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The Bethlehem Project: Being young in Trump’s America

December 16, 2025 · 19 min

Show notes

High school is a time of massive change in any teenager’s life. But students today are going through this transition period at a time when the US is more polarized, there's a lot of economic anxiety and teens are far more plugged into social media than ever before. Host Sonja Hutson and FT data reporter Ian Hodgson went to a high school in Bethlehem to get a sense of what it's like growing up in Donald Trump's America. 


Mentioned in this podcast:

Anxious and disillusioned: being young in Trump’s America

Inside Trump’s America


Swamp Notes: The Bethlehem Project is produced by Sonja Hutson and edited by Marc Filippino. The show was mixed by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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