We have more information at our fingertips than any generation in history—so why are we becoming easier to mislead? Dr. Lauran Star and Ryan Barnes confront how social media is reshaping critical thinking, attention spans, creativity, and our perception of expertise. When popularity looks like credibility and scrolling replaces thinking, access to information may be making us less informed—not more.

Political party. Career. Religion. Race. Generation. Diagnosis. Success. Trauma. Labels may describe pieces of us—but what happens when they begin to define us?

Dr. Lauran Star and JD challenge the identities we defend, the tribes we refuse to question, and the groupthink that turns disagreement into betrayal. If every label disappeared tomorrow, who would still be standing?

Patriotism or Performance: Who Gets to Define Loving America?

What does it really mean to love America? Is patriotism measured by the flag you fly, the anthem you stand for, or your willingness to challenge the country to live up to its ideals? In this episode of Culture Shock, Dr. Lauran Star and her co-host Rachel Kerr Schneider explore the growing divide over patriotism, national identity, civic responsibility, and whether criticism is an act of disloyalty—or one of the highest forms of love for your country. Through respectful debate and evidence-based discussion, they ask the question too few people are willing to explore: Who gets to define what it means to be an American?