Ep. 118: Yuppies 2 w/ Dylan Gottlieb

This week’s episode of Silent Generation revisits the subject of one of our most popular episodes: yuppies. These are the “young urban professionals” who flooded into finance, law, and politics during the 1980s. While the original episode on yuppies (Ep. 116: Yuppies) offered a comprehensive analysis of yuppie fashion, it neglected to address other important signifiers of yuppie taste like jogging and fine dining. 

 

To dive deeper into the topic, Nathan interviews college professor and historian Dylan Gottlieb about his recent book Yuppies: The Bankers, Lawyers, Joggers, and Gourmands Who Conquered New York. Nathan begins by asking Dylan about the inspiration behind the book and the story behind the “yuppie couple” featured on the cover. Dylan then offers insights into why deregulation (rather than individual greed) was responsible for the emergence of yuppies, why yuppies drew parallels between their arduous careers and the marathons that they ran, and why fine dining became such an important way for yuppies to express their identity and status.

 

Links:

Yuppies: The Bankers, Lawyers, Joggers, and Gourmands Who Conquered New York by Dylan Gottlieb

Dylan Gottlieb’s Website

Dylan Gottlieb’s Twitter

Making Cents Podcast

Artwork:

Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko and Daryl Hannah as Darien Taylor in Wall Street (1987)

from The Style of Wall Street by Victor Besnard

 

Recorded on 9/18/2026