But it seemed as though we all still had an hour or two to spare. So we wrote a book.

It’s called Becoming a Screen-Savvy Family: How to Navigate a Media-Saturated World—and Why We Should.

OK, so it wasn’t like we just all got together and wrote the thing over a lunch break. Writing a book is a process not unlike what G.K. Chesterton said about growing a beard: It cannot be done in a moment of passion. Becoming a Screen-Savvy Family has been the product of years of thinking, writing and editing. In a way, what you find in its pages is a product of our team’s collective experiences, memories and lessons learned.

I think it’s pretty good, if I say so myself—and pretty timely.

The use (and misuse and overuse) of technology and entertainment is a huge pain-point for most families. In fact, when the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital polled parents nationwide what worried them most, the top three answers were “Overuse of devices/screentime”, “social media” and “Internet safety.”

Parents should be worried. Those are huge issues. And while we love the fact you come to Plugged In to check out, say, how many swear words are in Dune: Part Two, we know that parents could also use a more holistic, comprehensive look at entertainment and technology—and how we can embrace a proactive, wide, God-honoring strategy in how to deal with them.

In essence, we try to answer two important questions: One, why should we care about this stuff? And two, what can we do about it? It’s filled with pragmatic takeaways, overarching strategies and some poignant, personal moments that we wanted to share with you. We wanted it to be more than just a helpful resource: We wanted it to be a personal letter, too—from us to you.

And we hope it’s just the first step in a multi-pronged approach to help you manage the sometimes bewildering worlds of entertainment and technology.

Interested in checking it out? Click here to buy your very own copy.

The post Hey, Plugged In Wrote a Book! appeared first on Plugged In.

Yep, used to be that every young social-media fan had a constant connection to Facebook, but the teens are now sprinting away faster than a herd of gazelle in a brush fire. According to the report, some 71% of 13 to 17-year-olds were Facebook-connected in 2014 and 2015, but this year that number is down to 32%. And dropping. What’s left? The oldies.

The teens have headed on to “cooler” social grasslands such as TikTok, YouTube and Twitch; sites that tend to focus on active videos and shorter attention spans. I recently saw a Fortune article that quoted a young adult named Devin Walsh who moved on from Facebook, saying: “It’s the branding, right? When I think of Facebook, I think ugh, like cheugy, older people, like parents posting pictures of their kids, random status updates and also people fighting about political issues.”

And that kind of sums it up. I mean, cheugy, right?

Now, that’s not to suggest that Facebook is ready for a Monty Python death cart. (A reference that would only fly on Facebook. ‘Cause its users are, you know, old enough to remember Monty Python.) No, Facebook still has some 3 billion users worldwide. But if all the youthful energy drains away, what will the future hold?

Facebook has been wondering that very thing.

Its parent company, Meta, is making an effort to draw kids back to where (Meta believes) their money, er, their hearts really belong. And they’ve turned to artificial intelligence as their siren of choice.

Meta recently hosted its first in-person, post-COVID pandemic event, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg talked about the company’s efforts to create an AI chatbot called “Meta AI,” an advanced conversational assistant. But he also pointed to the fact that the one-size-fits-all approach isn’t going to cut it for the youngsters. The young crowd needs fresh, they need sassy, they need something personalized.

Wall Street Journal has reported that Meta has dozens of different AI personas in the hopper for this very purpose. That includes a “sassmaster general” that’s referred to as having a “superior intellect, sharp wit, and biting sarcasm.” You know, the sort of stuff that is definitely not cheugy.

Facebook has also reported that it has made deals with a range of influencers and celebrities who will lend their personalities to different types of chatbots. People such as Snoop Dogg, Kendall Jenner and Tom Brady are on that list.

Meta’s AI announcement also assures people that their chatbot creations aren’t just about answering questions. They’re designed as an interactive form of entertainment—AI you can have fun with.  

“We’ve been creating AIs that have more personality, opinions, and interests, and are a bit more fun to interact with. Along with Meta AI, there are 28 more AIs that you can message on WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. You can think of these AIs as a new cast of characters—all with unique backstories.”

Of course, all those great characters are there so that Meta can make sure people stay engaged and, well, keep hanging around. This Facebook push may be focused on younger users, but young or old, more engaged time equals more opportunities to serve up more personalized ads. And you can bet those entertaining chatbot personas will be really great at personalized ads.

So, if you were wondering where the next AI shoe might be dropping, well, this feels like it’s a good-sized loafer. And, of course, it will be well polished and ready to appeal to the kids in your family.

We’ll keep you up to date on what’s next. 

The post Facebook is Wooing the Kids With Chatbots appeared first on Plugged In.

In 2004, Lost took the world by storm, crashing into family living rooms and introducing a storyline chock full of mystery. It featured a massive cast of survivors who had crashed on an island in the Pacific Ocean filled with strange—and deadly—happenings. After six seasons, the show finally came to a close after grappling with dozens of spiritually inclined questions throughout its run. And while some (myself included, I admit) found it to be a satisfying ending, others felt that it wasn’t worth the six-year investment.

I didn’t watch Lost while it was coming out, and I hadn’t even heard of it until I saw it at the top of my Netflix queue. But, like so many of the show’s millions of viewers, I got swept up in its storyline. And part of why I enjoyed the show so much was because of the way its plot was almost always tied to a greater spiritual reality.

Lost is inherently spiritual (note my usage of “spiritual” rather than “Christian”). The importance of its spirituality to the plot is about as subtle as naming a character “Christian Shephard.” The show isn’t just a story about a group of survivors who desperately want to go home: It’s also about a spiritual journey. The show may throw polar bears and smoke monsters at its ragtag crew of misfits, but it’ll also chuck philosophical questions to its viewers: questions that deal with fate, redemption and greater purpose, among others.

We’ll deal with Lost’s spiritual themes in two blogs. This first one will cover the general skeletal backing that sets the spiritual stage for the series (things that, in Lost’s case, are not revealed to the viewer until its final season). We’ll also give a brief summary of the notable people, places and things that someone should know about if they want to talk about the series. And finally, this blog will provide a few ways to connect the show to a gospel conversation.

Our second blog (which, when published next week, will be linked at the bottom of this one), will cover the predominant spiritual themes that viewers will be exposed to throughout the show. Whereas this blog covers the biggest, overarching background for the series, part two will dive into the more specific spiritual themes that take place in Lost—themes that may not affect the show’s whole story but are still important to bring up. And we’ll also explain what Lost gets wrong about Christianity.

But, let me provide one final warning to you, reader. Unfortunately, because so much of Lost is intrinsically tied to its spiritual premise, it is impossible for us to talk about the show’s theology without spoiling major parts of it. That means that, between these two blogs, we’ll be unpacking many of the show’s season and series-long mysteries. With that in mind, prospective readers who want to watch the show but haven’t should make sure that they want these elements spoiled before they read any further.

So, without further ado, sit down and prepare for takeoff as we fly into Lost’s spiritual world, brotha.

The Ultimate End Goal in Lost

As soon as we hop aboard Oceanic Flight 815 with the rest of the Lost characters, we know we’re in for a bumpy ride—especially after the plane crashes. We see hatches and polar bears, monsters and visions. A mysterious series of numbers shows up everywhere. Time can seem to go backward and forward and sometimes, sideways.

So, what’s happening on this mysterious island? Is it all just a metaphor for purgatory? Is the island itself sentient? Are all the supernatural happenings really just a scientific experiment gone wrong?

Actually, it’s a bit more complex than all that—and requires a bit of speculation on the viewer’s part due to some unresolved mysteries in the series. In fact, viewers do not discover any of this until the second half of the show’s sixth season. But, as best as we understand it, the general crux of the supernatural side of Lost is as follows.

Late into the final season of Lost, we’re told of a source of light called the “Heart of the Island.” This light, we’re told, “is inside of every man.” (In essence, it constitutes a person’s soul.) But because men are inherently wicked, if most knew about the light, they’d try to get more of it. And though they cannot take it, they would still try, and they might put that light out forever in the attempt. “And if the light goes out here,” one character explains, “it goes out everywhere,” and complete evil and darkness will be unleashed.

That’s why, over the course of thousands of years, people who are deemed special have been chosen to protect this source. As long as these people protect the light, they don’t seem to age. One such protector is a man named Jacob, who has been the island’s protector for the last 2,000 years.

This Jacob has a brother who is only ever referred to as the Man in Black—and he is the biggest threat to the Heart of the Island. Two thousand years ago, he wanted to take the light in order to leave the island, something his and Jacob’s adoptive mother would not allow, which ultimately resulted in the Man in Black slaying her. Enraged, Jacob threw his brother into the source of light, killing him. It also changed the Man in Black’s spirit into an evil creature called the Smoke Monster. As the Smoke Monster, the Man in Black’s spirit lives on and is able to shapeshift into various apparitions.

The Man in Black believes that all people are wicked and evil, but Jacob disagrees. And Jacob (following the example of his mother) won’t let the Man in Black leave the island as long as he (or a replacement of his) lives. Jacob knows that though the Man in Black cannot kill him (and vice versa, due to some not fully explained ethereal binding rules), his brother is actively looking for a loophole so he can get rid of Jacob and leave the island. That’s why Jacob has been bringing “candidates” to the island—people who he believes are flawed but generally good in nature and can take his place in the event of his death.

And that’s how Jacob orchestrates the arrival of many survivors on the island, including our main cast of survivors from the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Though the flight was caused by external circumstances, we’re told that Jacob intentionally set all of it up in order to bring these candidates to the island. These flawed people are judged during their time on the island to see if they’ll use the clean slate they’ve been given to become better people—and if so, they’ll be a suitable replacement for Jacob as the island’s protector.

Glossary of Important Characters/Topics

Jack Shephard – Jack is a spinal surgeon who was a passenger aboard Oceanic Flight 815. He emerges as the survivors’ leader, and he feels uncomfortable when he’s forced to trust others to take charge. Back home, his father, Christian, was chief of surgery before Jack ousted him out of his medical license and job due to his heavy drinking. In response, Christian went to Sydney, Australia, and drank himself to death. Jack was on the plane because he was returning home with his father’s body. While off the island, Jack follows his father’s footsteps and becomes addicted to alcohol and prescription painkillers. While on the island, Jack is initially skeptical of any supernatural events, and he even gets angry at anyone who would entertain the notion. His experiences slowly cause him to believe in the island’s spiritual reality, though he remains committed to get the survivors off the island and back home.

John Locke – Locke is a paraplegic man who crashes on the island along with the rest of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. Locke was on the plane because he had gone to Australia to experience a Walkabout, an Australian Aboriginal rite of passage in which the person lives in the wilderness for a time. But when the tour guide blocks Locke from coming due to him being in a wheelchair, they send him back on their dime. When Locke crashes on the island, he finds that he can suddenly walk again, and this convinces him that the island is special. Locke approaches everything through a spiritual (though not Christian) lens, and he believes that the island brought them there for a reason. However, some events cause him to stumble in his faith. He hopes to learn what his reason for being on the island is, and he often compels others to do things in order to cause them to believe in destiny, too. He and Jack Shephard often butt heads.

Jacob – Jacob was born on the island 2,000 years prior to the events of the main series. He is a fraternal twin to the Man in Black. By the time Oceanic 815 crashes on the island, Jacob has protected the Heart of the Island for those thousands of years. He knows that the Man in Black is seeking for a way to kill him and exploit the Heart of the Island, and so he brings people to the island to find someone worthy to replace him as the island’s guardian. His test for this: Giving people a clean slate to see if they would ultimately choose right over wrong without external prompting. As such, he tries to not interfere. Through his intermediary, Richard, he provides The Others (another group of people on the island—more on them later) with lists of people whom he believes might be suitable candidates to replace him. It is important to note that, despite his apparent immortality and pseudo-omniscience, Jacob is not God, as he expressly tells Richard that he does not have the power to forgive him of his sins or raise the dead.

The Man in Black – The Man in Black is Jacob’s fraternal twin. He was a man who was born on, and desperately wants to leave, the island. In pursuit of this goal, he sought to use the Heart of the Island to do so. After his adoptive mother killed the men helping him in that goal, he killed her, and Jacob threw the Man in Black into the Heart of the Island in retribution, killing him. However, the Man in Black’s soul conjoined with evil. His soul remains trapped on the island, and he can take many forms, though he most predominantly appears as the “Smoke Monster.” He can also take the form of people who have died on the island, and the majority of times someone has a vision, it is actually the Man in Black manipulating them.

The Others – The Others are a group of people who live on the island and who fervently assist Jacob, though only Richard has ever met the man face-to-face. They kidnap people based on Jacob’s list—sorting out the “good” from the “bad” people. They serve as the mysterious primary antagonists for much of the show and are led by Benjamin Linus, who usurped the previous leader. They also conduct experiments to figure out how to save pregnant women, as all women who get pregnant on the island die.

DHARMA Initiative – The DHARMA (Department of Heuristics And Research on Material Applications) Initiative was made up of a large group of scientists who came to and inhabited the island between the 1970s and the 1990s. Its general mission was to study the island’s “unique properties for the betterment of mankind and advancement of world peace.” (Though not in the TV show itself, an alternate reality game designed by the show’s producers stated that the Dharma Initiative existed to learn how to manipulate the “Valenzetti Equation,” a “mathematical formula that reportedly predicts the amount of time until the extinction of mankind.”) Their presence was largely despised by the Others, likely because of their potential threat to the Heart of the Island. As a result, the Others eventually killed every Dharma Initiative member save for Benjamin Linus, who had chosen to ally with the Others instead.

The Numbers – The numbers are a series of six digits that have particular resonance for Hugo “Hurley” Reyes, a genial survivor from Oceanic 815. After he used them to play the lottery, Hurley won millions of dollars but has had nothing but extremely bad luck ever since, and Hurley is convinced they are cursed. They are, in order: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. Eagle-eyed viewers will be able to spot these numbers throughout the show, such as in the name of Oceanic Flight 815 itself. In the aforementioned alternate reality game, viewers learn that these numbers are the “core numerical values of the Valenzetti Equation,” and despite the Dharma Initiative’s best attempts, they have been unsuccessful in changing these numbers. While the supernatural effect of these numbers is disputed in the show, they are the alleged cause of at least two people being placed in mental hospitals.

The Whispers – The whispers occur throughout the show, often appearing when people are in peril. They are people who have died on the island but are unable to move on. It’s insinuated that they cannot move on because of some wicked deed they did while they were alive. The whispers can be decoded by using audio software.

Connecting, and Contrasting, the Gospel

As you can see, Lost contains a whole lot of spiritual content, and not all of it will jibe with Christianity. It can deal with some broadly Christian themes but easily cherry-picks from other religious traditions, as well—and it often writes its own spiritual truths as it goes along. Here are a few theological issues to be aware of.  

1. Dualism – Jacob’s struggle with the Man in Black is very reminiscent of a dualistic theology. Dualism is the belief in two opposing entities or concepts—one good, one evil—that are equal in power. They typically battle for ultimate control or, in more Eastern thought, are responsible for the balance of the universe (think something like Yin and Yang). Dualism contrasts with biblical Christianity, however. Satan is no equal to God; God is the only ultimate power. We have plenty of examples that Satan is ultimately powerless to God (Job 1:6-12, Luke 22:31-32, John 12:31). Indeed, though Satan is described as the god of this world, God shines through Satan’s darkness, creating the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the hearts of His people—that is, the salvation that is through Christ alone (2 Corinthians 4:1-6).
   
2. Evil Hearts – With every person Jacob brings to the island, he gets more and more frustrated. He hopes that the people he brings will prove themselves to be good—but everyone he’s brought eventually succumbs to evil. This speaks to the reality that we face, too. Contrary to worldly thinking, Christianity tells us that people are not inherently good; we’re actually born with a sin nature. The early church vehemently rejected doctrines that insisted on man’s “essential goodness of human nature,” excommunicating the theologian Pelagius who taught the heresy in the late 300s AD. Were Jacob to study Christianity’s explanation for why all the people he brings to the island are inclined toward evil, he would find that such a sin nature is present in every human being (Genesis 8:21, Psalm 51:5, Romans 3:10-20 and 5:1-21). The only way to be saved from our sin is through the saving work of Jesus Christ, who voluntarily died on the cross to pay for the sins of those who believe in Him (Isaiah 53:10-11, Matthew 1:21, John 10:15, Ephesians 5:25).
   
3. Progressive Sanctification – Jacob brings flawed people to the island to give them a clean slate, hoping that they choose to do good. This is somewhat reminiscent of the Christian life following his or her justification. Like Jacob bringing people to the island to give them a new life, Jesus justifies us through His sacrifice to give us a new life (Romans 6:4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 3:1-17). Like Jacob, God wants us to pursue goodness as a result of our new life (John 15:5, Ephesians 2:8-10, 1 John 3:9). But Christian theology also differs from Jacob’s, because unlike Jacob, who does not want to interfere, God intervenes in our hearts to help us choose and grow in goodness. The Holy Spirit regenerates our hearts to desire good over evil, convicting and comforting us (John 14:26, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Galatians 5:16). And unlike Jacob, who casts away his candidates should they fail, Christ will hold us fast in the faith even when we stumble (Ecclesiastes 3:14, John 10:27-29, Philippians 1:6, 1 John 2:19).

Conclusion

It’s easy to tell when we don’t know what we’re talking about. We hope that this serves as a helpful primer for parents looking to understand the spirituality presented in Lost—whether as a way to inject a gospel conversation or decide whether the series is for them.

Be on the lookout for our follow-up blog next week that will provide a brief overview of the more specific spiritual questions pondered and presented throughout the entirety of the show.

The post The Theology of … Lost (Part 1) appeared first on Plugged In.

But did you know that part of the actor’s strike directly hits you outside of your Netflix account?

How so?

Well, you may remember that earlier this year Plugged In posted a blog about the fact that artificial intelligence is being used to create voice hacks and scam the public in various ways. And a form of that same quickly evolving tech is what some of those striking actors are waving a red flag over.

Just recently a panel organized by the National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA) got together at the San Diego Comic-Con and noted that this pervasive AI technology can essentially shut them down unless some new restrictions and explicit contractual protections are put in place. Using AI, producers can sample their voices and have them say pretty much whatever they want at this unregulated point.

“As a human voice actor, I can walk into a room and get a script that says something that I didn’t either agree to say or something that I would never say, I personally have that ability to walk out of that room,” NAVA president and founder Tim Friedlander was reported to have said in a Variety article. With AI cloning the voices of actors, however, “We’ve lost control over what our voice could possibly say,” Friedlander declared.

The Variety article also pointed to the fact that it is common for studio contracts to include broad language allowing them to own the actor’s work “in perpetuity … in any technology currently existing or to be developed.”

Now, at this point I should note that, in addition to my work at Plugged In, I regularly write and direct for Focus on the Family’s Adventures in Odyssey. I’ve worked with a number of talented voice actors over the years, and I’ve done a bit of voice work myself. You could say that I have a dog in this fight. But in a way, so do we all. You may not think that sort of contractual squabble impacts your world, but that control issue could impact what you hear, and in turn, what you think.

We already live in a world that’s constantly flooded with news and social media commentary that we don’t …  always … trust. We see deep fake videos of politicians, celebrities, and even religious figures, doing things that make us scratch our heads. And let’s face it, visual and aural AI constructs are only going to be harder to distinguish from reality in the future.

As our Emily Tsiao pointed out in a recent Tech Trends blog, there are pros and cons to AI. And one of the big negatives is that AI is amoral. It doesn’t have a sense of right or wrong. It’s only the human user who has a soul. And some of those folks using it are neither caring nor good.

So, whether you’re a fan of union strikes or not, it’s always a good thing to pay attention to what’s going on in our world. It’s wise to be thinking about the super-fast pace of technology and considering earnest ways to keep it in check. AI and its users are already giddyupping their way through our lives. And only we can take notice and pull back on the reins.

The post The Actors’ Strike Isn’t Just About What We See. It’s About What We Hear. appeared first on Plugged In.

There, I said it.

I know that celebrities feel like they operate in a completely different orbit. Chances are that you will never meet these people you might be gossiping about. Tabloids have normalized making spectacles of these people’s lives. Social media outlets have made some celebrities their own worst enemies. But I’m not here to debate what celebrities may or may not have willingly agreed to subject themselves to. I’m here to tell you that we are in charge of how we behave online.

Lately, many articles have been published about the Selena Gomez/Hailey Bieber drama. Here’s the tea: Selena dated Justin; then Justin dated Hailey; then Selena dated Justin again; then Justin dated Hailey again and married her in 2018. Because of the constant back-and-forth (and the fact that Bieber proposed to his now-wife just two months after ending things with Gomez for the second time), fans and tabloids have been letting the supposed beef stew.

But what really matters is the response from “fans.”

Those who love Selena Gomez have shredded the Biebers online. And vice versa for those who love Justin and Hailey. To make matters worse, all three adults involved have made vague posts on their social media channels (not to mention written song lyrics) that many fans have interpreted as throwing shade.

But as I said, that isn’t what really matters.

Last week, Gomez took to Instagram begging for the TikTok discourse comparing her and Hailey Bieber to stop. She wrote:

“Hailey Bieber reached out to me and let me know that she has been receiving death threats and such hateful negativity. This isn’t what I stand for. No one should have to experience hate or bullying. I’ve always advocated for kindness and really want this all to stop.”

Selena Gomez should not have to reach out to her fans to ask them not to threaten the life of another woman. Hailey Bieber should not have to ask her husband’s ex-girlfriend to act as her advocate against cyberbullying.

And remember, kids and teenagers aren’t the only culprits. In 2021, I reminded parents in an article about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez that indulging in celebrity gossip isn’t healthy (or biblical for that matter). But it’s still happening. When Plugged In’s review of 80 for Brady came out, our Facebook page was rife with negative comments about a few of the actresses (which were promptly removed).

Listen, we all have opinions. We all have strong feelings. And we should all be able to discuss and disagree—openly and politely—with what someone says or does. We do so on this very blog (and sometimes you take issue with us!) But it’s one thing to take issue with what someone does and another to take issue with who someone is. It’s one thing to discuss honest differences of opinion and another to hurl insults or, even worse, death threats.

We are all created in the image of God, and we should treat our fellow image-bearers with respect. Regardless of how you feel about a person, it’s never OK to speak so poorly of them. So parents (and aunts, uncles, grandparents, teachers, etc.), don’t give in to the drama. Remember that you need to demonstrate good online behaviors. And when in doubt, remember these words from Ephesians:

The post Cyberbullying: Why Parents Should Monitor What Their Children Say on Celebrity Social Media Channels appeared first on Plugged In.

For the sixth straight weekend, James Cameron’s liquid epic snagged the top spot at the North American box office, pocketing another estimated $20 million in grosses.

Sure, that’s mere pocket change for the flick, given that it’s already stashed away $598.3 million its bulwarks. That’s about $47 million ahead of what the record-breaking original made at this point in its run. (The first Avatar flick went on to earn $749.8 million domestically.)  Add in overseas grosses, and The Way of Water has collected nearly $2 billion.

Admittedly, it was a pretty slow weekend at the box office, and plenty of other older films took advantage of that.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish continues to hold well, moving from third place up to second and scratching up $11.5 million in kitty cash this weekend. That brings the movie’s total domestic gross to about $126.5 million. Who says that family movies don’t make money in a post-COVID environment? Not this feline.

M3GAN swapped places with The Last Wish and fell to third. But the sci-fi horror flick still managed to scare up $9.8 million. It has now earned $73.3 million—which makes it the biggest movie to be released in 2023 thus far. (Both The Way of Water and The Last Wish are 2022 holdovers.)

Missing actually hit, landing $9.3 million and nosing out A Man Called Otto for fourth place. (The latter finished fifth with $9 million.) That makes it the weekend’s biggest new release, though a few other newbies made some cash as well. The unwieldy named anime That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond finished eighth with $1.5 million, while The Son opened its run with a rather dour $240,000.

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The post Movie Monday: ‘The Way of Water’ Splashes to Sixth Straight Win appeared first on Plugged In.

How can you make a Black Panther movie without Black Panther? That was the question faced by the folks behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Over the course of four films, Chadwick Boseman had become practically synonymous with the Marvel superhero. It wouldn’t be easy to move on.

But move on the MCU did with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever—a movie that’s fittingly not just about frenetic fight scenes and CGI, but grief, goodbyes and new beginnings. In this episode of The Plugged In Show, Adam Holz and I settle in and talk about the flick for a bit, unpacking Wakanda Forever’s positives, negatives and unexpected spiritual depth.

And if a Black Panther conversation isn’t enough for you, well, hold onto your Wakandan crowns. We talk about Taylor Swift’s latest album, too: Midnights. It’s so titled because the songs revolve around thoughts, feelings and experiences that have kept Swift up at night. And while we’ve all had similar sleepless evenings, only the megastar could shake them off and turn them into the biggest album of the year.

Yes, it’s a big, big podcast this week. Who could ask for … Namor? (Oh, wait, he’s in there, too.)

And then chime in with your own thoughts, about Wakanda Forever. Or Taylor Swift. Or both! Let us know on Facebook, Instagram, or send us a nice, retro email at team@thepluggedinshow.com.

And, of course, click on the links below to read about everything we talked about.

Additional Resources:

• Plugged In Review: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Plugged In Review: Black Panther
• Plugged In Blog: “Black Panther Takes Two”
• Plugged In Review: Taylor Swift, Midnights (3 am Edition)

• Focus on the Family: Setting Media Standards
• Focus on the Family: Making Wise Entertainment Choices
• Plugged In: Tech Guide
• Focus on the Family: How to Develop Media Intelligence in Your Home

The post The Plugged In Show, Episode 155: Wakanda Forever and Taylor Swift’s Midnights appeared first on Plugged In.

Yep, you can find just about anything you want, or think you need, in app form these days. Unfortunately, there’s also quite a lot in the mix that you might not want, too. Along with apps that can suck away a young person’s attention and time, you can stumble upon unexpected bloatware, adware, tracking software … even questionable connections to China.

However, Mom and Dad can also find some nice little apps that are not only very family friendly and usable, they even teach some good applicable lessons. And that includes tools that can help kids and teens learn how to earn, save and use their own dollars and cents. So let’s look at a handful of “money apps” that might just find a comfy home on your young one’s phone.

Let’s start by simply identifying what money looks like for the youngsters in the crowd.

Peter Pig’s Money Counter

It doesn’t get more basic than helping kids count coins. And if you don’t have a family coin jar to work with, this free app could be helpful. It’s actually a game that gets young kids to help Peter Pig count and sort coins. And it can help them develop important money skills and learn to make purchases within a budget. You can find this for both iOS and Android phones.

Then, how about a nice allowance interface for parents and kids who are a bit older? It’s called, of all things …

iAllowance

This handy little app for both iOS and Android helps parents set up and keep track of kids’ chores and then pay out weekly allowances or rewards with an easy-to-use interface. The app is free, but you can also pay a small monthly fee if you want to set it up over multiple devices and for multiple kids.

Chores & Allowance Bot

Here’s another app that helps families keep track of allowances, chores and savings goals. There’s no bank account connection or pre-paid cards involved, just a good way to teach children about saving, spending, and earning money towards goals through work and good behavior. Kids can see a history of their spending and watch their savings grow over time via a parent-controlled IOU account. Available for iOS or Android. It’s free with the option of a small subscription premium version that offers more functionality.

FamZoo

This app kicks things up a notch and gives the tools for an IOU account that’s held elsewhere by mom and dad or a prepaid card account with a debit card that parents can load with money for their kids’ use (with no risk of overdraft).  Kids can divide their earnings into “spend,” “save,” and “give” (tithe) categories. And the app ties chores or odd jobs to rewards or penalties; helps kids set savings goals; tracks money requests; and schedules automated debits when kids are required to pay for regular expenses, such as their tithe or cell phone. The app is free to download, but there are monthly fees for some of the features.

Want to take things even further for that responsible young teen in your life? You might want to consider …

Greenlight

This app/debit card set-up takes the financial-world toe-dipping even further. Parents can set chores with direct-deposit payouts and spending limits. Through the account, kids can set aside money into save, spend, give and invest. That’s right, I said invest. This app can help teens research stocks and work on the idea of building long-term wealth. The app is downloadable for all phones and has subscription fees that range from $4.99 to $14.99 per month, depending on the benefits your family desires.

We all know that the love of money is the root of all evil. But handling money wisely? That’s important stuff. And these apps just might help that wisdom along.

The post Five Money Apps That Pay Off appeared first on Plugged In.

Poor Christian movie makers. Sometimes, their films are accused of being too sanitized, too innocent, too clean. Where’s the mess? Critical viewers might say. Where’s the realism? The Bible didn’t shy away from reality. Why should Christian movies?

And then a Christian movie comes out that gets … well, pretty real. And it can be pretty startling.

The latest example: Redeeming Love, based on a historical romance by Francine Rivers that is itself a retelling of the biblical story of Hosea and Gomer. The movie is poignant and powerful and, oh, pretty steamy, too—a PG-13 movie that misses an R-rating by just a few strands of hair.

New reviewer Kennedy Unthank launched his Plugged In career with Redeeming Love, and he has plenty to say about the film in this shiny new podcast episode.

And once we’re done talking about this Christian movie with more secular content issues, we’ll talk about a secular movie that feels strangely Christian: The King’s Daughter—a movie about a king, a daughter, a mermaid and the immortality of the soul.

And once you’re through listening to our scintillating discussion, chime in with your own thoughts on Christian movies on Facebook and Instagram. (Or chuck us an email, if you’d rather, at team@thepluggedinshow.com). Now, take a look at links for everything we talk about.

Additional Resources:

• Gift of Any Amount Offer: Burning Bush 2.0 by Paul Asay
• Plugged In Review: Redeeming Love
• Plugged In Review: The Passion of the Christ
• Plugged In Review: Unplanned
• Plugged In Review: The Chosen
• Plugged In Review: Ben Hur
• Plugged In Review: I Can Only Imagine
• Plugged In Review: The King’s Daughter
• Plugged In Review: Eternals

• Paul’s CC Pick: “Investors are paying millions for virtual land in the metaverse”
• Emily’s CC Pick: “AT&T and Verizon are limiting C-band 5-G expansion around airports even more”
• Jonathan’s CC Pick: “How Young People Are Getting More Sober-Curious, In 2 Charts”
• Adam’s CC Pick: “What is the Sleepy Chicken TikTok trend?”
• Kennedy’s CC: Pick: “Daniel Radcliffe to Play ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in Roku’s First Original Biopic Movie”

• Focus on the Family: Setting Media Standards
• Focus on the Family: Making Wise Entertainment Choices
• Plugged In: Tech Guide
• Focus on the Family: How to Develop Media Intelligence in Your Home

The post The Plugged In Show, Episode 114: Is Redeeming Love Too Steamy? appeared first on Plugged In.

Autumn is here, and that has historically harkened the arrival of three things: school, football season and new television shows.

Well, two of those things are still true(ish). TV? Not so much. Streaming giants like Netflix and Disney+ are as likely to drop hot new shows in February or June as they are in September or October. But while traditional broadcast networks might not be as big a piece of the entertainment pie as they used to be, they’re still plenty big. And those giant broadcast and streaming networks have new fare worth talking about … even if they’re not worth watching.

Meanwhile, one topic transcends every season: social media. Facebook and Instagram have been in the spotlight far more than either would like for the last several weeks. Adam Holz and Jonathan McKee dig past the headlines and tell families what they really need to know.

So as the old TV announcers used to say, don’t touch that dial! (Even if that dial is a touchscreen.) And feel free to check out everything we talked about in the links below.

Oh, and once you’re done there, why don’t you dawdle on over to (somewhat ironically) Facebook or Instagram, send us an email at team@thepluggedinshow.com, or call us at 800-A-FAMILY (800-262-3459) and answer these questions:

What shows are you most interested in seeing reviews for this fall?

What’s your own personal pick for the best show in the last 10 years or so?

Additional Resources:

• Gift of Any Amount Offer: The Teen’s Guide to Face-To-Face Connections in a Screen-To-Screen World: 40 Tips to Meaningful Communication by Jonathan McKee

• Plugged In Review: The Americans
• Plugged In Review: Loki
• Plugged In Review: Cobra Kai
• Plugged In Review: How I Met Your Mother
• Plugged In Review: The Wonder Years
• Plugged In Review: La Brea
• Plugged In Review: Lost
• Plugged In Review: Squid Game
• Plugged In Blog: “Getting Started With Parental Controls on Netflix”
• Plugged In Review: The Lost Symbol
• Plugged In Television Archives: https://www.pluggedin.com/tv/
• Plugged In Blog: “Netflix’s The Social Dilemma Paints a Sober Portrait of Tech’s Influence”
• Plugged In Blog: “The Plugged In Show Episode 46: Examining The Social Dilemma and Our Interaction With Social Media”
• Plugged In Blog: “Latest Bombshell Proves that Social Media is Not Our Friend”
• Plugged In Review: Social Animals
• Plugged In Blog: “Social Animals Showcases the Inspiring, Terrifying World of Instagram”
• Plugged In Blog: “What’s Wrong With Instagram Filters”
• Plugged In Blog: “What Parents Need to Know About Instagram Reels”
• Plugged In Blog: “The Plugged In Show Episode 78: Instagram for Kids? The Experts Say No Way!”
• Plugged In Blog: “Easy Instagram Perfection? Not!”
• Plugged In Blog: “Entertainment, Media and Mental Health: The Influence of Social Media”
• Plugged In Blog: “Culture Clips: TikTok Trouble”

• Emily’s CC Pick: “23 Power Players Using TikTok to Shape the Music Industry in 2021”

• Focus on the Family: Setting Media Standards
• Focus on the Family: Making Wise Entertainment Choices
• Plugged In: Tech Guide
• Focus on the Family: How to Develop Media Intelligence in Your Home

The post The Plugged In Show, Episode 99: Fall TV & What Instagram Knows About Its Influence appeared first on Plugged In.