Axis Conversations

CT: That's AI, The End of Oak Street, and Student Literacy Rates

Axis Conversations

Show Notes

Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor debut their new dinosaur movie, "that's AI" is the ultimate burn from Gen Alpha, and how one teacher found a way to get his students reading again. Resource of the Week: Podcast Episode - How to Do What We Do → Click here to listen to our episode on: Educating Humans in the Age of AI (with Professor Jeffrey Bilbro) In Other News: This week in AI: In light of concerns about romantic involvement with chatbots, "ChatGPT for Teens" is being marketed as a homework helper that limits "the emotional and intimate exchanges between young people and AI." Robbie Torney from Common Sense Media argues that we should remain cautious until we have actual evidence that these features have been turned off. This week in dopamine: South Korean websites like "Dopamine Shop" and "FoodNeverComes" allow users to "pay" for clothes or food, and still feel like they're getting "retail therapy," without having to spend any money (because the products aren't real). This week in arson: "Prediction market" Polymarket has enabled users to bet on the outcome of wildfires, which historian Jamie Pietruska rightly labels as a "perverse incentive." This week in fabric: The word "polyester" has become a new way for Gen Z to call something out as low-quality or cheap. But you know what's worse than that? Wool and linen, woven together. This week in fabric, again: An article in Teen Vogue suggests that "poetcore" (aka Dark Academia's "cozier, more relaxed cousin") and "vintage 90s mall fashion" will be some of the biggest fashion trends this semester. On a completely unrelated note, here's The Guardian on how social media has "automated individual taste into oblivion." 🎧 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 [email protected]. → For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

More from Axis Conversations

Oct 23, 2026

Cars are (briefly) flying, teens who engage with their faith wrestle more with hard topics, and why championing a female winner's gender might not inspire more girls to compete. Slang of the Week - "Diff" In Other News: The Nathan Fielder documentary feature film You Can See Everything, focusing on disgraced (and convicted) Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, is the darling of critics and fans alike, boasting nearly perfect scores on Metacritic, Rotten Tomatoes, and the user-review app Letterboxd (possible language in user reviews). Electronic Arts is shutting down Bioware, the once-revered game studio that arguably defined the modern role-playing genre with iconic and influential games like Baldur's Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Mass Effect. Youth baseball is becoming even more expensive, as MLB styles, complete with things like gold chains and custom gloves, are becoming the standard. Paying five figures for a travel league is just the beginning now (exasperated tone). Popular YouTube crew Dude Perfect is entering into an official partnership with Disney, with some of their existing content coming to Disney+ and exclusive content being planned around Avengers Doomsday, Star Wars, and even the Super Bowl. The reign of the gummy could be at an end, with the rather dystopian-sounding "supplement strips" rising in popularity. Fans argue the strips are easier to take than pills and have less sugar than gummies. 🎧 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 [email protected]. → For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

Oct 22, 2026

Three Big Conversations: Cars are (briefly) flying- 04:12 teens who engage with their faith wrestle more with hard topics- 12:14 why championing a female winner's gender might not inspire more girls to compete.- 25:58 Slang of the Week - "Diff" - 00:56 In Other News: - 37:24 The Nathan Fielder documentary feature film You Can See Everything, focusing on disgraced (and convicted) Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, is the darling of critics and fans alike, boasting nearly perfect scores on Metacritic, Rotten Tomatoes, and the user-review app Letterboxd (possible language in user reviews). Electronic Arts is shutting down Bioware, the once-revered game studio that arguably defined the modern role-playing genre with iconic and influential games like Baldur's Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Mass Effect. Youth baseball is becoming even more expensive, as MLB styles, complete with things like gold chains and custom gloves, are becoming the standard. Paying five figures for a travel league is just the beginning now (exasperated tone). Popular YouTube crew Dude Perfect is entering into an official partnership with Disney, with some of their existing content coming to Disney+ and exclusive content being planned around Avengers Doomsday, Star Wars, and even the Super Bowl. The reign of the gummy could be at an end, with the rather dystopian-sounding "supplement strips" rising in popularity. Fans argue the strips are easier to take than pills and have less sugar than gummies. 🎧 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 [email protected]. → For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

Oct 20, 2026

Jenna Riemersma is a certified IFS (or Internal Family Systems) therapist and IFS clinical consultant. She is the best-selling author of Altogether You and IFS Integration, and the developer of the Move Toward shorthand tool for IFS therapy. We'll be talking today about her book Move Toward: A Simplified IFS Therapy Tool to Welcome All Parts of You. 🎧 Listen / Follow / Connect → This podcast is entirely Q&A based! Send in your questions to [email protected]. → 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.

Oct 16, 2026

Three Big Conversations: PlayStation 5 consoles cost more than they ever have - 13:34 girls-only flag football leagues are taking root nationwide 20:54 the surprising reason tech employees are taking up smoking. - 29:55 Song of the Week: "Boston" by Stella Lefty - 00:48 In Other News: - 40:34 The first trailer for Greta Gerwig's film adaptation of C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew, featuring Led Zeppelin and multi-colored, psychedelic visuals, is available for all to see (and have divided opinions about). Have you heard "Higher" by Creed more in the past two years than you ever did in the 2000s? Apparently Instagram was suggesting the song too much. We'll let you decide whether this was a genuine software bug or an intentional Creed psyop. Dressmaker, a video game about, well, making dresses, is the talk of the (internet) town this week. Even if consoles are getting more expensive, wholesome indie "cozy games" that run on your pre-COVID laptop will never die. Speaking of wholesome, "bloomscrolling," an awkwardly named counterpoint to doomscrolling, is catching on. The goal is to fill your feed with "uplifting, calming, or inspiring content." Will this make you feel better than doomscrolling? Probably. Would it be better to just go experience those things in person? Also probably. Mike Flanagan's television adaptation of Carrie has dominated Prime Video's streaming charts this week. It's a modern take on the twisted coming-of-age story and doesn't pull its punches with language and intense depictions of bullying. 🎧 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 [email protected]. → For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

Oct 16, 2026

PlayStation 5 consoles cost more than they ever have, girls-only flag football leagues are taking root nationwide, and the surprising reason tech employees are taking up smoking. Song of the Week: "Boston" by Stella Lefty In Other News: The first trailer for Greta Gerwig's film adaptation of C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew, featuring Led Zeppelin and multi-colored, psychedelic visuals, is available for all to see (and have divided opinions about). Have you heard "Higher" by Creed more in the past two years than you ever did in the 2000s? Apparently Instagram was suggesting the song too much. We'll let you decide whether this was a genuine software bug or an intentional Creed psyop. Dressmaker, a video game about, well, making dresses, is the talk of the (internet) town this week. Even if consoles are getting more expensive, wholesome indie "cozy games" that run on your pre-COVID laptop will never die. Speaking of wholesome, "bloomscrolling," an awkwardly named counterpoint to doomscrolling, is catching on. The goal is to fill your feed with "uplifting, calming, or inspiring content." Will this make you feel better than doomscrolling? Probably. Would it be better to just go experience those things in person? Also probably. Mike Flanagan's television adaptation of Carrie has dominated Prime Video's streaming charts this week. It's a modern take on the twisted coming-of-age story and doesn't pull its punches with language and intense depictions of bullying. 🎧 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 [email protected]. → For more Axis resources, go to axis.org.

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