Axis Conversations

Latest Episodes:

CT: Pokémon Cards, Punch the Monkey, and Family Resilience Feb 26, 2026

Show notes

A Pokémon card sells for $16.4 million, Barna research sheds light on the three things resilient families prioritize, and everyone seems to relate to an abandoned monkey in a Japanese zoo.

Resource of the Week - Conversation Starter - YouTube Video

In Other News..

USA hockey set viewership records at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, with both men's and women's teams winning gold, setting hockey up to hang on to its place as the fourth most-followed sport in the US—at least, until the FIFA World Cup in Los Angeles enters the chat. The so-called "boy blush" trend is gaining traction, with artists like Sangwon and Bad Bunny wearing noticeable blush on major stages, and teen boys increasingly experimenting with makeup as part of their personal style. A TikTok meme called "baby boo" started with people dancing to a clip that repeats "she gon' call me baby boo" and has since morphed into users calling it "baby boo syndrome." Eric Dane, known for his roles in Grey's Anatomy and Euphoria, passed away on February 19, one year after announcing his ALS diagnosis. Since then, TikTok has filled with edits of his most emotional scenes. At the BAFTA film awards, a guest with Tourette's syndrome involuntarily shouted a racial slur while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were onstage. The moment sparked conversations about the real harm that racial slurs carry for Black people, alongside questions about the awareness around Tourette's and the responsibility of live broadcasting.

→ Click here to check out the Pour Over Newsletter

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Ask Axis: "How do I talk to my teens about the sanctity of marriage after my divorce?" Feb 24, 2026

Show notes

"I struggle to find reputable, biblically based resources from a child of divorce POV - specifically navigating through talking about the sanctity of marriage when I'm speaking from a place of separation myself (and keeping parent's "adult issues" out of it so I never want my kids to think our problems have anything to do with them). I know one of the first questions my teen will ask will involve "...but you and Dad didn't stay married," or some version of that. It would be great to hear a podcast speaking about this topic!" - Jacquie

Brand New Axis Resource → How To Talk About Divorce With Your Teen

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→ This podcast is entirely Q&A based! Send in your questions to ask@axis.org.

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Roundtable: Wuthering Heights, AI Smart Glasses, and the SEU Outpouring Feb 20, 2026

Show notes

Three Big Conversations:

Southeastern University cancels class to pray and worship Jesus. - 07:54
"Smart glasses" with AI take creepiness to a new level. - 17:14
What parents should know about the new Wuthering Heights movie. - 29:10

Slang of the Week: lowkenuinely - 01:11

In Other News: - 42:08

Sony Animation Studios (the team behind Into the Spider-Verse and KPop Demon Hunters) has a new animated film called GOAT, starring Stranger Things' Caleb McLaughlin and NBA star Stephen Curry. A new video game in the "Roguelite" genre called Mewgenics had an incredibly successful release last week, but parents should know the game features a lot of questionable—even sacreligious—content. A new TikTok account called @DanySlicer started with two short videos of a man whose face is obscured in shadow. Inexplicably, both videos got millions of views, and many started referring to this completely silent character as the "internet's new villain." Netflix is diving into mixed martial arts, kicking off with a fight between two pioneering and sometimes controversial fighters, Gina Carano and Ronda Rousey. This month on our podcast we explored romantasy and the question many parents are asking: Why are teens and adults so drawn to fantasy and romance novels? Check it out here, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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→ For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

CT: Wuthering Heights, AI Smart Glasses, and the SEU Outpouring Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

Southeastern University cancels class to pray and worship Jesus, "smart glasses" with AI take creepiness to a new level, and what parents should know about the new Wuthering Heights movie.

Slang of the Week: lowkenuinely

In Other News:

🎧 Listen / Follow / Connect

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→ Check out the podcast now on our YouTube Channel!

→ Get your question on Ask Axis! Send in your questions to ask@axis.org.

→ For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

Big Conversation: What's the deal with dark romance? Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

The Big Conversation:

This month we're focusing on relationships, and we're tackling a question many parents are asking: "Why are teens and adults so drawn to romantasy books?"

Axis Resources → A Parent's Guide to Teen Dating

→ A Conversation Kit on Dating

→ A Parent's Guide to Kicking Off the Sex Talk

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→ Check out the podcast now on our YouTube Channel!

→ Get your question on Ask Axis! Send in your questions to ask@axis.org.

→ For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

Roundtable: Chicken Banana, OpenClaw, and Bad Bunny Feb 13, 2026

Show notes

Three Big Conversations:

The hills are alive with the sound of kids saying "chicken, banana," - 14:38
A new AI tool called OpenClaw has an iron grasp on data - 20:20
Backlash took center stage after Bad Bunny's halftime show. - 49:04

Song of the Week: "The Great Divide" - Noah Kahan - 01:16

Click here to read the lyrics.

In Other News.. - 1:04:02

James Van Der Beek passed away this week after battling colorectal cancer. Best known for his role as Dawson Leery on Dawson's Creek, he helped define late 90s teen drama, and his legacy continues through streaming nostalgia and even one of the internet's earliest viral reaction GIFs. At a congressional hearing last week, self-driving car company Waymo admitted that sometimes its cars are being remote-controlled by workers based in the Philippines. An emerging star of the 2026 Winter Olympics is American figure skater Alysa Liu, who won gold and then promptly broke her medal. Cool guys have bangs now, according to GQ. Fellas are trading the long-popular long-on the-top, short-on-the sides haircut for softer, more lived-in fringe. This weekend, the long-awaited, R-rated adaptation of the gothic romance novel Wuthering Heights will hit 3,600 screens and is projected to hit $50 million on its opening weekend.

Axis Resource → A Parent's Guide to Talking About Hell

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→ For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

CT: Chicken Banana, OpenClaw, and Bad Bunny Feb 12, 2026

Show notes

The hills are alive with the sound of kids saying "chicken, banana," a new AI tool called OpenClaw has an iron grasp on data, and backlash took center stage after Bad Bunny's halftime show.

Song of the Week: "The Great Divide" - Noah Kahan

Click here to read the lyrics.

In Other News..

🎧 Listen / Follow / Connect

→ 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 ask@axis.org.

→ For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

Ask Axis: "My 14-year-old is in the 'talking stage' with four girls. What should I do?" Feb 10, 2026

Show notes

"Today's teens, especially those who are too young to drive, enter what they call "talking stages," which seem to be a substitute for dating. It's basically a stream of conciousness texting session with one another. I have a 14 year old son. Girls are coming out of the wood work trying to enter a "talking stage" with him. Right now he is talking to 4 girls. He has decided he really likes one of these girls. So the question is, should he continue talking to the other girls, or let them know that he really likes someone other than them? What he has done is ghost the other girls, he simply doesn't answer their texts; this doesn't feel right. What do you think the right way is to handle the situation? I have no idea where girls are getting his number but every week someone new is texting him out of the blue. It usually starts with, "I thought you were cute so I asked for your number." To me this is also concerning. I think the type of girls he should be looking for are not the ones chasing boys." - Michelle

Axis Resource → A Parent's Guide to Teen Dating

Axis Resource → A Conversation Kit on Dating

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→ 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 ask@axis.org.

→ For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

Roundtable: The Super Bowl, The Grammys, and Etsy Witches Feb 06, 2026

Show notes

Three Big Conversations:

The Grammys offered a chaotic celebration of modern music. - 8:08
"Etsy witches" are getting kicked off of Etsy. - 21:12
Sports betting looms large over Super Bowl LX this Sunday. - 35:06

Song of the Week: "Aperture" by Harry Styles -1:25

Click here for the lyrics.

In Other News: - 53:08

"She's free" is a TikTok trend where friends line up, clap and shine phone flashlights as someone walks a celebratory runway after a breakup. The 2026 Winter Olympics in the Italian cities of Milano and Cortina begin today. If the 2024 Summer Olympics were any indication, teens will probably be fascinated by the athletes and their respective social media presences. A new platform called Moltbook is designed to be a Reddit-style social media forum for AI bots to publicly chat with each other. The Lunar New Year is coming up soon, which brings a new Chinese zodiac. 2026 is the year of the Fire Horse, and people on TikTok are freaking out about it. Iron Lung, a sci-fi horror film that stars YouTuber Markiplier (who also wrote, directed, and financed it), was a surprise box office success that almost beat Disney's Send Help in its opening weekend.

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→ 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 ask@axis.org.

→ For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

CT: The Super Bowl, The Grammys, and Etsy Witches Feb 05, 2026

Show notes

The Grammys offered a chaotic celebration of modern music, "Etsy witches" are getting kicked off of Etsy, and sports betting looms large over Super Bowl LX this Sunday.

Song of the Week: "Aperture" by Harry Styles

Click here for the lyrics.

In Other News:

🎧 Listen / Follow / Connect

→ 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 ask@axis.org.

→ For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.