Roundtable: TikTok Censorship, The Rise of Sad Music, and Antisocial Media

Three Big Conversations:

TikTok has a new US owner, which users worry is muddying the platform's approach to censorship. - 10:16 Data shows that sad and angsty songs are ruling the streaming charts. - 29:28 It's official: our algorithms are making us lonelier. - 40:12

Emoji of the Week: 🙂 - 01:19

Axis Resource--> Check out A Parent's Guide to Emoji

In Other News: -  52:04

Last week, Alex Honnold free-soloed Taipei 101 live on Netflix, with roughly 6.2 million people watching him climb a 1,667-foot skyscraper without a rope. The 2026 Oscar nominations dropped last week, with director Ryan Coogler's horror-thriller Sinners receiving a record-breaking 16 nominations. Speaking of awards season, after a long hiatus, Justin Bieber is slated to return to the Grammys stage this Sunday night. Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal on Monday to apologize for his antisemitic comments and psychotic behavior. Athleisure is out for 2026. Some Gen Z creators are leaning into vintage (meaning 90s and early 2000s) sportswear and putting their matching workout sets out to pasture.

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