The Debaters - Do millennials make the best parents? Is rain superior to shine?

Episode Date: April 23, 2026

This week, we’re covering a topic from A to Gen Z. Do millennials win the parenting prize? Levi McCachen says millennials have totally won parenting, but Simon King says other generations do it better. Next, it’s rain versus shine. Charles Haycock says rain rules, but Katie-Ellen Humphries is ready to argue her position with a sunny disposition.Featuring: Levi McCachen, Simon King, Charles Haycock, and Katie-Ellen Humphries.

I'm Lisa Yuso, a digital producer at Ideas, the podcast that likes to feed your curiosity. I ask my colleagues why they think you should listen. Ideas can make you the smartest, most interesting guest at your next dinner party in less than 60 minutes. It's got the best of a storytelling podcast with the best of a great lecture. You can pretty much never predict where an episode will take you, but you can count on every episode to shift your perspective. even just a little. Find and follow ideas wherever you get your podcasts.

This is a CBC podcast. Hey, Canada, we're speaking your language from Vancouver, BC, home of Langara College. It's the debaters where comedians fight with facts and funny in this audience picks the winner. Now here's a man whose comedy is quite degradeable Steve. Hello, Canada, welcome back to the debaters. We are back in our favorite home. home away from home on the West Coast, Vancouver. A city bursting with wildlife.

In 2025, a family of barred owls captivated the city and brought wildlife photographers from all over the world. There were people watching the owls all around the clock day and night. That would be enough to make any family paranoid, wouldn't it? Honey, I think someone's watching us. What? Where? Who?

And that is a pun that will spin your head right around. Time now to meet two debaters who are night owls of comedy. This Calgary comic has comedy in his jeans. It's Levi McKeachan. Levi McCatchen. There he is. Making his way to the podium to my left. Steve, how are you doing?

Welcome. And this comic is complex and has never been called a simple Simon. and it's Vancouver's Simon King. Welcome back, Simon King. Hello, my friend, striding purposely across stage to my right. Your topic is already apparent. Millennials, are they the best at parenting? This topic wasn't my idea.

My parents were boomers. My wife and I are Jen E. and our daughters are Gen Alpha. My dog, Ferris, is 35 in human years, so I guess he's as close as we've got to a millennial. And that makes sense, because he works from home, doesn't pay to live in our house,

but he acts like he owns it. And above all, he keeps up on pop culture. It's time now for a topic that we hope will bridge the generational gap. So, whereas they're conscious of social issues grew up with the internet and have a greater focus on wellness, be it resolved, millennials are the best parents. Levi, you are arguing for this, please. You have two minutes, starting now, Levi McCatchen. Do you know why I think millennials will make great parents? Because of the way they treat their pets.

If you ever have 20 minutes to kill, ask a millennial what they feed their dog. They're like, well, we started him out on the Royal K-9 Vet Recommended Dog Food, but then we found out that the Royal K-9 Vet Recommended Dog Food isn't actually the optimal diet for them, and the only reason the vets recommended is because they get a cut of the profits. And so we switched him to this organic, all-natural kibble, and he was doing good on that. You know, his coat was shiny, his teeth were clean,

but he didn't really seem to enjoy it, and we wanted to be more than just nutrition. If you held a gun to my dad's head, he couldn't tell you how old I am. People used to get parenting advice from their parents, parents, which is how you ended up with advice with like, maybe you won't fall asleep, put a little whiskey in his bottle.

Which is still how Siamen falls asleep to this day. Millennials won't have to do that because we have Chad ChiPT. And when the AI bubble pops in six months and crashes the global economy, we're going to have so much time to spend with our kids.

Our parents, the baby boomers, they were notoriously silent about their feelings. You know, they'd never say how they felt. Our kids aren't going to have to worry about that, because we overshare. You want to know how your dad's feeling? Just go check his Instagram.

It'll be in one of his stories. Thank you. Yeah, Levi McChatchin. I like that. Thank you, Levi. Now, here to tell us why he thinks millennial parents are out of parental control. Let's hear from Simon King.

I know I look young from a distance, but teen observers can see by the lack of hope in my eyes that I am a Gen Xer. I'm also parent of a small child. Some seem concerned. Don't worry. He's in the car, engines running, and he's got cigarettes. Old Paris is in there to play with. He's fine.

Why? Unlike millennials, I am not a helicopter parent buzzing around worrying all the time. Are you thirsty? Are you hungry? Do you need a band-aid? I told you to put down dad's spicy water. My parents? Boomers. Boomers, they ignored you.

TV raised you. Getting bullied because you're chubby moved here from England as a child so you have a high-pitched British accent that makes you sound like the queen. They've taken the royal lunch money. Walk it off. That might be a me thing.

Boomers didn't ask how you feel. They threw you into the world hoping, or not, you'd return when the streetlights came on. My parents didn't even let me call them. mom and dad. I called them by their first names. I assumed for plausible deniability in case people saw as in public. And I turned out fine and my therapist has a summer home. Generation X weren't coddled like millennials. We worked for things and we had few luxuries. We didn't have iPads in classrooms. A good day to us was when the teacher wheeled in the projector for a film

trip. That was like second Christmas. Millennial parents try too hard to protect their kids from reality. They coddle them. Life's not easy. Little trauma goes a long way to making you strong. I should know. I'm a comedian, and we're the most well-adjusted people in the world. Thank you. Yeah. Simon King.

We got ourselves a debate, and it's time now for the bare-knuckle round. We're debating whether millennial parents are the best parents, so since we're covering this topic from A to Gen Z, sorry, A to Gen Z, in this heavyweight, entitled best, Use your words to lower the boomer on your opponent. If you want to end up as the avocado toast of the town,

you might have to snowflake it till you make it. So it's time to grow up, starting now. Simon says millennials are helicopter parents. But if I have kids, I would never be a hell. I'm not going to be buzzing around my kid. I'm just going to turn on location sharing on his subdermal RFID tracking chip. First, before we got going, let's clear the air. Do I use whiskey to sleep?

Of course I do, okay? Like you don't? Next, you're going to tell me there are people who are just magically eating, not afraid to sleep. Come on. Secondly, being concerned about what your kids eat doesn't make you a good parent. When I grew up, we had the five-second rule, okay? Something falls on the floor, and if it's there for less than five seconds,

you can still eat it, and that made our immune system strong, and I know this because RFK Jr. told me so. So let me ask you this. would you let your kid drink from the hose? I'm a millennial. I don't have a hose. You need a yard to have a hose. Simon, millennials might be trying to shield our kids

from reality for now, but that's just because we know in 10 years they're going to be in an armed conflict with Tesla robots trying to liberate our drinking water from Amazon data centers. So let them be kids, you know? You mentioned worrying about the global. economy crashing like it's like a big deal.

Again, this is a sign of millennial weakness. That's happened three times in my lifetime alone. During the dot-com bust, I had to sell my Beanie Baby collection, but we all move on and we're all better for the adversity. I miss you, princess. Like you, I also

dealt with adversity. I was also made fun of for being an overweight child, which is why I personally would never never fat shame my kid. I would just put Ozempic in his lucky charms. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't actually have a kid, do you? No, I do not, but I have a dog, so it's like the same thing.

Okay, that's the bare knuckle round, everybody. All right. All right. The love of God. It's time now for the firing line. In my hand, I have a list of questions on millennials being the best parents brought to you by a millennial parent's baby's first words. Goo-go-Gag-Gag-I'll never be.

be able to afford a house. I would have been better in a baby voice. I just can't do a good baby voice. And I had a whole idea for someone that would come down and do it. And producers are like, Steve, we can't hire a baby. My apologies, we almost had a baby there.

A parenting style gaining traction amongst millennials is called Lighthouse Parenting. What does Lighthouse Parenting involve? Levi. That's when you do. try to convince your kid that they're not growing up in a basement apartment. They're growing up in like the Coke zero of housing, like house light, you know, like lighthouse. Thought that through.

I will give one and a half points for that. That was well reasoned, Simon. I'm pretty sure it's taping a flashlight to their head and then spinning the kid around so much they pass out and sleep through the night. Oh, at least you didn't say give the kid's whiskey, I guess. Lighthouse parenting involves providing a stable source of guidance for children like a lighthouse while also giving them the freedom to grow and learn. I almost puked saying that. I hadn't seen that. I hadn't read that whole answer before.

On BuzzFeed's list of 31 millennial parenting struggles, boomers never faced, the top three are work-life balance, job stability, and what else? Simon. Not being able to complain about how when they were a kid, they had to walk five kilometers to school, uphill, both ways in the snow, with shoes made of old cornflake boxes. Flack-on-de-mays for our French listeners? CBC.

I like that. I appreciate the bilingualism at the end. Millennial parenting struggles that boomers never face, the top three, work-life balance, job stability, and having grandparents who don't help you. Upworthy.com says millennial parents are pleading with boomer grandparents to please stop doing what?

Levi. Taking health advice from RFK Jr. Great answer. Great answer. Three and a half. Simon. Being alive. They want that sweet inheritance money

so they can stop renting. Okay, they're the truth hurts! You can't say that to this crowd? They'll forget soon. I won't remember. With you guys, let's get the kid. Oh, kid, you're so sweet. Upworthy.com, millennial parents are pleading with boomer grandparents

to please stop giving excessive gifts to grandkids and eating all of grandma's marijuana gummies. Please stop doing that too. The Independence says a growing trend amongst millennial parents is raising their kids like it's the 90s. What does that involve? Simon. Making them watch commercials

and learn to drive a stick shift. I like that. I got a couple points. Levi. Having all the boys develop a crush on the band Hansen, the makers of Mbob, and then getting very confused

when they realize there's not actually any girls in that band. That was well thought out. Two points for that. the independence has a growing trend amongst millennial parents is raising their kids like it's the 90s which involves simple pleasures

like board games, the public library, and giving kids the chance to be bored. It's a great way to justify not buying stuff. That's the firing line, everybody. All right. We're in the home stretch now

at the scintillating and beautiful centennial theater and it's almost time for the audience to vote. Here again to argue against millennial parents and their coddle model. Let's hear again from Simon King. Millennials don't understand the hard realities of parenting. Parenting's not all gender reveal parties in baby yoga. Real parenting is sitting alone in a new living room at 3 a.m.

Surrounded by losing scratch-and-wind tickets because your kid's going to want to go to university and you're a clown in Canada, so that's your Hail Mary pass. Now you've got a belly full of gym beam and you're just scream-crying, rocking back and forth, listening to Love is a Battlefield just over and over. We are young. Love is a battlefield.

And then the landlord comes by. He starts banging on the door. What's going on to there? I told you. No, Pat Bennett's after 11, but you can't hear the banging on the door, right? Because it's drowned by the regret and your booze-soaked brain.

You should have got a forklift license. And that's parenting. All right? So don't tell me your parenting if all you did was hand Noah his iPad. Thank you. Simon King. Oh, buddy.

All right, now here to tell us why millennial parents make kids feel like millenniaires. Let's hear from Levi McCatchen. Millennials are going to make great parents because we're all mental health experts. Because we've all diagnosed ourselves with multiple mental illnesses we learned about on TikTok. Do we really have ADHD? Or was it that once we realized we're never going to own housing, we all just decided we want to to be on prescription-grade meth the rest of our lives. Either way, we're going to be such attentive parents.

Baby boomers told us we could be whatever we wanted to be when we grew up. Terrible advice. I'm going to tell my kid they can do one of two things. Cyber security or start a YouTube page with unlikely animal friends. Bear with cat, dog with tiger, but if you ever want to live above grand, do not follow your dreams. And that's good parenting. Thank you.

All right. Oh, yeah. Levi McCatchen. There's a lot to think about. A lot to think about in this debate. It is time to vote, audience. By applause. Who felt that Levi's pro-millennial parent proclamations

were just perfect. Levi McCatchin. And who loved how Simon, mom, and popped the bogus bubble around millennial parent, Simon King. And in fact, It's close enough that I don't have to make decisions. It's a tie.

You're listening to CBC's The Debaters. Want access to bonus content and information on upcoming tour dates, then be sure to follow us on Instagram. You can find us at at CBC debaters. I'm Lisa Yuso, a digital producer at Ideas, the podcast that likes to feed your curiosity. I ask my colleagues why they think you should listen. Ideas can make you the smartest

most interesting guest at your next dinner party in less than 60 minutes. It's got the best of a storytelling podcast with the best of a great lecture. You can pretty much never predict where an episode will take you, but you can count on every episode to shift your perspective, even just a little. Find and follow ideas wherever you get your podcasts. Are you ready to meet your next fair debaters? This comic asked a pro wrestler about his fight strategy, but couldn't pin him down.

It's Alberta's Charles Haycock. Come on, Ann Parles Haycock, one of my favorite Albertans, making his way across the stage to my right. And when this comic was grilled about her ongoing struggle with punctuation, she had no comma. It's Victoria BC's Katie Ellen Humphrey.

Hi, friend. Your topic debaters is one for Fair Weather Friends. rain versus shine. Which is the superior weather? This debate seems lopsided at first, because you might reasonably assume that most humans prefer sunshine over rain. But let's not forget, though, my Irish ancestors

were drawn to places with little or no sunshine, because in direct sunlight, we're prone to spontaneous combustion. It's time now for a high. hot debate that we think will rain supreme. So, whereas it creates relaxing sense and sounds, encourages a comfortable day indoors, and makes the world clean and green, be it resolved that rain is superior to shine. Charles, you are arguing for this, please. You have two minutes, starting now, Charles Haycock. Okay, I have to admit, this is not fair. I mean, they said,

hey, who should we get to promote the scorching sun? How about the nice ginger girl? that has to avoid it. In Vancouver, a place that doesn't have it. Here in Vancouver, the son is like an absent father, you know? It shows up for 30 seconds psych. Then it leaves again to buy milk at his girlfriend's house for four months, and then when he does show back up, he gives you burn wounds and cancer.

But somehow you gaslight yourself, like it's my fault that my skin, I did not wear enough sunblock. The fact that you have to wear protection, you know what I mean? Like, if my mom has to put on a helmet and pads to not get hurt at the house, then my dad is not a good guy.

If that's not scary enough, now imagine the helmet wears off every 30 minutes. You have to reapply more helmet just for the helmet to do the helmeting. The sun is your abuser. Ever notice how you can't make direct eye contact? Rain is always there for you, on the other hand, hiding your tears during public meltdowns,

camouflaging your Taco Bell sweat stains, ending the barbecue early so you can go home. Day or night, rain is like the stepdad that showed up and chose to love you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Charles Haycock, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you, Charles. Now, here to tell us that if you prefer rain over shine, you're completely delusional. Let's hear from Katie Ellen Humphreys. It's easy to romanticize the rain if, like my opponent, you live in Alberta. Our nation's sunniest province. Because I've never had to endure it.

In Vancouver is 146 centimeters. Here in North Van, it's 200. Light of Shaquille O'Neal in a comically tall top hat. Facilates fun clothing, dresses, shorts, sandals if you're nasty. The greatest gift to average-looking people since the open bar. ...requires gear. Gear! What am I, my dad?

Rain gear. Why no tax break on the 900 umbrellas I've donated over the years? Coffee shop in the Lower Mainland has obtained at least one umbrella from every person in this theater tonight. No compensation. It's outrageous. Sunlight boosts serotonin, which gives you energy and helps keep you focused. Well, too much rain depletes. dopamine, which can result in an entire city dressed in the same colorless a leisure with a gripping addiction to stimulants

and a collective delusion that CrossFit is cool. Thank you. Katie Ellen Humphreys, ladies and gentlemen, representing the sunshine, Charles representing the rain, and it's time now for the bare knuckle round. We're debating the merits of rain versus shine, So let's not cloud the issue.

You two better be downpour throwing some shade. Don't be afraid to tell the other to SPF off. Time to fight like cats and dogs, starting now. You know, I'm a little upset. Katie said sunlight boost serotonin. It's like, yeah, of course it does. It's basically a drug. Everyone's smiling, feeling good,

passing out all over the place. But just like meth, the next day... Real jump. Real jump there, Charles. My point is that, just like the best drugs, it doesn't last, you know? That is my fault, I did say sun boosts energy. That is such a classic conservative take advocating for abstinence when we know harm reduction has positive results. All I'm asking for is to microdose a little bit of sunshine.

me as a ginger to the radio listening audience. You know that's not what they were picturing. I know that because every time I meet a fan of the show in real life, they say, oh! At least I haven't outed you yet for being six-foot-seven. You're like Shaquille O'Neal minus the top hat. I have actually heard Katie say this out loud. She said, Sons out, guns out. Because of course the sun promotes gun violence.

That expression is about a completely different right to bear arms. Okay, all right. That's the bare knuckle round, everybody. Good points. Either side. It is time now for the firing line. In my hand, I have a list of questions on rain versus shine, brought to you by often overlooked character actor Beth Grant.

Beth was the only actor to appear in both Rain Man and Little Miss Sunshine. True story. Look it up. Vancouver's BC Brain Wellness Program says not only is sunlight our primary source of vitamin D, it also helps regulate our internal body clock and increases our what? Charles. Exposure to geriatric genitals at Rec Beach.

Enjoy that one, everyone listening to the radio. Enjoy that visual in your mind. Thanks, Charles. Katie Ellen. Sunlight increases your will to live. Yeah. It increases our endorphin levels. That's what I said.

Different words, yes. Destination Vancouver says some benefits of walking in the rain are, it helps you relax, it speeds up your metabolism, and what else? Charles? It makes you think about being 70% water. It does make you think, doesn't it, Charles? I'll give a point for that.

Destination Vancouver says some benefits of walking in the rain. It helps you relax. It speeds up your metabolism, and it brings out the kid in you. Timeout.com's list of the best 25 songs about rain includes Purple Rain by Prince, and singing in the Rain by Gene Kelly. What's number one? Katie Allen. That bare naked lady song about lying in bed like Brian Wilson did?

Not as many Gordon faces as I thought they'd be. It's good Canadian content though, I appreciate that. Charles? Make it Rain by Little Wayne? You guys aren't a rap crowd? The number one song about rain, according to Timeout.com, is Rain by The Beatles. by the Beatles. But they also had,

here comes the sun, so they're playing both sides. And that's the firing line, everybody. It is almost time for our fine North Van Centennial Theater audience to place their votes, but first, here again to state her sunny disposition

in favor of sunshine. Let's hear again from Katie Ellen Humphreys. To every life, some rain must fall. This famous line from Longfellow uses rain as an an apt metaphor for abject grief. Or as it's known in Vancouver, October through April.

And then again in June for some reason. The sun is the harbinger of everything on earth until the day that she explodes, ending her life and ours, like a pal. Rain is the uncle who comes to the family event with something you do technically need, but in the most annoying way possible, possible, and everyone pretends that it didn't spend all morning hoping he wouldn't show up.

Yes, tragically, too much sun can be fatal, but too much rain can make you want to move to Alberta. Thank you. Yeah, bringing it back around the old BC Alberta battle. Well played. Now, here to happily rain on Katie Ellen's parade. Let's hear again. from Charles Haycock. Rain is romantic, and I know because I've seen the notebook 11 times. It's everyone's favorite movie. Don't lie to yourself. And our favorite scene is after he builds her a house,

they rekindle their deep love, not by kissing in the sun with crusty, blistered lips, but by sloppily smooching in God's tears. That's what set my soul on fire at 14 years old when I'm I lied and said I was going to watch Spider-Man. I was never going to watch Spider-Man? Not with Ryan Gosling, who taught me to lose the love of my life,

but to win her back with construction. And I have lost the only women I ever loved, so I'm halfway there. Now I just have to build a house on a comedian's salary. Visit my GoFundMe at Charles is tired. You get the picture. Pray for rain. Thank you everybody. Charles, all right, audience.

It is time to vote by applause. Who loved that Charles simply couldn't be rained in with his rainy rapture Charles Haycock? Charles, okay. And who agreed with Katie Ellen that it should always be sunny in Vancouver and everywhere else? Katie Allen, Huffrage. It is very...

But we gotta give this one to Charles Haycock. Let it run for Charles Haycock. Well, that's all for this week. Steve Patterson saying when it rains, it pours, but I've never gotten a rainburn. I'll argue with you again soon, Canada. Good night. The Debaters is created by Richard Side. This week's episode was produced by Nicole Callender, Chloe Edbrook, Dean Jenkinson and Graham Clark. With continuity by Graham Clark, Diana Francis, and Gary Jones.

With technical production by James Ferrella and Keenan O'Connor. Story editing by Gary Jones. With special thanks to Katie Ellen Humphreys, David Pride, and Emily Ferrier. Executive producer of CBC Radio Comedy is Lee Pitts. And thanks to everyone at the Centennial Theater in North Vancouver. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca.ca slash podcasts.