CT: Project Hail Mary, Grace Through Tragedy, and AI Impersonating

0:00Welcome to the Culture Translator. This is the audio version of our weekly email newsletter. To sign up for our free newsletter or for more access resources, go to access.org. The latest TikTok trend involves sounding like a brainless sick of ant to mimic chat GPT. A senior prank goes wrong in Georgia, and Project Hail Mary protects art, science, and Ryan Gosling into a family-friendly movie. But first, song of the week Choosing Texas by Ella Langley. Hovering at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, Spotify and Apple Music charts for weeks now, the song Choosing Texas is a country ballad about being left for another woman,

1:00who is personified as Texas, with the singer embodying Tennessee. The song has been praised for its traditional country style and structure, and for the confidence implied by Langley not feeling the need to add vocal fillers to every half second of her choruses. To hear the song or read the lyrics, click the links in the show notes. First in the top three, the G stands for Glaze. The chat GPT to someone right now, trend on TikTok is poking fun at the ways AI chatbots tend to always validate and agree with their prompters, even if they robbed a bank or hit someone with their car. Why it's really about discipleship. While chat GPT can help you organize a spreadsheet or figure out your math homework, if you ask it for life advice, it will repeatedly build you up and help justify your actions, even if you're totally in the wrong. LLM chatbots require users to keep the conversation going with it. Otherwise, it fails. Hence, chatbots glazing their users. This is something we noticed and

2:05called out when we spent some time with chat GPT last year. Despite it seeming like it's a common use, AI chatbots are woefully unable and unprepared to disciple people, to lovingly call them away from unhealthy or even sinful behavior and gently guide them back to Christ. Here's a question to continue the conversation. Who is someone in your life who won't let you get away with things? Do you like that or not? Next up, Unthinkable Grace. Senior prank season is upon us, and teens in the US are coming up with all manner of light vandalism to seal their legacy. But in one case, in Georgia, a senior prank gone wrong changed an entire community. Why it points to Jesus. From all accounts, math teacher and golf coach Jason Hughes was beloved by his students at North Hall High School in Gainesville, Georgia. He knew his students were coming to cover his house with toilet paper, and he was looking forward to catching them in the act. But the road was slippery and Hughes fell. The students in the excitement of the prank

3:10didn't see Hughes and fatally struck him as they drove away. But they didn't flee the scene. They stayed and called for help. Hughes couldn't be saved. But his wife advocated that all charges be dropped against the students, and she prevailed. Her attorney said afterwards, there was no crime here, just a tragic accident. In a statement, the driver of the truck that struck Hughes said, I pledged to live out the remainder of my life in a manner that honors the memory of Koch Hughes by exemplifying Christ. He will never be forgotten. The Hughes family's radical forgiveness gave these students a gift in the midst of their guilt and grief. It's a devastating lesson, but one full of grace. Here's a question to continue the conversation. What's the bravest thing you've ever heard of a teen your age doing? Discipling a teen doesn't come with instant results. It's faithful, unseen work. Access exists to help you stay in it for the long haul. If this podcast has helped you stay curious or maybe just stay sane, we're asking you to join

4:14the people who make that possible. Become a monthly donor today at access.org slash the table. Last in the top three, heart and science. Project Hail Mary hitting theaters this week and adapted from Andy Weir's bestselling novel follows middle school teacher Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, who's sent on a last-ditch mission to save Earth. Why it's hopeful and hilarious. Movies that are clean, wholesome, and actually feel good to watch with your kids are rare right now. This screenplay somehow balances an intimate friendship between a teacher and a crab like rock alien with a full on science class. The perfectly-paced story moves gently between Grace helping scientists on Earth search for a solution to the crisis and Grace and Rocky, an alien, sharing meaningful sometimes philosophical conversations. All makes with a few action-packed sequences. Imagine Interstellar and ET combined, then make it really funny. With audiences belly

5:17laughing throughout, it feels almost shocking to find a movie this warm and hopeful in a time where films can feel so cynical, and you can enjoy it right alongside your family. For a closer look at content and age appropriateness, you can read reviews linked in the show notes. Let's translate this one further. When the Project Hail Mary book first came out, I'd been reading alongside my kids for years. This one felt like it was made for the particularly nerdy ecosystem I shared with my then 16, 12, and 11 year old sons. Space check. Science double check. Aliens triple check. What I remember most is the regularity of it, the everyday rituals of sharing a story. We'd carefully circle each other trying not to spoil anything. Did you get to the part with one of us would ask trailing off? When the other answered with an excited yes, we'd both light up. Oh my gosh, and then that happened. Those conversations are still some of my most precious memories.

6:19As the years went on, our informal book clubs became fewer and farther between. It really does hurt when they grow up. We still squeeze in a shared read here and there. Mickey 17 with one son last year, atomic habits, decidedly off genre, with another more recently. But the days of all of us having our noses in the same book have mostly passed. The ache for those feel good moments as a mother never really goes away. At the same time, I know they're supposed to grow. They stretch, to part fall in love with other people and other worlds. Some days it feels like my heart is the one that needs a Hail Mary as they slip through my fingers towards girlfriends, jobs, and college. Maybe that's part of why Project Hail Mary on screen felt so good. We actually managed a rare sinking of schedule so all of my sons could see it with my husband and I. Even my daughter, watching from another state, aligned her screening with ours. On the drive home, the car was full of excited chatter about favorite scenes and lines. And later, my daughter called to gush about

7:21her favorite moments too. It felt like getting a little piece of her old book club days back. It's a clever sci-fi story, but more than that, a reminder that I can still share wonder, sacrifice, and unlikely friendship with my kids in new ways. Scripture tells us there's a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing. Ecclesiastes 3. In a season when so much is changing, this little movie night felt like a small, unexpected embrace in the middle of the in between. For more context and nuance, check out our Roundtable podcast right here in this podcast feed and now on our YouTube channel. In the meantime, here are three questions to help you continue the conversation with your teens. If you were given a free ticket to go to space, would you say yes? If you were in space with one other person or alien, what would you want them to be like? Which do you think matters more in a friendship, showing up, or saying the right thing? And on your way out, here's more of what's

8:22happening in the cultural landscape. Number one, the Oscars happened. Ryan Kugler was the second black screenwriter to win best original screenplay. Plus, for the seventh time in the history of the award show, there was a tie. Number two, your aislotbores.me is a new website where users can roleplay as AI, with users playing the human or AI role. People are posting screen shot of the humorous, human responses and bonding over their shared dislike for AI Slop. Number three, it's time to make your brackets, because March Madness is here. The annual college basketball tournaments will be dominating TV screens until the national championship game in early April. Number four, Nvidia announced a new feature that uses AI to make games look better. With some users calling it a Slop AI filter for games. Number five, Noah Khan out of body. A documentary following the singer's songwriter's mental health journey on tour will be out in April. If you'd like to

9:23look into any of these further, the links will be in the show notes. PS, no of someone who could use the conversation starters with their teens, share the culture translator with a friend. Thanks so much for listening. This podcast is made possible because of our generous donor community called the table. To help us support more parents and other caring adults through culture translation, we'd love to invite you to check it out by visiting us at access.org slash the table. Also, if you've been impacted by what we do, would you consider helping us get the word out by leaving a five star review on whatever podcast platform you use? And by sharing this episode with someone who you think it could benefit. Finally, you can now find our podcast on our YouTube channel, Access Conversations. And thank you so much for caring about having intentional conversations with the next generation.