Here's what's happening on the church and culture front today...

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Jan 21, 2026

What we know about internet use, smartphone ownership and digital divides in the U.S.

Jan 21, 2026

Today, most Americans subscribe to home broadband internet and own a smartphone. About four-in-ten describe their internet use as almost constant. But use of these technologies is not universal. For instance, Americans with the lowest household incomes are far less likely than their higher-income peers to subscribe to broadband internet at home. (McClain & Bishop, Pew Research Center)

Jan 21, 2026

The Retirement Crisis No One Warns You About: Mattering

Jan 21, 2026

We plan for our wealthspan and healthspan, mapping out financial security and physical well-being. Yet very few of us prepare for an equally essential dimension of retirement: our mattering span, or how we will continue to feel seen, useful and capable of making a difference in this next chapter of life. (Wallace, The Wall Street Journal)

Jan 21, 2026

Social media addiction’s surprising challenger? Anti-doomscrolling influencers

Jan 21, 2026

Yokubonis is a content creator who goes by the name Olivia Unplugged online, making videos to combat overuse or mindless use of social media. For the most part, people who view her videos welcome the disruption from the endless loop of content, treating it as a wake-up call to get off their phones. Other times, they are snarky. (Huamani, AP News)

Jan 21, 2026

Druski's viral parody of flashy preachers renews debate over wealth in the pulpit

Jan 21, 2026

A video skit by the comedian known as Druski went viral last week for its parody of prosperity gospel preachers and megachurch culture, prompting criticism of both megachurches and comedians who mock megachurches. (André, Religion News Service)

Jan 21, 2026

News Archive:

Featured

What we know about internet use, smartphone ownership and digital divides in the U.S.

From Premier League footballers thanking God for setting up their match-winning goals to the spread of “Jesus is king” flags at nationalist rallies, young men in Britain may be losing their “herd immunity” to Christianity, experts have said. (Burgess, The TImes)

The attack occurred on Sunday in Kurmin Wali, a community in the Kajuru area of Kaduna state, while services and a Mass were underway at the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), another church belonging to the denomination Cherubim and Seraphim, and a Catholic church, according to Usman Danlami Stingo, a lawmaker representing the area at the state parliament. (Shibayan, AP News)

Echoing concerns of Pope Leo XIV over a new era of unilateralism and warfare, the three highest-ranking U.S. Catholic archbishops on Monday said “the moral foundation for America’s actions in the world” has been thrown into question by a resurgence in the use or threat of military force, including in Venezuela and Greenland. (Boorstein & Faiola, The Washington Post)

Outside of major sporting events, we’re all watching and listening to different things, fed to us by algorithms designed to divide us into uniquely satisfied consumers. The hottest content on YouTube or TikTok at any moment means nothing to 95% of the population. (Fritz, The Wall Street Journal)

The animated sequel to 2016’s “Zootopia” raked in $1.7 billion in worldwide box office revenue as of Sunday. The movie edges out the previous record holder, “Inside Out 2.” The 2024 Disney and Pixar hit grossed $1.69 billion. (Masunaga, Los Angeles Times)

While it would be impossible to encompass everything King accomplished in a mere list, we’ve compiled a few intriguing facts that might pique your interest in finding out more about the man who helped unite a divided nation. (Rossen, Mental Floss)

They call it getting “Claude-pilled.” It’s the moment software engineers, executives and investors turn their work over to Anthropic’s Claude AI—and then witness a thinking machine of shocking capability, even in an age awash in powerful artificial-intelligence tools. (Olson, The Wall Street Journal)

But since the terrorist attacks by Hamas, the number of participating schools fell to fewer than 1,200 in 2024 and 854 in 2025 — a reduction of nearly 60 per cent. There are about 4,200 (Hauschild & Eccles, The Times)

Nagata, an eating disorder researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, says negative body image attitudes in boys often stem from the feeling that they aren't muscular enough. A small share of those young men develop an obsession with getting bigger and more muscular — also called bigorexia. (Ruprecht, NPR)

The Jan. 7 fatal shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent has become a Rorschach test of sorts, with extreme viewpoints amplified through social media. (Barkley, Baptist Press)

While watching football playoff games over the next few days, you may see a new ad, called “America. The Beautiful.” It's part of a $9 million marketing campaign drawn up by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank known for its influential “Project 2025” blueprint. (Waddick, USA Today)

When Wikipedia went online on 15 January 2001, it was the brainchild of two men: Jimmy Wales, an internet entrepreneur with a libertarian streak, and Larry Sanger, a philosopher who became its first editor-in-chief. Their collaboration lasted only a little over a year — but the tension between their visions still shapes the project today. (Haas, DW)

The global music industry hit 5.1 trillion streams in 2025. It’s a new single-year record, up 9.6% from 2024, which held the previous record. But attention is on older music. Less than half all U.S. on-demand audio streams — 43% — were from tracks released in the last five years (2021 - 2025. (Sherman, AP News)

The oldest Baby Boomers turn 80 in 2026

The United States saw a total of 76 million births during the boom, with the annual number surpassing 4 million in 1954 and remaining above that level until 1965. The annual number of births would not surpass 4 million again until 1989. (Fry, Pew Research Center)

With 388 million Christians enduring high levels of persecution and discrimination globally, compared to 380 million in the previous reporting year, Open Doors CEO Ryan Brown said persecution is increasing in breadth and severity. “It’s because the Church is advancing. That’s why the Church is coming under attack,” Brown said. (Chandler, Baptist Press)

The Supreme Court sounded ready Tuesday to uphold conservative state laws that forbid transgender athletes to compete on school sports teams for girls. But the ruling may not directly affect California and the liberal-leaning states, at least for now. (Savage & Bloom, Los Angeles Times)