The News Stories We Really Read

A study from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism asked thousands of people around the world what sort of news was most important to them. ...

Film 'Gravity' Portrays Our Spiritual Condition

In the 2013 film, Gravity, Dr. Ryan Stone, played by Sandra Bullock, is a medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky, ...

Tech Devices Act as "New Member of the Family"

In a study published in the journal Pediatrics, a team of researchers observed families eating at fast food restaurants, watching how parents interacted ...

Everybody Expects to Be Entertained

Here's how the best-selling author Michael Crichton described our need to be constantly entertained:

Today, everybody expects to be entertained, and ...

Woody Allen Reflects on Old Age and Death

A 2012 interview with the actor and film director Woody Allen states that "Allen has been confronting the horror of mortality … since he was ...

TV Shows in Brazil Change Family Values

A 2012 article in New York magazine told the story about a trio of researchers who were trying to solve a sociological mystery. Over the course of 40 ...

Bees Give an Example of How to Approach Popular Culture

The 4th century church leader Basil offered a unique image for how Christians today can approach popular culture. Basil was referring to "secular ...

Author Asks If 'We' Are Present during the Lord's Supper

In the [distracted] digital age, it may be the case that the classical debates about the presence of Jesus Christ in the [Lord's Supper] have been ...

Many Cultures Still Don't Have a Word for Boredom

Science writer Winifred Gallagher argues that what we call boredom (which she defines as "the unpleasant sense that there is nothing that interests ...

The Addictive Nature of Online or Video Games

In his book Brandwashed, marketing guru turned consumer advocate Martin Lindstrom argues that online or video-based games can be "extraordinarily ...