Are Millennials Saddled With Student Debt Still Destined For Greatness?

Five stories that have North Texas talking: The future for Americans aged 15-31, environmentalists fear the Keystone XL Pipeline, a dating site for NPR listeners and more.

What factor could make or break the contributions of millennials? Hannah Seligson, author of Mission Adulthood, told Diane Rehm the situation for students in debt is a "true scandal" and an urgent issue for lawmakers. The average student loan debt has leapt to $27,000, according to Forbes. 

And Seligson understands the criticism of the 15-31 demographic as self-absorbed or entitled. "I mean, I think everyone has some story of some millennial who brought their mother on a job interview or who quit after there wasn't the right type of coffee in the machine," she said. 

KERA commentator Rawlins Gilliland doesn't buy that stereotype.He goes as far as to say millienials are the next "greatest generation," unstifled and unpoisoned by racial inequalities of his own childhood.

• "The only steady job on a dying planet will be mine." That's what a sign held by a man in costume as the grim reaper said yesterday, at a protest against the Keystone XL Pipeline in Washington, D.C. The pipeline, purposed to send crude oil from Canada to Texas refineries, was not mentioned by President Obama in his State of the Union speech. But the fate of XL rests in the hands of Congress now, not those of the White House.  [NY Times]

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• While you were considering climate science for laymen on Morning Edition en route to work, was "the one" also religiously tuned  in to 90.1? NPR has its lifestyle tentacles in food, music, and pop culture lite, but there's still no dating site dedicated to public radio listeners. San Francisco's KQED -- and 91 percent of public radiophiles who saw this post and voted -- think it's time. Gary Knell, president of NPR, says "it's a fantastic idea." Stations are already flirting with it. WNYC has hosted events for singles, like speed-dating nights, in swanky hotels. Pretty benign, yes? Except when you consider this response from KQED listener Alex Soros: "Perhaps this will allow for the creation of an uber-race of uber-nerdy Americans who will transform this country into a bastion of sanity." 

• The City of Dallas already told you its new motto is Big Things Happen Here. Like a gigantic Harlem Shake in Klyde Warren Park. This video of Saturday's public, um, display hit almost hit 67,000 views as of 9 a.m.  [Culture Map]

• There exists a "Disney mom." She can't turn a pumpkin into a carriage. But she can help you figure out that daunting trip to Disney World. The Dallas Morning News talked to a few of them for a Sunday Travel story.