Axis Conversations

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:
"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.
🎧 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.

Nick Stumbo is the Executive Director of Pure Desire, an organization that exists to provide hope, freedom, and healing from compulsive sexual behavior and betrayal trauma through Jesus Christ. Their work at Pure Desire is clinically informed and biblically based. As a third-generation pastor, Nick Stumbo started his ministry career at the East Hills Alliance Church in Kelso, Washington, where he observed the fallout of sexual brokenness and devastation in the lives of men and women in the church. Confronted with his own addiction to pornography, Nick and his wife, Michelle, found hope and healing through the counseling and group ministries of Pure Desire, which, again, he is now the Executive Director of. 
--> Check out Pure Desire Ministries
→ Become a monthly donor today, join the Table.
🎧 Listen / Follow / Connect
→ 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:
TikTok has a new US owner, which users worry is muddying the platform's approach to censorship. - 10:16
Data shows that sad and angsty songs are ruling the streaming charts. - 29:28
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.