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.

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"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

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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.

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