The Plugged In Show, Episode 35: The Enduring Appeal of War Movies
War is among the most terrible of human experiences. And yet, the struggles that vast armies and individual soldiers face in combat has been the stuff of epic stories as far back as we have written records. War is horrible, yet we cannot look away from it. Perhaps that helps to explain appeal of war […]
Cultivating a New(s) Point of View
What does constant bad news do to our souls? That’s an important question right now. So much of the news is not only bad, but cataclysmically bad. End-of-the-world-as-we-know-it bad. And if you’re a news hawk, like I am, it’s easy to consume a lot of those grim stories each day without processing how they could […]
The Plugged In Show, Episode 32: Remembering the Good Old Days
We all know things were better in the past, right? And that’s especially true when it comes to pop culture, we think. Today’s stuff is just full of problems, enough to make us yearn for the kinder, gentler movies, music and TV shows of the past. It’s an inviting idea. But is it actually … […]
The Plugged In Show, Episode 31: Cause and Effect in Entertainment
Each week on The Plugged In Show, our team (including author and youth culture expert Jonathan McKee) gathers to take a deeper dive into the overlapping realms of entertainment, technology, faith and youth culture—with an eye toward how parents can navigate the issues we find there. In our 31st episode this week, we’re talking about […]
An Interview With Selfie Dad’s Michael Jr.
In the new faith-based movie Selfie Dad, now available at streaming outlets online, comedian Michael Jr. plays Ben Marcus. He’s a struggling father and husband who’s quietly slipping into a mid-life crisis—at home, at work, in his faith. Everything changes one day as Ben’s trying to pry his tween son off the computer. Jack is […]
Serious, Brutal, Doubt Is Biblical, and God Welcomes It
Jon Steingard, lead singer of the Christian rock band Hawk Nelson, recently announced via a lengthy post on Instagram that he had walked away from his faith: “After growing up in a Christian home, being a pastor’s kid, playing and singing in a Christian band, and having the word ‘Christian’ in front of most of […]
Bolivian Boys Discover They Can’t Become Spider-Man
Everyone knows that Spider-Man’s powers came from being bitten by a radioactive spider, right? And everyone also knows that super-power-bestowing radioactive spider bites aren’t real, right? Well, three brothers from Bolivia didn’t know that second part. The boys, ages 8, 10 and 12, hail from the remote village of Chayanta in the Andes mountains. And […]
When Are the Movies Coming Back?
It sounds like a pretty simple question: When are the movies coming back? But in our coronavirus-altered age, even simple questions have complicated answers. And the answer is this: No one is 100% sure. That’s because the return of movies depends on multiple, overlapping factors—all of which dynamically influence each other. First, of course, individual […]
Movie Theaters Head Back to the Future … Literally
So what happens if your theater is ready to reopen … before there are any new movies to screen there? It’s a strange predicament for a strange time, but one that some theaters are facing by going back to the future. As in, screening yesteryear’s beloved blockbusters at a reduced ticket cost. Hollywood studios without […]
Whaddya Mean the Whole Season’s Cancelled?!’
Well, it’s finally here: the NFL draft. For sports fans, it feels like Christmas in April, right? I mean, what’s not to love: Waiting breathlessly for our favorite teams to pick the impact player that we know—we just know deep in our bones—will lead our beloved team to Super Bowl glory next year. If, that […]