Fred Rogers met with a child psychologist every week for 22 years to build his show. She shaped everything: every script, prop, and song. The whole point was to give a child's nervous system time to slow down. In 1984, a single regulatory decision ended all of it.
The psychologist was Dr. Margaret McFarland, who co-founded the Arsenal Family and Children's Center alongside Benjamin Spock and Erik Erikson. She and Rogers understood that the prefrontal cortex in children, the part of the brain that controls impulse, emotion, and attention, takes decades to fully develop. At the start of every episode, Rogers tied his sneakers and changed his sweater while children settled in. Those pauses were intentional, designed to help a child's nervous system shift into a calmer, more focused state.
What ended it had nothing to do with child development science. In 1984, Reagan's FCC chairman Mark Fowler abolished the advertising limits that had protected children's programming from commercial pressure. Toy companies moved within months. Between 1984 and 1985, cartoons tied to toy lines increased by 300%, from a handful of shows to more than 40 animated series. In almost every case, the toy was designed first. The cartoon was built to sell it.
Researchers later put numbers to what parents were already noticing. A 2011 study in Pediatrics from the University of Virginia tested 60 four-year-olds across three groups: one watching SpongeBob, which cuts scene every 11 seconds; one watching a slow PBS show, which cuts scene every 34 seconds; and one drawing. Nine minutes later, all three took tests on attention, impulse control, short-term memory, and problem-solving. The SpongeBob group scored significantly worse across every measure.
In the 1970s, children began watching television around age 4. Research from pediatrician Dimitri Christakis found that by 2009, the average age of first screen exposure had dropped to 4 months, as the content got faster and the audience got younger. Researchers separately found that each additional hour of daily screen time at ages 1 or 3 raised the risk of attention problems at age 7 by 9%.
Our room for the coming days in Houston. I don’t even know what to say about this. This is just unreal. No words.
Huge huge thank you to JJ Watt for giving me and my friends the opportunity to stay at a place like this🙏🙏🙏
With Guillermo del Toro’s recommendation, I started watching Apple TV+‘s “Widow’s Bay.” It’s so incredibly good that I couldn’t stop, so I binged through Episode 9 in one go. This horror-comedy, executive produced by Hiro Murai, is set in a cursed island town 40 miles off the coast of New England. Dense fog, violent storms, and all kinds of supernatural phenomena descend upon the town. It’s packed with horror elements, one after another. Fans of Stephen King and horror in general will love it. The pacing is excellent, and the balance between horror and humor is just right. Ironically, the mayor’s tireless efforts to attract tourists reminded me of Mayor Vaughn from “Jaws.” The townspeople are wonderfully eccentric as well, with personalities straight out of “Twin Peaks.” It’s been a long time since a series pulled me in this completely. I can’t wait for next Wednesday’s final episode.
Pippen got 1 full season as a #1.
He was 1st team All-NBA, 3rd in MVP, they won 55 games, and took a higher seed to Game 7 in the semis.
He joined Bird and Jordan for the only 3 seasons ever with 22/8/5 and 2+ steals per game.
He would have been great for his versatility.
NEWS: A judge in district court in Lubbock County, Texas, has granted the injunction requested by Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby. He’s set to be eligible for the 2026 season.
The MJ PR machine is impressive ngl.
His first 3 postseasons he got bounced first round. Swept twice with a 1-9 total record. Next 3 postseasons all got ended by DET. 6 straight postseasons of belt to ass before his 1st Finals trip and folks will be dead serious when they tell you that’s that’s more impressive than a Finals run in your very 1st postseason.
Like I said it’s reached the point where the PR machine around him is so unapologetically revisionist that it’s actually impressive now.
Jordan a los 22:
Récord 30-52
Barrido en primera ronda
Wemby a los 22:
Récord 62-20
Finales
Esos tipos te van a decir que Wemby debió tener récord perdedor y/o ser barrido en primera ronda que ir a las finales.
El peor fanbase en los deportes.
This the quintessential story of how sports reflects the state of the world. Thousands of fans have waited for Game 3 their whole lives and now they’re priced out of entering the game and can’t even celebrate outside because one billionaire gets to attend the game for free.
this garbage take continues to proliferate. lebron james with 4 wins in 10 appearances is unambiguously way better than jordan’s 6 wins in 6 appearances