SAINT revisits his teenage years through history, popular culture and his own formative experiences, exploring how masculinity, shame, fear and faith shaped the person he became - until his search for answers leads him into the Teenage Dream.

teenage dream (2024-25)

Episodes

1 | “hell on earth”
SAINT looks back on the hell that was secondary school, revisiting the awkwardness, embarrassment and strange experience of seeing the person you used to be.

2 | “the birth of the teenager”
Where did the teenager come from? From the Second World War to Hollywood and mass consumer culture, SAINT traces how teenagehood became a distinct social identity - and how our ideas about youth were created.
3a | “boys will be boys"
SAINT examines British lad culture and the freedom young men are often given to rebel, experiment and make mistakes - asking what it really means to be allowed to be young.
3b | “mandem will be mandem"
Turning to Black British masculinity, SAINT examines “mandem culture” and the expectations placed on Black boys - asking who gets the freedom to experiment with identity and who is expected to get it right.
4 | “mirror mirror"
Why can looking at your younger self make you cringe? SAINT returns to old memories and past versions of himself to understand how embarrassment, shame and other people’s perceptions can change the way we see who we were.
5 | “wet dreamz"
After a dream sends him back to secondary school, SAINT explores how the fears and insecurities of adolescence can become the beliefs we carry into adulthood - and what it might take to finally wake up.
6a | “101"
SAINT turns to Christianity, original sin and the story of Adam and Eve to explore how ideas of guilt, salvation and human imperfection shaped the way he learned to understand himself.
6b | “99 ½"
As Saint confronts his relationship with religion, reality begins to crack and he enters the Teenage Dream.
7 | “jump the shark"
On 'teenage dream: the aftershow', SAINT looks back at his search for the Teenage Dream.  Having finally made it inside the dream, there’s only one question left: what does he dream about now?