A parent trying imperfectly to look at his kids instead of his screen.

Instagram eating into reading time. Everything seeming urgent when it's not. The simple act of listening to the world go by.

This week, no expert interview - just real people answering four honest questions about their phones:

• When did you get your first smartphone?
• What daily phone habit would have shocked you 10 years ago?
• Ever tried unplugging?
• What does your phone stop you from doing?

The average American checks their phone 205 times a day. Over 43% of us admit we're addicted. In these confessions, you'll hear what we're missing: presence, books, conversation, silence, the sounds of life.

This Week's Analog Assignment: Push aside all that your phone offers and identify what it's taking away. Take it back.

The Analog Hour: analoginadigitalworld.net

When you scroll through news online, can you tell what's fact and what's opinion? If you're struggling, you're not alone - and it's not your fault.

Lynn Walsh is an Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist, former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, and former ethics chair. In 2016, at the peak of "fake news" claims, Lynn started taking phone calls from Americans who'd lost faith in journalism. What she learned during those conversations changed the trajectory of her career.

In this episode, Lynn explains:

• The labeling problem that's impacting trust in the media
• How sensationalism and bias complaints reveal deeper misunderstandings
• What happens when good journalists go independent
• Why we're all "committing acts of journalism" - and the responsibility that goes with that
• Practical steps to rebuild trust and restore faith in the media

This Week's Analog Assignment: The next time you're about to share something online, pause and ask yourself: Is this accurate? Do I trust this source? Is this news or opinion? If you're not sure, either don't share it - or add context.

Connect with Lynn Walsh: on LinkedIn and at Trusting News

Resources:

• Everyone Should Help Minimize Harm
• SPJ Code of Ethics
• FAQ About Journalism Ethics

Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and find out more: analoginadigitalworld.net

There was a time when half of America sat down at the same hour and watched the same tv show. When a moonwalk or a moon landing or a series finale wasn't just an event — it was a shared experience, a cultural reference point that connected strangers at bus stops and colleagues at water coolers and kids on the playground.

That era is over. But what exactly did we lose when it ended — and was it really as good as we remember?

This week on The Analog Hour, I'm joined by Professor Bob Thompson, one of America's leading authorities on television and popular culture, who has spent more than 40 years at Syracuse University studying how what we watch shapes who we are.

We cover a lot of ground — and Bob has a gift for reframing things you thought you understood. We talk about why the age of shared mass culture was actually a case of social engineering; how shows like Leave It to Beaver presented a perfectly polished version of America while the country was immense upheaval.; and why the same technology that once pulled us together is now pulling us apart.

We also talk about I Dream of Jeannie in a way that will ruin it for you slightly. You're welcome.

In this episode:

• Why the era of shared mass culture — from roughly 1890 to 1990 — may be the greatest cultural consensus in human history
• How cable didn't just add channels; it ended the shared cultural conversation
• What All in the Family, MASH, and The Cosby Show reveal about television's complicated relationship with social progress

Professor Bob Thompson is the founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications. He makes regular media appearances worldwide — from the BBC to the New York Times — to explain what pop culture says about society.

New episodes of The Analog Hour drop weekly (every Friday). Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and find us at analoginadigitalworld.net.

If this episode resonated, please leave a review and share it with someone who still remembers exactly where they were when an event unfolded that touched all of us.