Plugged In Blog

Culture Clips: And Now a Word From Our Sponsors …
Netflix, you clever dog, you. “Commercials are terrible!”you told us, and then you filled your streaming service with roughly three quintillion original shows (OK, 323,

Why the Eagles Passing Michael Jackson Is Worth a Blog
For pretty much my entire adult life, it’s been common knowledge that Michael Jackson’s seminal 1982 album Thriller was the best-selling record (remember those?) of

Crazy Rich Asians Scores Sane Rich Weekend
We’ve officially hit the August movie doldrums. All the high-profile summer blockbusters have come and gone. Oscar hopefuls and holiday flicks are back stage still,

Vodcast: What’s Up With the New Oscars Category?
I’m a sucker for traditions. Growing up, we didn’t have many of them, and now that I have my own family, we love creating our

Culture Clips: “Mom, Where’s My Bulletproof Backpack?”
It’s back-to-school time. That means school supplies. Pencils? Check. Erasers? Yup. Trapper Keepers? (Oh wait, it’s not the ’80s anymore. Oh wait again, they have

Chris Pratt Seems Like a Great Guy. But …
I really like Chris Pratt. He seems like a fun, funny, down-to-earth guy who, despite being one of this moment’s great action heroes, doesn’t take

Meg Paddles to First Place
The prehistoric monster that stars in The Meg (the shark, not Jason Statham) would never be mistaken for something you’d throw in a tiny aquarium

Eighth Grade,’ Like Eighth Graders, Needs Parents
Eighth Grade, the movie, is rated R, and for some pretty obvious reasons. Our intrepid reviewer Kristin Smith noted lots of profanity (including about 10

Culture Clips: Make Me Look Like Myself, Only Better
We all probably have a favorite photo of ourselves—the one we use on our Facebook pages and Christmas cards, the one where the light was

When Social Media Bullying Turns Uglier
When I was in elementary school, I was frightened terribly by a boy named Winfred. Winfred was a huge (I thought) fifth-grade bully. Somehow I
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About Us
Good media discernment is about guarding our eyes and hearts before we watch or listen. And it’s also about grappling with the entertainment we do see or hear. That’s why the Plugged In Blog is devoted to guarding, discussing and grappling. About Plugged In >>