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Roblox is getting sued for failing to protect children from online predators, jazz-pop musician Laufey sings about self-worth on her new album, and what the celebration of Swift and Kelce’s engagement says about our culture. But first:
Slang of the Week – “41”
Just when you thought “6-7” was enough to try to wrap your head around, here comes “41.” A song by rapper Blizzi Boi (language), which uses the number 41 several times in a row, has now positioned the number 41 as a competitor to the number 6-7. Teacher and social media influencer Mr. Lindsay, who we referenced last week, says now that just as many teens are saying “41” as are saying “6-7.” Whereas “6-7” was essentially a placeholder for any age, any height, or any test score, “41” is basically just a contradiction or alternative to saying “6-7.” We’d give you an example of this word in a sentence, but honestly, it fits anywhere—because it means nothing.
And now for our three conversations…
1. Real Life Obby
What it is: The popular online gaming platform Roblox is coming under legal fire for allegedly not protecting its youngest, most vulnerable users.
Why it’s not surprising: If you’re unfamiliar, Roblox is a free online platform where users can play and create games. It’s especially popular with younger audiences, as 42% of its 70 million players are under 13. Multiple lawsuits accuse Roblox of willful neglect in terms of protecting this audience (i.e. children) from bad actors who want access to them. According to one lawsuit, Roblox has “kept making decisions that prioritized growth and keeping investors happy over actually protecting the kids and users on their platform.” We highlighted Roblox’s poor parental controls and predatory mechanics in January of last year, but it seems like it’s only got worse—or, at the very least, the lawsuits against the platform are racking up.
Continue the conversation: What games seem to be the most popular for kids right now?
2. Laufey, Out Loud
What it is: Jazz-forward pop songstress Laufey released a new studio album, A Matter of Time, on August 22.
Why it’s right on trend: Laufey’s music is weird, but in a vividly imagined, not-a-single-note-wrong kind of way. Singles from her new album include “Snow White,” a vulnerable acoustic ballad about struggling with self-worth in a world that emphasizes physical beauty. She criticizes the hypocrisy of the “sick world” that pretends to value other things, singing, “beauty always wins, and I don’t have enough of it… I’ll never have enough of it.” Icelandic by birth, Laufey’s music feels like Björk with a side of European Billie Eilish. The songs are epically arranged and memorably performed, and Laufey’s intentional and deeply personal relationship with her fans has made her a big success with younger listeners. —Her previous album, Bewitched, was the most listened-to jazz album to ever hit Spotify. Some of Laufey’s music does feature profanity.
Continue the conversation: What’s your favorite artist to come out in the last few years?
3. TNT
What it is: Superstar singer-songwriter Taylor Swift announced via Instagram that she and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce are engaged to be married.
Why fans are buzzing right now: The announcement post, which has racked up over 30 million likes in 24 hours (and will certainly continue to climb), is captioned “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married 🧨”. Swift is acknowledging the public perception of the couple; a perception she seems to have encouraged and even reveled in. But you don’t have to be a Swiftie or a Chiefs fan to admit there’s something romantic about the spectacle of it all. It’s a relationship that has simultaneously played out privately between Swift and Kelce, but also very publicly because of the fame of the individuals involved. Fans have been dissecting the photos Swift posted, pointing out connections in Swift’s lyrics, like the flowered “secret” garden from the engagement announcement and remembering the days when Kelce simply had a crush on a celebrity singer.
Let’s translate this one further…
I’ve been keeping up with the newest season of Apple TV’s sci-fi show Foundation.* It’s based on Isaac Asimov’s novel series of the same name, and it’s a story about the decay of civilizations, the danger of idolizing humans, and mathematical prophecies. In the third season, Foundation introduces two social media influencers who are on their honeymoon. The couple has to consistently defend their decision to get married and to take a honeymoon, because in the fiction of the Foundation universe, marriage is so antiquated that it’s almost been forgotten.
The plot point grieved me. I don’t want marriage to become an antiquated thing for celebrities to do as a publicity stunt, and while I don’t think our 21st-century world has gone that far, it can sometimes feel like our culture values marriage less than it should. Definitely not as much as Jesus does.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship has been presented like a fairytale story—or maybe a high-school romance between the star football player and the prom queen (something Swift has longed for in her music and even alluded to in her Instagram caption). We can’t know for certain whether it really is all that romantic, but there is something encouraging about seeing our culture—especially the upcoming generations—get excited about a marriage union between a man and woman.
This isn’t to say that Swift and Kelce’s relationship is the Biblical ideal, but it does help remind us that these sorts of commitments and covenants matter, they’re meaningful, and they’re worth pursuing.
It’s a way that God talks about his relationship with his church—with us—and it’s a way we reflect and demonstrate the love of God to an unbelieving world.
And that’s something we can (and should!) teach the next generations.
*Foundation is a TV-MA show, and my writing about it isn’t a recommendation.
Continue the conversation:- What do you like about Taylor and Travis’s relationship?
- What type of person would you want to marry?
- Why do you think Jesus speaks so highly of marriage?
For more context and nuance, check out our Roundtable podcast on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. On your way out, here’s a quick survey of some of the rest of the cultural landscape:
- The music-streaming app Spotify will soon roll out a direct messaging function for app users.
- Forrest Frank created a video offering forgiveness to the other Christians—particularly Cory Asbury—who have been making parody videos about his back injury.
- A California family is suing OpenAI for ChatGPT’s role in their son’s suicide.
- Many people on YouTube and other platforms are changing their profile pictures to images of the once-hated Clippy (language) to protest ethical failures in modern tech companies.
- Our newest episode of the Conversation Starter is all about the hit zombie show, and game, The Last of Us.
Parenting together,
CJ Fant and the Axis Team
PS: Know someone who could use our conversation starters with their teens? Share the CT with a friend!