Young people have been part of every major social movement in US history, from the American Revolution to the civil rights movement and beyond. For today’s show, guest host Nan Enstad talks to Dawson Barrett, a history professor and self-identified “cheerleader for anyone who’s raising trouble.” They spend the hour exploring the rich history of teen activism—including recent youth movements around climate change, gun violence, and the teacher strikes—and urging adults to take student protest seriously.

Dawson Barrett is assistant professor of US history at Del Mar College. He is the author of Teenage Rebels: Successful High School Activists from the Little Rock Nine to the Class of Tomorrow (Microcosm Publishing, 2015) and The Defiant: Protest Movements in Post-Liberal America (New York University Press, 2018).