Three Big Conversations:

1. TikTok has a new US owner, which users worry is muddying the platform's approach to censorship. - 10:16
2. Data shows that sad and angsty songs are ruling the streaming charts. - 29:28
3. It's official: our algorithms are making us lonelier. - 40:12

Emoji of the Week: 🙂 - 01:19

Axis Resource--> Check out A Parent's Guide to Emoji

In Other News: - 52:04

Last week, Alex Honnold free-soloed Taipei 101 live on Netflix, with roughly 6.2 million people watching him climb a 1,667-foot skyscraper without a rope. The 2026 Oscar nominations dropped last week, with director Ryan Coogler's horror-thriller Sinners receiving a record-breaking 16 nominations. Speaking of awards season, after a long hiatus, Justin Bieber is slated to return to the Grammys stage this Sunday night. Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal on Monday to apologize for his antisemitic comments and psychotic behavior. Athleisure is out for 2026. Some Gen Z creators are leaning into vintage (meaning 90s and early 2000s) sportswear and putting their matching workout sets out to pasture.

--> Become a monthly donor today, join the Table.

--> Check out the podcast now on our YouTube Channel!

--> Get your question on Ask Axis! Send in your questions to [email protected].

--> For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

TikTok has a new US owner, which users worry is muddying the platform's approach to censorship; data shows that sad and angsty songs are ruling the streaming charts, and it's official: our algorithms are making us lonelier.

Emoji of the Week: 🙂

Axis Resource--> Check out A Parent's Guide to Emoji

In Other News:

Last week, Alex Honnold free-soloed Taipei 101 live on Netflix, with roughly 6.2 million people watching him climb a 1,667-foot skyscraper without a rope. The 2026 Oscar nominations dropped last week, with director Ryan Coogler's horror-thriller Sinners receiving a record-breaking 16 nominations. Speaking of awards season, after a long hiatus, Justin Bieber is slated to return to the Grammys stage this Sunday night. Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal on Monday to apologize for his antisemitic comments and psychotic behavior. Athleisure is out for 2026. Some Gen Z creators are leaning into vintage (meaning 90s and early 2000s) sportswear and putting their matching workout sets out to pasture.

--> Become a monthly donor today, join the Table.

--> Check out the podcast now on our YouTube Channel!

--> Get your question on Ask Axis! Send in your questions to [email protected].

--> For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

Jenna is a writer and content creator based in Orange County, California. She works at Axis as a content specialist. She is currently working on a Master's in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care at Talbot School of Theology. She also runs a Substack publication called "Jenna's Column" where she writes about faith from a Gen Z perspective. In her free time she loves to read (preferably at the beach) and hang out with her husband Parker and their cat, Dolly.

Check out our updated Parent's Guide to Teen Slang

Become a monthly donor today, join the Table.

Check out the podcast now on our YouTube Channel!

Get your question on Ask Axis! Send in your questions to [email protected].

For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

Three Big Conversations:

1. Nostalgia for 2016 hits social media. - 8:54
2. Some hopeful, if complicated, mental health statistics about college students. - 24:40
3. Teens would rather send a voice note than make a phone call. - 38:08

Slang of the Week - Ragebait - 1:48

In Other News: - 54:22

The Indiana Hoosiers won an electrifying College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday, punctuated by an iconic, fourth-down touchdown run from Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza. BookTok's beloved People We Meet on Vacation, an Emily Henry book-to-movie adaptation, has debuted at No.1 on the Netflix film chart with 17.2m views. A new trend on TikTok involves impersonating owls. "Bringing random items to school" is a TikTok trend where kids pull increasingly unhinged objects out of their backpacks purely for laughs. The tremendous success of a stationery store in Chicago is being hailed as indicative of the "return to analog" trend, as the popularity of journals, calligraphy, and sending snail mail letters surges.

Become a monthly donor today, join the Table.

Check out the podcast now on our YouTube Channel!

Get your question on Ask Axis! Send in your questions to [email protected].

For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

Nostalgia for 2016 hits social media, some hopeful, if complicated, mental health statistics about college students, and teens would rather send a voice note than make a phone call.

Slang of the Week - Ragebait

In Other News:

The Indiana Hoosiers won an electrifying College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday, punctuated by an iconic, fourth-down touchdown run from Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza. BookTok's beloved People We Meet on Vacation, an Emily Henry book-to-movie adaptation, has debuted at No.1 on the Netflix film chart with 17.2m views. A new trend on TikTok involves impersonating owls. "Bringing random items to school" is a TikTok trend where kids pull increasingly unhinged objects out of their backpacks purely for laughs. The tremendous success of a stationery store in Chicago is being hailed as indicative of the "return to analog" trend, as the popularity of journals, calligraphy, and sending snail mail letters surges.

Become a monthly donor today, join the Table.

Check out the podcast now on our YouTube Channel!

Get your question on Ask Axis! Send in your questions to [email protected].

For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

A question on "camp skits not aging well." Libby asks, "We generally have just substituted current pop culture references into old skits to bring them up to date. But it's so necessary right now to help kids engage with culture instead of vilifying it. A recent skit we were planning made it seem like the student was nailing Jesus to the cross by going to a party, hanging out with friends instead of staying home with Jesus—and we want our kids to socialize with real people more! But we are also finding way more extreme drug and alcohol content at parties for the kids who do socialize IRL. How to navigate?" - Libby

This podcast is entirely Q&A based! Send in your questions to [email protected].

Check out the podcast now on our YouTube Channel!

Become a monthly donor today, join the Table.

And for more resources, go to axis.org.

Three Big Conversations:

1. Gen Z heads to trade school en masse - 05:14
2. The controversy around Grok's creation of deepfake images - 21:26
3. Fiber is the new protein - 42:00

Slang of the Week: "Choppelganger" - 20:20

--> Check out the definition in our resource The Parent Guide to Teen Slang

In Other News: - 55:06

Harry Styles just dropped a mysterious website called WeBelongTogether.co filled with crowd footage and the words "We belong together," and fans are losing their minds trying to decode what it means. The year in anime is kicking off with a bang, with new episodes of popular on-going shows like Jujutsu Keisen, Freiren: Beyond Journey's End, Fire Force, and premieres of highly anticipated newcomers like Sentenced to Be a Hero. The Golden Globes awards declared KPop Demon Hunters 2025's best animated film, and Gen Z favorite Timothée Chalamet won best actor for his turn in Marty Supreme. Survey data from Talker Research found that 63% of Gen Z now intentionally carves out screen-free windows in their days, a higher percentage than any other generation. Popular comedian and influencer Druski has been bouncing around the internet this week because of his skit poking fun at (or perhaps critiquing) the over-the-top production and performative pastors of some mega-churches.

Become a monthly donor today, join the Table.

Check out the podcast now on our YouTube Channel!

Click to check out The Pour Over

Get your question on Ask Axis! Send in your questions to [email protected].

For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

Gen Z heads to trade school en masse, fiber is the new protein, and the controversy around Grok's creation of deepfake images.

Slang of the Week: "Choppelganger"

--> Check out the defenition in our resource The Parent Guide to Teen Slang

In Other News:

Harry Styles just dropped a mysterious website called WeBelongTogether.co filled with crowd footage and the words "We belong together," and fans are losing their minds trying to decode what it means. The year in anime is kicking off with a bang, with new episodes of popular on-going shows like Jujutsu Keisen, Freiren: Beyond Journey's End, Fire Force, and premieres of highly anticipated newcomers like Sentenced to Be a Hero. The Golden Globes awards declared KPop Demon Hunters 2025's best animated film, and Gen Z favorite Timothée Chalamet won best actor for his turn in Marty Supreme. Survey data from Talker Research found that 63% of Gen Z now intentionally carves out screen-free windows in their days, a higher percentage than any other generation. Popular comedian and influencer Druski has been bouncing around the internet this week because of his skit poking fun at (or perhaps critiquing) the over-the-top production and performative pastors of some mega-churches.

Become a monthly donor today, join the Table.

Check out the podcast now on our YouTube Channel!

Click to check out The Pour Over

Get your question on Ask Axis! Send in your questions to [email protected].

For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

"I recently had a conversation with my teen son about how words he (and everyone else) uses regularly were not considered ok when I was growing up. Can you speak to how language has changed and what is and isn't acceptable? I generally go back to the Bible saying not to use coarse or filthy language (Ephesians and Colossians) when redirecting him but when everyone is using it maybe it's not how I view it anymore? We also discussed how much more we're exposed, essentially desensitizing us. When you're looking at reels or shorts you can't tell if it's coming. I think I said something along the lines of, "My phone is always swearing at me!" My family says I'm sensitive but it just bothers me where we are now. Why can't we just use appropriate language? And is there a good way to handle this?" - Christal

Click Here --> A Parent's Guide to Profanity

This podcast is entirely Q&A based! Send in your questions to [email protected].

Become a monthly donor today, join the Table.

And for more resources, go to axis.org.

Three Big Conversations:

1. Stranger Things star Joe Keery's synthpop song tops the charts - 12:55
2. Sushi is the new pizza for Gen Alpha - 22:46
3. the Great Meme Reset that wasn't.- 31:18

Slang of the Week: "Flow State"- 5:16

In Other News: - 39:06

Mr. Beast's competition show Beast Games is back on Amazon Prime this week. The twist this time? Brains versus brawn. Will Mr. Beast commit more war crimes? Tune in to find out. The French parliament has proposed a bill that, if passed, would ban social media access for everyone under age fifteen, and ban phones from all schools. TikTok's New Year trend is punch cards for resolutions, making goals feel tangible and within reach. Now that they're all back from South Korea's mandatory military service, the K-pop band BTS has officially announced their fifth album, which is set to be released on March 20th. Videos saying "Your sign to not bring your boyfriend with you to watch The Housemaid" are drawing attention to an explicit scene with Sydney Sweeney and the male lead, Brandon Sklenar.

Become a monthly donor today, join the Table.

Get your question on Ask Axis! Send in your questions to [email protected].

For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.