The actual baby boom was nearly over by the time somebody first used the term "baby boom." It was quite a spike in births, and as the generation grew, so did the hopes for what its members could accomplish.
How'd they do? Not so great, says conservative essayist Helen Andrews. She matches the high hopes for and within the generation with actual accomplishments, and finds the accomplishments wanting. Andrews gives her view, good and hard, in the book Boomers: The Men and Women Who Promised Freedom and Delivered Disaster.
The author joined us for a visit in 2020, and we replay the interview here as part of our Thanksgiving holiday exploration of Exchange Exemplars.