BROKE Island!

In this episode of "More Thank You Think!" we discuss how the hit show, "Love Island," can thank inflation and the decline of third spaces for its success.

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Creators and Guests

Host

Valerie Gorham

WKNC Podcast Content Creator

What is More Than You Think!?

“More Than You Think!" is a podcast that explores the deeper layers of pop culture, uncovering how today’s trends connect with the political, economic, and social climate shaping our world. Each episode dives into the ways music, media, and cultural moments reflect — and influence — the society we live in. "More Than You Think!" is a podcast produced by WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 at NC State University.

00:22
Valerie
Love. It's the one thing that we all want in this life. It's the one thing that we all want from this life. And some people find it on an island. Whoa, not that kind of island. I'm talking about Love island, the TV show. The TV show that just got restarted a few weeks ago that everyone's already talking about because they're a few episodes in. And that one blonde girl was all shocked because there was a guy who didn't like blonde girls. And honestly, that would shock me, too, because I've heard that no one will ever love me because of my brown hair. Yeah, it's really depressing. Anyways, Love island is back. Do I watch Love Island? No.

01:13
Valerie
Do I see every single clip of it and basically watch it online, on Twitter, on Tik Tok, on Roblox games, where for some reason they can go on social media? Yes, I do basically watch Love Island. Do I know the names of anyone? No, because to me, all of those people are naked, so they all look the same. But I want to talk about this generation, my generation, Gen Z, and the obsession with Love island and the millennial obsession with Love island, and how the differences in the two actually showcase in real time the social and economic decline of our country. Yes. Love island is showing the people what's happening in the economy. This is more than you think. When we talk about politics and pop culture and how they are connected more than you think. What? Yes.

02:18
Valerie
Okay, so let's get into Love Island. What is Love Island? Honestly, I haven't seen the show, but I know what it is. And I have played the Roblox version, Friendship island, so I'm basically an expert. Basically. The point of this game is not really to find love. The point of this game is to win money and become an influencer. These people are all super gorgeous. I mean, allegedly, and, like, super tan for some reason, and, like, in really good shape. And then they go on this island, the Love island, right? And they do a bunch of stuff so that they can try not to get eliminated. There's also, like, the whole thing where they couple up and you have to, like, sleep in the same bed as a person that you just met last week, which is freaking weird.

03:05
Valerie
And, yeah, it's freaking weird, and I don't like it. That's why I don't watch it. But I like to see what people talk about when it comes to Love island on the interwebs. So let's talk about it. Let's talk about what Love island means to my generation. Gen Z. Some people say we're the funniest generation. Some people say we're the ugliest generation. You know what? I think we are the least outside generation. There's another one. We're also, I'm naming us this one. The broke generation, the moneyless generation, the jobless generation. And I don't think it's entirely our fault. I think that jobs and requirements for jobs now have changed from what they used to be. Everyone knows now that like a bachelor's degree doesn't really mean anything.

03:56
Valerie
And I mean as long as you have one, you might be able to get a job, but not really. It's not a guarantee. Companies that are hiring prefer that you have a master's or doctorate, which obviously costs billions and trillions of dollars. Not billions and trillions, but you know what I mean? And so we are broke. So what do we do? We stay in our houses and we watch freaking tv. We watch freaking peacock stream because I mean, we gotta have fun somehow. So if I'm not dating, well, guess what? I'm gonna watch other people attempting to date and make hundreds of thousands of dollars on my tv. That's what I'm going to do. You know why? Number one, because I don't have enough money to go do fun things or go to a, an island or a tropical vacation myself.

04:46
Valerie
So even if I'm not like, oh, I want to go on a date, I want to pay for a date. Which I would never pay for a date because I'm not a man. But the men are broke too. And that, you know, it's sad. If men are broke, then what's going on? Seriously, if men are broke, then what is happening? It's not good. The men are broke. They cannot pay for dates. They're broke. They, the Gen Z men, they don't have any money. They don't have any gas money. Gas prices are higher than you've ever seen and cars are extremely expensive. My goodness. Try buying a car. Try buying a house. By the way, you can't buy a house anymore if you're like in your 20s. That dream is out.

05:27
Valerie
The, My friends and I, when were in elementary school, we're like, when I'm 25, I'm going to have my own house and a dog and I'm going to be married. Heck no. Heck no. You know why? Because we can't afford it. Not only are we paying off our student loans, but we're barely even doing that. Love it. Love it. But you know where There is more love on Love Island. Just kidding. Those people are not freaking falling in love. I don't know what they're doing relationship wise. But as we know, the goal for these people is to get the cash prize at the end of the show, survive the eliminations to get that cash. And then, of course, if you make a good impression with the audience, then you are going to have a little bit of an influencer career.

06:17
Valerie
You can partner with brands, you can sponsor, get sponsored by brands, you can make some money doing ads, or you can get invited to some, like, award shows. Like that woman Alondria, who's like, always hanging around, like the Emmys, the Oscars. And I always really like to see her outfits, though. She always looks really good. That's true. Anyways, Gen Z is watching Love Island. But you know who's really watching Love Island? Millennials. Millennials are watching Love island like it's their job. They do not miss an episode of Love Island. And you know, there's a reason for that. There's a reason that millennials are more interested in Love island than Gen Z. Now, as I said before, Gen Z is trying to live vicariously through Love Island. Yes, that's true. But there are those of us.

07:05
Valerie
Cough, cough me who find Love island goofy and weird. Why? Because we are officially determined to be the generation least interested in romantic relationships, marriages, and then like the baby making thing. Okay, I don't want to talk about that. But it's. You know what I'm talking about. That part. Gen Z isn't doing all that. I mean, I guess some people are, but like, you talk to the average Gen Z, it's gonna be like, half of us. I'm part of the half that's lame. I'm part of the half that stays at home and watches freaking tv. Freaking, freaking Disney Channel, Suite Life on Deck. Like, that's the good stuff. And like, why shouldn't I be doing that? What would I rather be doing? Going out to the club, spending $90 just to go to the club? Heck no. Heck no.

07:59
Valerie
Because not only that, but it's dangerous. Not only that, but I'm. But I don't feel like getting kidnapped. Hey, according to research that I found on bank of America newsroom, 50%, like I said before, half. 50% Of single gen Zers spend exactly zero, zilch goose egg dollars a month on dating. That means 50% of US single members of Gen not give a gaa about being in a relationship. And that's like, kind of what I said before. Like, Half of us are in, half of us are out. Gen Z is not spending money on dating. Are we selfish? No. We're broke. We're broke. Another thing is that nowadays, I think I've said this in a podcast before, but there is like no encouragement to actually follow your dreams.

08:50
Valerie
We and Gen Z are having to go to our little cubicle jobs and kill ourselves for what? Eight hours a day doing busy work on a computer in front of a screen, wasting time, making not enough money for it, getting sciatica, farting in that chair for those eight hours. We get up, the fart floor is still there. It sucks. It's terrible because those are the entry level jobs. We don't make nearly enough money and by the end of that, even though it's a sit down job, you're exhausted because it was so boring that it sucks the life out of you. And all our lives we are told that if we don't get jobs like that, we're not even gonna make money.

09:36
Valerie
So now we're all broke, now we're all sad, we have no hope because we feel like, oh, I'm just gonna be stuck in this job forever. I'm never gonna meet anyone. And a lot of people have to work second jobs, side hustles and they can't focus on their main passions and that's tiring and that's exhausting and that sucks. It sucks the life and the joy out of a person. And who can relate to this? Who can relate? You tell someone older than you, a generation or two above you, oh my goodness, I hate my job. I can't do this for any longer, blah, blah blah. And they tell you, oh, but you're so young. You're so young. It will change. It will change and it will get better because you're so young. Yeah, I am. That's the worst part.

10:31
Valerie
Because this is the youngest I'm ever gonna be now and I'm wasting my life. Now I don't have a cubicle job, I work at a college radio station. And then I do have another job, but it's pretty chill as well. But these. I have multiple jobs just so that I can pay for my monthly stuff. And I'm not a homeowner, nor do I pay for groceries because I still live with my family and it's not like I'm not making like a good amount of money from the radio station. Love the radio station. You guys pay me. Fine. That's not the issue. The issue is that everything costs so freakin much so, yeah, people are watching Love island instead of going out because Love island is just a small cost because it's part of the streaming service.

11:25
Valerie
And so you can buy the streaming service, watch a bunch of other stuff. And yeah, Love island is there, too. Yay. Now, millennials watching Love island like their life depends on it. Why is that? Because they actually believe in love. And most of them are already, like, living their life. So, good for them. Shout out to them, I did a thing, guys. Okay, that was my millennial impression. But I'm gonna move on because Gen Alpha is gonna start doing the same thing to us. When I'm old, I'm going to know. I already know this. I am going to remember that when I was young, old people didn't know anything because they were old and they didn't understand any of the new stuff.

12:06
Valerie
Can we, as a generation, please accept the fact that we are not going to understand any of the new technology from our. From our children and their children. Shout out to the old people, Use a tablet. Use a tablet. Bluetooth device is really too pale. Anyways, I went off on that random tangent, but it actually brings me to my next point, which is the generations before millennials, nobody. Nobody's watching. None of them are watching Love island because they still think that's ridiculous. They still think, oh, that's not how you date. Well, how did you date if you're 50 years old? You probably were, like, at your job or in college or whatever. And your friends all, hey, girls, let's go out tonight. And it was beautiful. And it was Carrie and Samantha and friends.

12:54
Valerie
And everyone was wearing their cute clothes that they bought for cheap at the. At the retail store, at the department store, because back in the day, malls actually existed. Now they're lame. Bring back malls. And then you and your girls went out, and then there was a group of guys there, and one of them comes up to you, and he said, hey, my name's Brad and I am a man. Okay? Yeah, back then it was great. Now you're probably divorced, because everyone's getting divorced now, too. Because. Because I don't even understand. Because everyone's broke. And then they get frustrated, and then they don't like each other anymore because they don't have any money. And it's not even about the other person. It's just about the fact that they were so stressed that they got upset and annoyed everybody, and then they just get divorced.

13:42
Valerie
Or if you're on the opposite side of the spectrum, you have too much money, so you avoid your spouse and spend it all on things that you don't need and then you get divorced because your spouse finds out. So it's just a lose. We're all, we're all just going, life sucks. How about that? And that's why people got a freaking pull up Love island on their TVs and watch a bunch of other people date because they can't date. So sad. And we all still live with our parents or whatever too because none of us can afford a house, an apartment. Apartments are worse because you don't even own the place. And then there's such little incentive to stay out late because the later you stay out, the more money you have to spend. And have anybody seen.

14:24
Valerie
It's like the ads on TikTok that comes like this night is coming to your town. It's like heated Rivalry rave or Disney channel night or 2010's night. One ticket is a hundred and twenty dollars. Bring all your friends, girl. One hundred and twenty dollars. I could go to a concert with that and see an actual performer. And this is just at some small little room three streets down from my block. What are you talking about? I'm not paying all that. And then you have to pay extra for the drinks and the food too. I'm not that stupid. I'm not doing all that. There might be people out there who have the money who are fortunate enough, but the average human being cannot pay for all of that without to sacrifice some major freaking stuff. So yeah, Love island has shown me all that.

15:17
Valerie
Keep watching Love island or not. If you are like me, if you are one of those 50 percenters who does not give a gaff about finding love in the next 10 years of your life and you think to yourself, I could die alone and that wouldn't be so bad. Then keep not watching Love island and just seeing the clips online and playing the game on Roblox.com Yes, Friendship Island. It's not Love island on there, it's Friendship Island. There are kids on that app. But if you're one of the members of Gen Z who actually likes other people, then I guess keep watching Love island like you do you. I, I see both sides. I see the stories on both sides. I understand both sides. I get it. Of course. Yeah, sure. I bet having a boyfriend or a girlfriend is fun.

16:05
Valerie
Until your anniversary comes up and you have to buy them some chocolates. And chocolates are freaking $15.99 at Harris Teeter. And then you got to buy the basket too. And a little note. So now you've spent $50 for your one week anniversary. Gen Z is cooked. Inflation is just inflating. It's getting worse. It will not get better. It's never going to get better. Hasn't gotten better since the beginning of time. Net increase all the way. Inflation is going to keep going higher and the companies that are paying us are going to keep paying us the same. They're gonna say in a few years you get a 1% raise. Screw you. Again, this is not directed at WKNC. WKNC is chill. I love WKNC. You guys pay me more than enough for what I do.

16:54
Valerie
I am, I am mad for my friends, for my generation, for my girls who go out there who want to live their dreams, but they can't because their dreams don't pay. So yeah, that's what Love island has shown me is that basically we are living vicariously through a bunch of like, I guess, what's the word, objectively attractive people on our TVs because we can't do it ourselves. And then there are those of us who know about Love Island. We respect it. Sure, we think it's a little weird, but we're not doing all that. Okay, so moral of the story, Love island has shown us that Gen Z is just the least romantic generation. And we have to live vicariously through people on our TV screens. Which is because we do not have the resources to go out and explore the world ourselves.

17:48
Valerie
We can't really travel, we can't really do much unless we save up and go broke for one big expenditure. That is the pattern that I have been noticing with my friends. They get, they do one really big thing and then they gotta work, work until they can do another really big thing. No. No real savings. In Gen Z. We're broke, everything is expensive and we have no hope. So that's the message for today. I hope that leaves everyone, especially Gen Z', ers, feeling a little bit better about themselves. Because you know, it's not just you. We're all in this together. Wait, I ate that. Yes. Thank you for listening to more than you think. This was a depressing episode and I hope that you feel a little bit better today. Go get yourself some ice cream.

18:34
Valerie
If it doesn't cost you much, hopefully you bought it in bulk. Yes. Have a great day. Thank you for listening. Next time we will be talking about the World cup and how beautiful it is and how meaningful it is. All right, bye. Happy World Cup. Thank you. Love you. Bye. Sam.
Transcribed by https://fireflies.ai/
pod 15 - 6:13:26, 3.04�PM.mp3
Meeting created at: 13th Jun, 2026 - 3:06 PM