Axis Conversations

Latest Episodes:

Dr. Amy Adamczyk on The Scientifically Proven Influence of Parents Apr 14, 2026

Show notes

Amy Amy Adamczykis Professor of Sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Programs of Doctoral Study in Sociology and Criminal Justice at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. Trained as a sociologist of religion, her research focuses on how different contexts (such as nations, counties, friendship groups), and personal religious beliefs shape people's deviant, moral, and health-related attitudes and behaviors. We'll be talking today primarily about the findings from her book Handing Down the Faith.

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Roundtable: The Night We Met, Pimple Patches, and Super Mario Apr 10, 2026

Show notes

Three Big Conversations:

The Night We Met is BookTok's latest darling - 6:30
teenagers are wearing pimple patches in public - 20:16
Super Mario Galaxy brought tweens to the box office on Easter weekend - 28:16

Slang of the Week - "Clipped" - 1:58

In Other News: - 41:34

A squishy stress-relieving toy has taken over the internet, and they are sold out everywhere. It's safe to say that teens and tweens are obsessed. Olivia Rodrigo announced her first single from the album is called "drop dead" and will be out on April 17. Anticipation is building for I Have Proof, a new horror movie that will be recording on old VHS tapes. The filmmaker purchased 30 tapes from eBay and recorded the movie over people's old home movies—feel old yet? RAYE's new album, "THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE." is all about how faith in God pulled the singer out of darkness. The show might be over, but the movie is still ahead of us. The Summer I Turned Pretty will begin filming in Wilmington on April 27.

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CT: The Night We Met, Pimple Patches, and Super Mario Apr 09, 2026

Show notes

The Night We Met is BookTok's latest darling, teenagers are wearing pimple patches in public, and Super Mario Galaxy brought tweens to the box office on Easter weekend.

Slang of the Week - "Clipped"

In Other News:

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→ Check out the podcast now on our YouTube Channel!

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Ask Axis: "How do I help my daughters decide which influences (and influencers) to embrace?" Apr 07, 2026

Show notes

"Thanks for your awesome content. As a father of 3 girls in a hybrid homeschool setting (they are in a classroom two days a week), we are fairly sheltered from outside influences/influencers. I would love practical advice on how and when to guide my girls in developing good judgement and discernment regarding which influences to embrace and which to ignore." - Matthew

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Roundtable: 90s Fashion Boom, Meaningmaxxing, and Easter Apr 03, 2026

Show notes

Three Big Conversations:

Teens are inspired by the fashion in Love Story - 08:22
Everybody, everywhere is maxxing - 21:34
The meaning of Easter might feel lost somewhere in the baskets and plastic grass - 37:28

Song of the Week - "Babydoll" by Dominic Fike - 02:50

→ Click here for the lyrics

In Other News: - 54:16

If you thought the popularity of KPop Demon Hunters wouldn't survive into 2026, look no further than your local McDonald's, which has Huntr/x and Saja Boys themed meals (and a Derpy the Tiger McFlurry). With the Artemis II mission, NASA is sending astronauts to the moon for the first time since the Apollo missions (over 50 years ago!). The four astronauts won't land on Luna, just journey around it, but it's an exciting moment, as the prep, launch, and journey are all livestreamed and accessible for those curious. An AI fruit-themed take on reality shows like Love Island has surged in popularity in the last few weeks, with videos getting tens of millions of views on TikTok. Teens are "mallmaxxing" as young people are driving an in-person shopping comeback, including, yes, malls. YouTube is rolling out a survey asking users if what they watched felt like "AI slop." It could be a way for YouTube to enforce its own AI policy, or, as some have hypothesized, it could be a way for Google to train its own AI video models for free.

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CT: 90s Fashion Boom, Meaningmaxxing, and Easter Apr 02, 2026

Show notes

Teens are inspired by the fashion in Love Story, everybody, everywhere, is maxxing, and the meaning of Easter might feel lost somewhere in the baskets and plastic grass.

Song of the Week - "Babydoll" by Dominic Fike

→ Click here for the lyrics

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.

"How to Talk to Your Teen About Video Games" with CJ Fant Mar 31, 2026

Show notes

CJ Fant is one of our own team members at Axis. As basically our resident gaming aficionado, I wanted to bring CJ on to talk about how parents can understand this medium a little better and enter into some intentional conversation around video games with the next generation.

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

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Roundtable: Epic Layoffs, the Gen Z Pout, and BTS Returns Mar 27, 2026

Show notes

Three Big Conversations:

Epic Games lays off 1,000 employees - 04:31
Gen Z is posing like a platypus - 15:61
BTS releases their first album since 2020 - 43:24

Resource of the Week - The Pour Over - 02:21

In Other News: - 55:50

It's sequel season for Kirsten Dunst. The actress just signed on for the untitled Minecraft movie sequel and The Housemaid 2 alongside Sydney Sweeney. The actress said in an interview with Town and Country that she just wants to make a "pile of cash." A new Chappell Roan drama is trending after a claim that her security guard yelled at Jude Law's 11-year-old daughter at a hotel in Brazil. Roan says the guard wasn't with her team and that she never even saw what happened, but the internet has already turned it into a round of who's to blame. Sora, OpenAI's video app, is on the chopping block. The company is shutting it down, and Disney has walked away from its billion-dollar plan to put its characters in Sora clips after months of pushback over deepfakes, consent, and AI slop in entertainment. Chuck Norris, the martial arts star behind Walker, Texas Ranger, has died at 86. His family says he passed away on March 19 in Hawaii after a medical emergency. People are saying goodbye by bringing the classic "Chuck Norris facts" jokes as a way to honor the icon who inspired them. ABC has pulled Taylor Frankie Paul's upcoming season of The Bachelorette,, and Hulu has paused filming on the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, after a domestic violence video involving Paul and her ex, Dakota Mortensen, resurfaced.

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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.

CT: Epic Layoffs, the Gen Z Pout, and BTS Returns Mar 26, 2026

Show notes

Epic Games lays off 1,000 employees, Gen Z is posing like a platypus, and BTS releases their first album since 2020.

Resource of the Week - The Pour Over

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 (ft. Dr. Kara Powell): "How do I help my teen make their faith their own?" Mar 24, 2026

Show notes

"My kids go to church because that is what we do as a family. They know God is good and Jesus is the Messiah because of what they have been taught and how my husband and I center our lives on Jesus. But how can I encourage them to seek a personal relationship with the Lord that isn't built on what they've done all their lives and been told? To instead, build it out of an independent, self-driven desire to know the God of all creation? How can I help them from deconstructing their faith in the future when they are out on their own and encounter questions set out to attack their belief?" - Tana

Kara is the Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute, the founder of the TENx10 Collaboration, and the Chief of Leadership Formation at Fuller Theological Seminary. Her team has been doing some groundbreaking research on who Gen Alpha is and how faith formation looks different for this new rising generation.

→ Listen to Kara's Interview Episode

→ Check out Fuller's Research and Resources

🎧 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.