In this week's Brief: We break down Seattle's dominant Super Bowl win over the Patriots, the halftime show culture war between Bad Bunny and the Turning Point USA, and why this year's Super Bowl felt like an all-around stinker. But the moment that actually mattered most? Seahawks star Jaxon Smith-Njigba giving all glory to God at the pinnacle of success.

From there, we dive into the AI arms race, from Super Bowl ad wars between Anthropic and OpenAI to the "SaaS-pocalypse" that rattled Wall Street. And we touch on one of the most disturbing political stories of the year: an AI-generated video shared from President Trump's account depicting the Obamas as primates.

Plus, major Epstein file updates including Ghislaine Maxwell's testimony and international fallout, Winter Olympics highlights, the latest on the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping, and a reflection on what true success and failure look like through the lens of faith.

Topics

• (0:00) Introduction 
• (5:08) Halftime show controversy
• (12:37) AI in the spotlight
• (18:00) Trump's AI video controversy
• (22:50) Epstein files: dark revelations
• (31:03) Winter Olympics highlights
• (38:55) Savannah Guthrie kidnapping case
• (40:57) Tensions with Iran
• (41:54) Conclusion and call to action

Resources

• Send us your thoughts, questions, and topic ideas: culturebrief@denisonforum.org
• Culture Brief Instagram
• Watch on Youtube 
• Sign-up for a Denison Forum newsletter: DenisonForum.org/subscribe

Articles on this week’s top headlines:

• X Post: Seattle Seahawks Jaxon-Smith Njigba’s faith
• X: Super Bowl Viewership
• X: Super Bowl Halftime Viewership
• Denison Forum: How to help kids process disturbing news in a digital age (Epstein files)
• Denison Forum: What Lindsey Vonn wrote after her crash at the Olympics
• Lawmakers Review Unredacted Epstein Files
• A.I. Blitzes the Big Game
• Denison Forum: Should churches use AI?
• Tech-Stock Recovery Fuels Dow Record
• Denison Forum: White House video depicts the Obamas as primates
• CNN: Nancy Guthrie case live updates

About Conner Jones

Conner Jones is the Director of Performance Marketing at Denison Ministries and Co-Hosts Denison Forum's "Culture Brief" podcast. He graduated from Dallas Baptist University in 2019 with a degree in Business Management. Conner passionately follows politics, sports, pop-culture, entertainment, and current events. He enjoys fishing, movie-going, and traveling the world with his wife and son.

About Micah Tomasella

Micah Tomasella is the Director of Advancement at Denison Ministries and co-hosts Denison Forum's "Culture Brief" podcast. A graduate of Dallas Baptist University, Micah is married to Emily, and together they are the proud parents of two daughters. With an extensive background in nonprofit work, finance, and real estate, Micah also brings experience from his years in pastoral church ministry.

About Denison Forum

Denison Forum exists to thoughtfully engage the issues of the day from a biblical perspective through The Daily Article email newsletter and podcast, the Faith & Clarity podcast, as well as many books and additional resources.