Philip Bump is a national columnist for The Washington Post. Prior to that, he led politics coverage for The Atlantic Wire. He focuses on the data behind polls and political rhetoric, as well as writing a weekly newsletter, “How To Read This Chart.” 

His first book, THE AFTERMATH: THE LAST DAYS OF THE BABY BOOM AND THE FUTURE OF POWER IN AMERICA, looks at the overlap of the end of the baby boom and the upheaval in American politics and the U.S. economy.

After our interview with Philip Bump, we share excerpts from a conversation with former Congresswoman, Pat Schroeder, from 2014 at the Library of Congress.

At the age of 31 and the mother of two young children, she defeated an incumbent Republican congressman in 1972, and then was re-elected 11 more times before leaving Congress in 1997, disgusted with the obstructionist shenanigans of Newt Gingrich. In 1988 she ran for president of the United States.

Born in 1940, she would be designated as being in The Silent Generation, but she was anything but silent. It was she, who designated Ronald Reagan as the “Teflon President.” She served on the House Armed Services Committee, and you may be surprised by what she has to say about NATO. The final excerpt is from the end of an hour long conversation, responding to a question from the audience asking if she were president, what five things would she do immediately.

She died on March 13, 2023 at the age of 82.

Women’s History Month: Former Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder, Presidential Candidate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MI_bpROH9c

Climate change is the legacy of people over the age of 60. That’s why we must protest https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/27/older-people-climate-protest-banks-ipcc

‘We have money and power’: older Americans to blockade banks in climate protest https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/19/climate-crisis-protest-environment-third-act-bill-mckibben

Millennials overtake Baby Boomers as America’s largest generation https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/28/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers-as-americas-largest-generation/

In Montana, It’s Youth vs. the State in a Landmark Climate Case https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/climate/montana-youth-climate-lawsuit.html

Patricia Schroeder, Feminist Force in Congress, Dies at 82 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/obituaries/pat-schroeder-dead.html

Gordon E. Moore, Intel Co-Founder Behind Moore’s Law, Dies at 94 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/technology/gordon-moore-dead.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Obituaries

The Global Transformation of Christianity Is Here https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/opinion/christianity-global-demographics.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Guest%20Essays