 2015 to 2020 before moving to grad admissions for the next two years, and I've tried to keep a pulse on the general landscape of post-secondary education since then. One of the biggest things I learned during that time is: Unless you will be studying a specific major that is not commonly offered (like Equine Studies), there is almost no good reason to go far away from home for college. My bachelor's and master's degrees are both in English, and I loved both my schools and would recommend them; however, I would not say attending either of those schools was particularly "worth it" compared to attending another school and studying English there. English, like many majors, is offered at most colleges/universities, so when it comes to studying these often over-saturated majors, you're frankly better off finding the cheapest route to those degrees. Regarding population of college-going people, we are already past the peak and have been in a steep downturn since about 2019 (depending on region in the US). The incoming college class of 2018 was considered to be the peak before tumbling down this demographic cliff. Schools have seen decreased enrollment across the board because of a variety of reasons, but there are simply not as many people in the traditional college age pipeline as there used to be and won't be again for a very long time, unless something drastically changes in this country that makes college--and raising kids in general--more affordable.

Regarding the recipe for success, I'd make one minor tweak. It's multiplicative. Skill times hard work times luck. Because if any one of those is 0, your success is 0.

For anyone going to college, especially community colleges: I cannot stress enough filling out the FAFSA. I graduated from a community college 6 years ago, and FAFSA paid for a good chunk of my school, enough that I could work on the side to make enough money for it. The FAFSA is just federal aid to help with schools, and while it won't put a bit dent in a 4-year college it'll help with something smaller.

Didnt Dan write the in universe narration for the different Knights of Radiant order for the kickstarter? I can already tell that I am going to love his voice in the cosmere just based on those.

Dan was a groundskeeper at a cemetery… it all makes sense now…

Welp, as a millennial, I didn't start the episode stressed and depressed, but 21 minutes in and here we are, lol

I've never been into horror movies or anything like that but because I like Dan so much I went and bought myself I'm not a serial killer today

The employment numbers are notoriously fungible and rarely represent reality. If you count unemployment as a ratio of, “jobs filled:jobs available,” today’s economy is going to look very good. But that’s because people, like me and my wife, have picked up second and third jobs. And at my two unrelated jobs, year over year performance is down for the third year in a row and by a lot. That’s one reason the economy can, “look great,” but feels terrible.

The structures of student loans are actually pretty predatory. They are one of the only loans that can follow even if you declare bankruptcy and are serviced by purposely unhelpful companies that want to keep you in debt. I'd also argue any loans aimed at 18-25 year olds, most of whom haven't been taught adequate financial literacy to understand the loans, are inherently predatory. Then the housing market has been in crisis for like 25 years with the ratio of average wage to average home price exploding. House prices went up like 50%-100% since the pandemic alone. It's not too big a deal if you already own a home because you rise with the tide if you're looking to move. First time home buyers get screwed the most.

Brandon, The description of your relationship reminds me of my marriage. Our third kid was born in october and we're still living a healthy, peacful love!

Gonna have to hard disagree on things not being as bad as they seem economically. Not only do i and the vast majority of young people actually living down here in the trenches feel it's as bad as it seems but many of us think it's probably worse. When 4 out of 5 people feel like the economy is the worst its been in 50 years despite the numbers on the paper saying otherwise, thats not a problem with the people. There's a phrase in statistics that i always remember: Torture the data and it will confess to anything. Just because the economy seems to be doing well does not mean the people are doing well. In fact the only people who seem to be doing well are politicians and the rich. Ask about the middle class and the answer you'll get is "what middle class?" The economy may be doing well on paper but if 4 people each worth 50K dollars are sitting in a room and Bill Gates walks in, just because the average net worth of all 5 of them is in the 10 figures does mean the other 4 are all millionaires.

What a fantastic episode. Loved the advice! As far as finances go, my wife and I can barely afford the townhouse we are in, and we make decent money. The market is just so insane right now. Also, college is like 6-7x as expensive as when my parents went. Its nearly impossible without loans. Even with scholarships.

Love how the "Hope for the Future" section is all about how we just have to wait for people to get old and die, then we can own homes! 💀

I wish Brandon’s optimism for the future was more infectious. I think I’m going to be stuck in this lil town home for the next 5-10 years with a bunch of kids, and no where to put their crap, or backyard to play in. Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly lucky, and it’s working for right now, but any improvement in housing I just know is going to have a huge caveat, like moving away from my family, and probably living at least thirty minutes (or an hour, if my husband gets his way) from any kind of decent grocery shopping, and an hour or two from any other shopping 🫠 I don’t really want to deal with crappy rural monopoly internet, and dealing with all the extra bullcrap that comes with owning a lot of land. I just feel like any extra chores are going to fall to me, and I’ve got plenty.

For college, I got a full-time job with a company with some tuition reimbursement and went part-time for 6 years. I paid what tuition reimbursement didn't. Graduated with 6 years of work experience and no debt.

I will say, my husband went the military route and we’ve done very well because of it. They will pay for your college, the salary isn’t great, but you don’t have to pay for housing or food as an unmarried enlisted. If you’re intentional and wise, you can save a lot of money in your four year contract and come out with the GI bill.

We have two kids headed to college this year. The big cost is housing expenses. Their tuition is actually not bad compared to when I attended college. The housing cost is far more than what I paid over 20 years ago (granted I attended BYU in Utah and my kids are attending college in California).

We have some foreign students from USA here in Germany because its cheaper to move and live here than to pay college in USA. Funny enough every single one I know decided to permanently stay in Germany or Europe, despite initial plans to move back to USA. If you want to, we welcome you here!

Always happy to hear a shoutout to Dr. McNinja. Loved that webcomic

I will say that sometimes it is harder than focusing on getting good grades for scholarships to avoid loans. I was in honors classes. I was 7th in my high school class with a 4.29 GPA, and yet, I was offered no scholarships after 12 years of focusing on school. I just did not test well, and so when it came to taking the ACTs, it took me 3 times to get the base of 21 needed for any scholarships. When I finally got that score of 21, it was too late to apply for most scholarships. And so, I had to take out loans to go to college. That compounded with not having the proper guidance to choosing a major really put me in a bind when it came to college debt. Being 35 and looking at how both my college career and professional career has gone, I would go back and really focus on what brings me joy. I took so many creative writing courses and I have brought that joy of writing to the D&D characters I create today. I love teaching, and have tutored elementary school children and college undergrads. So, if I could go back, I would go into teaching and writing.

Tuition is typically the cheapest of the bills. I’m 25, my college career happened during Covid and my grades tanked horribly. My college out of state before aid was about $54k/year. Administration doesn’t want to hear students “blame” Covid for their grades falling. My parents bought their house for 250k in 99, now it would sell for at least 550k. No one can afford a home, and rent is getting out of hand as well.

Week 24 of persistently asking for an intentionally blank episode about Marching Band! We’re getting close to the season Brandon, you know you want to!

Just graduated college with a degree in Psych, no current plans to go to grad school, and to be honest I feel primarily despondent. Many of my friends who graduated alongside or before me are just not finding jobs or are finding jobs that just don't pay enough to allow them to truly invest in their futures for the long term. It just feels like the time and effort I put into my degree wasn't worth it, not to mention the money. I often feel like I was sold on a college degree as a key that would help me acquire my dream job, and that I would be forever fulfilled by my career, when instead it seems likely I will end up in a job I care nothing for aside from the money it will net me. I hope I'm proven wrong, that the fulfillment and purpose I was promised was an exaggerated lie, but I don't have much hope that I will be. On the bright side, this has pushed me towards trying to find fulfillment in community and personal growth, but it's hard to shake those initial beliefs.

Funny they were talking about Scholarships, Brandon's whole secret project thing almost lost me a pretty big one. I was walking into the interview and saw the "It's time to come clean" notification. Shook me so bad (all worth it when I got out and watched the video of course). Ended up getting it but if that had made me do worse my life could seriously be considerably different now lol.

A lot of the stuff said in this episode is good, but the housing cost issue is not caused by temporary rentals (i.e. AirBNB, VRBO). It's almost all a supply issue, caused by regulations/zoning/NIMBY blocking new housing. Places with less of that have less (or even no ) housing cost issues, places with more of that have bigger housing cost issues.

Pretty much been my advice... "find a thing you like to do, not a thing you want to be". Also, the proverb is more like "find a job you love, and work more hours than you will ever imagine."

My youngest failed out of college twice. They're intelligent and got good grades in HS. COVID hit their second semester of Freshman year and changed the face of the university experience. They're doing OK career and financially, but will never finish their degree. COVID changed everything

Brandon's joke about Scott Free is the same joke being made by Jack Kirby and the reason why Mister Miracle the DC superhero who is basically super houdini is named Scott Free.

I absolutely love that you two and your wives rarely argue and that Brandon is friends with exes. It makes me feel a lot less weird!

Relationship spouse or family or friend is always, Always, ALWAYS relevant!

Find a career that you love, but life is much easier when the career you love happens to pay well. Your little siblings will thank you when they inevitably choose to study the arts and need to sleep on your couch. -An engineer older sister

There’s no amount of prosperity and hope that a spirit of pessimism can’t snuff out. Since pessimism has become so fashionable - not just among young left leaning people, but conservatives too - it’s no wonder people think things are much worse than they actually are.

I really like the advice of looking at what process you like and see where the careers are.

people say all the time marriage is all about compromise, but i haven't really found that to be true. i'm in the same boat as brandon and dan in that I found someone who i just get along with, share the same major values, and look forward to being around. everything else kind of just works itself out.

Wages may be the best that it has ever been, but the cost of living is also pretty high and makes those gains in wages not as helpful.

I think a lot of what contributes to the feeling of economic downturn is that the products that are readily available are just low quality. Electronics, furniture, appliances, etc. are all flimsy, mass-produced junk with AI-driven market testing to appeal to your precise demographic so they can squeeze out exactly as much as you'd be willing to pay. You get all excited and then you hold it in your hands and it's just a bad imitation of a thing your parents had. I have this experience over and over and it really wears me down.

Nerd parents talking about their nerd kids is cozy to me 😊

Well now I have to go back and re read Dr.Mcninja. thanks Dan and Brandon.

Great episode

I got a degree in something that I liked and turned out that I couldn't even feed myself... so I went back and got a degree in tech and now I'm pretty happy... each their own though if you can get a job that you like and is also well paid, then that's even better. And after learning a lot about economy... I'm sorry I disagree about having schooling be free. Personally school should be paid by the students and no tenure for teachers so that bad professors will get new jobs and good professors get paid well. And then the government should no longer give out loans 'cause that just made prices rise...

"The Podcast intentionally Blank does no endorse thievery of any sort" - Brandon Sanderson right after clearly endorsing thievery.

University in Canada is about $5kusd/year for tuition only- I might be off a bit. I thought it was overpriced here, it's scary to see the prices down in the States. I'm surprised people actually go to university down there when it costs so much.

I agree with this-I spent 8 years at a state university and paid my way through, and my Z daughter just paid her way, too. It’s difficult but it is possible. 👍

We are looking past the fact that this 19 year old knows how to cook lobster

My parents paid for my college, as long as I got the degree they wanted. I HATED THE DEGREE THEY made me get and no longer work in that field. They also made me work a job while in college, bought a car and made me pay for it, fuel, and insurance. Doing that affected my grades and caused me to leave school for a few years. The degree they made me get was a HUGE waste of money.

Wow $6000.00 a year for college? Mine was $9749.00 a year, but when I added books, supplies, boarding and transportation, cost me over $30, 000.00 for the year.

Part two please!!

rent has doubled in a lot of cities over the last 10 years (with most of the increase since 2020).

I was recently laid off while being in the middle of trying to buy my first house. Even making a decent wage pre-layoff and splitting bills with my girlfriend things were looking bleak.

Six kids, holy shit!

Happy birthday Dan

Dan: "I'm the worst breaker-upper" 😂

The luck factor scares me but I’m gonna give it a shot till I’m unable to comprehend my own thought

People in their 20's aren't just saying "how can I afford vacation", I haven't heard that. What I've been hearing is people wondering how they're going to afford rent even as a professional or in our case journeymen. We all make $90-$110kcad/year and we've all come to the conclusion that we will never be able to have children here in Canada. There is no where cheap to move to anymore and there's no way to afford housing and bringing up kids. Some of my mates went down to the states for high wages and lower housing options but not everyone can do that.

Ive also heard of private equity firms buying up residential housing too so it just makes single family housing really hard for an average joe family yo actually own a normal sized house.

"Seasoned criminals" in food heist prison.

Would LOVE to hear Brandon and Dan's thoughts on Frieren: Beyond Jouney's End. It's the best fantasy show since Arcane, hands down.

Best economy in fifty years? I genuinely wonder who released that statistic, because I’m definitely one of the 1/5 who feel otherwise.

Brandon freaking Sanderson 😂

You gotta get those other 5 kids of yours on cigarettes 💀💀💀

State University in my hometown: Tuition alone is $16k a year. 82% of first-year students receive some financial aid.

I loved it when my highschool crush made fun of me. But the intention never seemed to be hurtful.

The crime is spelled "petit theft" in the Florida statutes, so using that spelling in a news story would seem the correct decision. (Both spellings are common, btw.)

I love Brandon and his books/stories, but as he actively pointed out - minimum wage laws are fairly well detached from actual market realities. So to want top down regulations to change said minimum wage to have it actually have the outcome of paying people more "Sounds like a great idea, with the best of intentions! What could possible go wrong?" (mandating higher salaries will increase costs, and then increase prices and decrease entry level jobs - which just leads to inflation and a bad job market for the very people the regulation was aimed at helping)

Well, this video came out at the perfect time since I found out my son is going to be born in October

Do not go to college unless you know what you want to do and it will pay for you to go

Maybe the situation you explained with housing is correct in the Utah area where Brandon is, but here in Ontario, Canada, sub-1000 sqft condos that are part of a multiplex unit are going for $400000+, if you want a detached home in Toronto under 1000 sqft you are easily looking at over $1,000,000. And yes as our population ages more homes may open up, but in order to prevent our society and canadian pension plan from collapsing we're having to bring in a ton of immigrants who are going to be competing with young canadians for those homes, i honestly dont see it getting better for a significant amount of time

If any author can give quality dad advice worth listening to on a Fantasy KZfaq Podcast I think it’s Brandon.

Houses are assets, to gain value. They're not for living in anymore. Unless this changes through law, house prices won't come down unfortunately.

A large part of the housing price increase is the fact that we don't build enough housing. Low supply leads to higher prices.

@Brando "Scott Free" is the Alias of DC's Mister Miracle

16:14 Congrats to your daughter getting a voice performance degree. As a singer in their 30s, it’s a rough world out there right now with opera companies closing…

But what if Dan is my dad?? What advice should I take??

My kid needed to hang on to the Christmas thing until 9 and then wanted me to pretend for her until 11

Brandon “ it’s not as bad as it looks” then proceeds to layout it’s much much worst.

From Christopher Scott, the lobster thief. Wants to know if he returns the lobsters..... is that considered restitution???

Dadvice.

I have a good relationship with my dad but i gladly let you be my dad figures

When you say that there's never been a better time to be a writer that can make a living off of writing, is that just talking about total number of people able to do it, or total proportion of writers that are trying that are succeeding?

Adoooonalsium

People with four year degrees have higher average incomes, less frequent periods of unemployment, and shorter periods of unemployment when compared to their peers who do not have a 4-year degree. Does this mean that a specific individual with a four year degree will not experience financial or employment difficulties? No. Inevitably there will be those that do. But as a general rule, going to school and getting a 4-year degree will place you in a better financial circumstance than not doing so. Just don't be that guy that goes to school for three years and drops out. Then you have all the problems of not having a 4-year degree plus student loan debt.

The housing market poses a larger problem than they seem to realize. "Modern societies" rely heavily on Immigration to sustain their population growth. A decline in population could result in housing prizes to fall, but it comes with huge backlash from all the ponzi scheme esque programs colaptsing. Population increase is a significant factor in GDP growth, and a declining GDP, mixed with a housing market collapse, on top of social programs like social security failing with result in disaster.

Hard Boiled Criminals

the best kind of clickbait titles

Christopher is just the sort of name who must have two first names. Christopher Lloyd Christopher Lee Christopher Robin

16:00 Brandon’s children have a different perspective based on his success

Me an Dan have the same birthday

It should be "How do you know you're successful" short for you are, not possessive successful.

33:55

👍🏻

The loans are predatory. Any loan given to you expects to make at least the amount given if not more in interest.

Scott Free, the Golfcourse Gourmand

PET'TY, a. Small; little; trifling; inconsiderable; as a petty trespass; a petty crime. 1. Inferior; as a petty prince. We usually write petty constable, petty jury, petty larceny, petty treason. [See Petit.]

Mid 30s, some semblance of financial stability. Life still looks pretty hopeless & I don't see it getting better.

I don't think Dan realizes how much private property is being bought to be rented out, especially around cities. The super rich are buying up all the property as an "investment," then renting it out to the rest of us.