By Callum Borchers

You've mocked them as mooches and mom's basement dwellers. They prefer the term "stay-at-home sons," and have a new hero in "Jeopardy" champion Brendan Liaw.

Liaw, 27, has a master's degree in political science and, judging by his quiz-show performances, an expansive knowledge of everything from the Middle Ages to pop music. He won $59,398 in three contests that aired last week.

He is also unemployed and lives with his parents. At his request, "Jeopardy" host Ken Jennings introduced him at the beginning of each episode as a "recent graduate and stay-at-home son."

"I figured even if I lost my first game, at least I could make people laugh," he says.

It worked. Liaw's self-deprecating humor made him an overnight legend on social media, where people say he is, like, pretty much living their dream, lol.

The phrase "stay-at-home son" was added to the Urban Dictionary in 2007 as an insult to be hurled at an unmotivated man-child. Lately, though, members of the generation that brought us " quiet quitting" and " lazy-girl jobs" have embraced the label as an ironic badge of honor.

This graduation season is likely to produce a whole lot of stay-at-home sons. The overall unemployment rate is 4.2%, but 8.2% of 20- to 24-year-olds are jobless. The unemployment rate for men in that age range is even worse, 9.6%.

I asked Liaw about his career prospects, trivia skills and living arrangement after his run on "Jeopardy."

On the Clock: How did you decide on the "stay-at-home son" moniker? You just finished grad school and were studying for the LSAT when you got the call for "Jeopardy," so you don't fit the stereotype of a grown man playing videogames in his childhood bedroom.

Liaw: It's tongue-in-cheek, and it sounds better than "unemployed." It's tough times right now, so let's try and get some laughter out there.

Did you use your time at home to put yourself through some kind of trivia boot camp before the show?

It was about a month of something like a "Rocky" montage with "Eye of the Tiger." I practiced with a buzzer, watching five episodes a day in a suit standing in my living room. I was doing cardio every day, getting on the stationary bike and watching an episode of "Jeopardy" to get my heart rate up.

To simulate the nerves of being on the show and having your heart race?

That was my intention. But no matter how much you prepare, walking onto the stage and having all the lights and cameras and Jennings and an audience -- there's no way to recreate that.

The "stay-at-home son" label seems to tap in to the trend of rejecting hustle culture . It's like you're saying, "I am not defined by professional success, and I don't care what anyone thinks about that."

I think that is more typical of my age cohort. My career doesn't really define me, and it should just be a thing where I'm OK with what I do and make enough to pay the bills.

What do you hope other stay-at-home sons take away from your success on "Jeopardy"?

It can get a little dark at times when you're just, like, what am I doing? I'm just here at home. I would tell people to keep the faith, hang in there. Maybe study for "Jeopardy."

There's a line of " Stay at Home Sons" apparel. Have you seen this?

No, but this is great. I might have to grab some gear.

The slogan on the hat is "Trust the Fund." I guess the fantasy is having so much generational wealth that you don't have to work. Is that your reality?

Hah, I'm not a trust-fund kid. My parents emigrated from Brunei. We're solidly middle-class, maybe even lower-middle. I wouldn't be comfortable just lounging around all day. I feel like at least I should be productive while I'm home.

What's next? Law school?

I don't know what's going to happen with all this "Jeopardy" stuff and newfound publicity. If something better comes along, I'm not opposed to shelving law school for a bit. In the long run, government work or politics. I wrote my master's thesis on the House of Representatives, and I really want to work on the Hill. Working in the Senate as a staffer would be my dream job, basically.

You did just win as much money as a lot of people earn in a year by playing a game show. That'll be hard to top.

Yeah, it's a pretty sweet gig. My three wins were all filmed in one day, so it was like $59,000 in 2 1/2 hours of work. That's a really good dollar-to-hour ratio.

I appreciate your making time to talk.

I'm still a stay-at-home son. I have all the time in the world.

Write to Callum Borchers at callum.borchers@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 27, 2025 21:00 ET (01:00 GMT)

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