Peter Thiel and the San Diego Zoo gorillas help guide our conversation about our families’ back-to-school screen time policies.Previous Episodes We Mention:Are Dumb Phones a Smart Choice for Kids? Gorillas at San Diego's zoo are getting too much screen time Tech billionaire Peter Thiel says he only allows his children 1.5 hours Read More

We have a great time reviewing Apple TV’s nerdy time-traveling adventure series Time Bandits, which manages to make ancient history look realistic while still being fun.Previous episodes we mention:Pretzel and the Puppies Harriet the Spy Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock The Snoopy Show Jane Ghostwriter Better Nate Than Ever As of our taping, the original Time Read More

The box office numbers are in, and parents’ taking their kids to see movies like Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 are saving an otherwise disappointing season in Hollywood. We pat ourselves on the back for rescuing the entertainment industry and discuss what such a multiplex-heavy summer means for Read More

We review the latest installment in Disney’s juggernaut tween Descendants franchise: The Rise of Red. Can Aurodon survive the replacement of its core cast? Does the soundtrack live up to previous installments? Most importantly, how happy are we to see Brandy as Cinderella again? Spoiler alert: very happy.Previous episodes we Read More

We talk about the trend of people dumping their smartphones for so-called dumb phones and whether this could be a smart strategy for our kids. We reminisce about our favorite flip phones and catch up on what we’re watching with our kids and what’s on our grown-up screen time watch Read More

We review the most anticipated release of the summer: Despicable Me 4! Did we need a sixth movie about Gru and his little yellow henchmen? Maybe not, but we did appreciate the opportunity to re-familiarize ourselves with the works of Culture Club and Franz Kafka.Things we mentioned in this episode:The Read More

We discuss two short articles about screen time: one from Time that says it’s totally fine to talk about screen time using the language of diet culture as long as we don’t count minutes like we count calories and one from the Wall Street Journal that refutes our closely held Read More

In our review of Inside Out 2, we pick our faves from Riley’s new emotions and get into the puberty of it all by comparing Inside Out 2 to another similarly themed Pixar title, Turning Red.Previous episodes we mention:Turning Red Elemental Lightyear Soul This series of puberty books by Robie H. Harris:It’s So Amazing It’s Read More

We discuss summer movies--the films we want to watch with our kids and a few we’re planning to watch for date night. We cover our hopes for all the new installments of our favorite franchises including Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4, Descendants Rise of Red, Twisters, and even Beetlejuice Read More

In our review of The Garfield Movie, Deborah mourns the absence of the fundamental pathos of the Garfield comic strip in this zany animated take on everyone’s favorite lazy tabby. Katie betrays her co-viewing values and dares to suggest this would make a good solo watch for kids. We talk Read More

We discuss lawsuits filed by parents against video game companies for allegedly causing psychiatric disorders in children. Are lawsuits really the way forward in managing our anxieties about screens? We also catch up on what we’re watching during our grown up screen time.Things we mention in this episode:Kids Hooked on Read More

We review the recently released movie IF. This might be the first kids movie of the summer season, but we question whether this Ryan Reynolds vehicle is really a kids movie at all. Is it just a sneaky way for us to confront our anxieties about parenthood while distracting our Read More

There have been think pieces galore this past month about the approaching end of the beloved preschool series Bluey. We talk about the intense parental love for the series and how to move forward after the end of something we love. We also catch up on what we’re watching with Read More

We review the reboot of Dora on Paramount Plus. Did this classic bilingual heroine really need a new look?Things we mentioned in this episode:McSweeney’s article “A Court-ordered Letter from Dora the Explorer’s Mother” How AI Is Already Transforming Moviemaking Previous episodes we mention: Dora and the Lost City of Gold Ms Rachel’s Songs for Read More

In this Screen Time in the News episode, we discuss a recent event in Massachusetts wherein a sixth grade student at Whitin Intermediate School took a state-required standardized test on a school issued Chromebook and suffered first degree burns and blisters.We also catch up on our family watch lists and Read More

It’s Earth Week, so we’re reviewing the nature documentary series Queens on Disney Plus. Find out whether the combination of beautiful photography and female-centric stories is a winning one and which of your hosts just can’t handle the harsh realities of life in the wild.Previous episodes we mention: Cinderella The article telling Read More

Things we mentioned in this episode:Today’s Screen Time in the News article: Sharing childhood faves with my kids has its ups and downs – but I know it takes them places Netflix or Disney won’t by Myke Bartlett from The Guardian on March 18, 2024Past episodes we mention:PollyannaFor more on Read More

Things we mentioned in this episode:Previous episodes we mention:Kung Fu Panda 42 music videos for you:The truly terrible music video for Vanilla Ice’s rap in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 The much better music video to the Phineas and Ferb song “There’s a Platypus Controlling Me” The Loud House Movie made us Read More

Things we mentioned in this episode:Parents have a problem with screen time, too, teens say by Heather KellyLink to the Pew Research Center report Zigazoo, the bizarre social media app for kidsWhat we’ve been watching with our kids:Young SheldonThe EternalsWhat we’re watching (though not always enjoying) during grown-up screen time:Constellations on Read More

Things we mentioned in this episode:Old episodes we mention:Raya and the Last Dragon The Super Mario Bros. Movie Animal Crackers The Watch podcast from The RingerWe compared this movie to the grown-up book What Color is Your Parchute?: Your Guide to a Lifetime of Meaningful Work and Career Success.We cast the gritty HBO Read More