Every generation swears up and down the generation after it is taking the world on a one-way trip to hell. Children of the Cold War Years, the Eisenhower Years, the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius Years were all single-handedly responsible for dragging life as we knew it straight into the dumpster.

So this episode of the Pop Chronicles deals with the World Of Youth circa 1960. It comes as part of a larger examination of the American family via the NBC Radio project Image America from April 6, 1960.

First off - it's heavy handed. Second; there are music beds that remind you of those really bad sex-education films. Third; it's a tad sexist and misogynistic (just like those years were). Okay - that's the downside.

The upside are the interviews and the observations. Yes, kids were just as screwed up then as now - just as screwed up as they ever were and ever will be. It goes along with the hormones and the impulses. It is timeless.

Remember, the kids in this documentary (and the kids in the picture above) are the same ones who are now your parents - or grandparents. Terrifying thought, I know. But if it's any comfort it signifies that it all does work out. Always has - always will. Whether you realize it or not.

In 1960 of course, we had no idea. In 2010 we still don't.

Listen with an open mind and a modicum of curiosity.