YES!

Well, at least we can agree there are no benefits. To me this seems like a no-brainer, but the ever growing amount of money spent on baby media products (approaching $225 million annually) like those offered by Baby Einstein indicates some parents think otherwise. Now Disney, who bought Baby Einstein in 2001, is admitting its baby media products do not make kids smarter, and is offering a full refund on products purchased since 2004. Here is a NY Times article with more details about the recall.

Remember when then President Bush hailed the founder of Baby Einstein as the embodiment of “the great enterprising spirit of America.” Here is a good Slate article from the day after that State of the Union address.

UPDATE: Here are some more interesting articles on this topic: CNN, Time 1, Time 2.

As it turns out, actually interacting with your children is better for them that any video ever could be.  Here is a strong statement to that effect from the American Academy of Pediatrics from a 2006 memo.

Research on early brain development shows that babies and toddlers have a critical need for direct interactions with parents and other caregivers for healthy brain growth and the development of appropriate social, emotional, and cognitive skills. These infant videos are marketed under the guise of being educational. The company names alone, Brainy Baby and Baby Einstein, are proof of the marketing strategy. There is no current evidence to prove that these videos help infants and toddlers in an intellectual or developmental way. Parents should know that their babies will develop just fine without watching these videos.

Check out this Baby Einstein video.  I don’t know about educational, but it sure is mesmerizing.

UPDATE: Read what Dan Willingham has to say about this topic here.

Tonight at 9 p.m. CST on PBS, viewers can catch the national debut of The Buffalo Flows.  The Buffalo Flows is a film about the Buffalo River written and produced by local UA professor Larry Foley, with photography by Trey Marley, editing by Dale Carpenter, and narration by Ray McKinnon.  It also features music by the UA’s James Greeson.  The film recently won 2 emmy awards.  Here is a clip that features some of the original music and some beautiful pictures of the Buffalo River.

Northwest Arkansas fans of guitars and good music will finally get a chance this weekend to see the new guitar-based documentary “It Might Get Loud.”  From Rotten Tomatoes:

Filmed through the eyes of three virtuosos from three different generations, audiences get up close and personal, discovering how a furniture upholsterer from Detroit, a studio musician and painter from London and a seventeen-year-old Dublin schoolboy, each used the electric guitar to develop their unique sound and rise to the pantheon of superstar. Rare discussions are provoked as we travel with Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White to influential locations of their pasts.

Alas, the movie is only playing at Fiesta Square in Northwest Arkansas, but I did call them and confirm that they are playing it on one of their larger screens.  And, sorry Stuart, as far as I know George Michael is not in this movie.

And, speaking of movies, anyone watching television last night was rocked off their couch by the newest trailer for 2012. While it doesn’t look like a great movie, the special effects promise that this one will be loud as well. Yikes!

Anyone interested in social science should take a look at this article in the Wall Street Journal.

Feeling stressed out? Maybe you need the proper motivation, as Dr. Boli points out.