26 Comments
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Síochána Arandomhan's avatar

Will you post here in full at some point? Thanks

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Moomin Mama's avatar

"to bee" or not to bee, that is the question ;)

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Jane Killingbeck's avatar

It seems it’s not possible to read this essay which looks so interesting without subscribing to First Things?

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Black Teddy's avatar

Correct, it is a paid subscription.

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Mary Belgrave's avatar

Really annoying but cannot read it as others say without full subscription to First Things …

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Mary Belgrave's avatar

Seems that after a slight delay I’m now a free subscriber to First Things after all - so maybe worth other people waiting for an email from them!?

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Jane Killingbeck's avatar

Yes I have subscribed free and got the welcome email but still it blocks me from reading Mary’s essay when I finally found it ….. how about you?

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Leah Rose's avatar

Did you click on the link she provides at the end of this Substack intro (where it says: "Click here to read the whole thing")? I am not a First Things subscriber—free or paid—but that link opened the whole essay for me.

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Jane Killingbeck's avatar

You’re right … I just found how to get in to it without paying ! So now am free subscriber which looks quite interesting in itself . Thanks for the encouragement… it’s not so easy to manage for untechy people like me !

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Simon J. V. Malloch's avatar

And no doubt that’s related to the 'moral of the story'.

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Kerry Nitz's avatar

You may wish to note in this post that the article cannot be read without subscribing to First Things ($)

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Guy's avatar

It's worth going back to Marshall McLuhan's seminal and still-prophetic 1964 book, "Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man." More than 60 years ago, at the dawn of he computer age, he correctly foresaw the challenge to print, and Enlightenment values, in today's radically connected world and he was not a techno optimist. And his thinking was also grounded in traditional Catholic philosophy.

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Ouessante's avatar

Requires an account sign-up. Hoping it will be a paywalled post here at some point.

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Courtney Munson's avatar

I was able to read it for free on First Things (I clicked the link from your Twitter/X post).

It was very thought provoking, thank you. I had recently been reading David Chapman's writing on nobility and I could help but see the connections between that and what we've written. I urge you to check him out if you haven't already.

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Annie Gottlieb's avatar

Would love to read it but have hit a wall in terms of subscribing to more and more and more things. Just can't keep doing that. I also hope you post it here, or can somehow get access for your paid subscribers.

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Mark Neyer's avatar

What about TV and Radio? Would love to know how these factor into the analysis.

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hv's avatar

It’s in there if you have a chance to read the full essay.

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Eugine Nier's avatar

Shhh, now you went and made her analysis fall apart.

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hv's avatar

Lol maybe try reading the analysis before you critique it, right?

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Leo's avatar

Your link is paywalled: Q.E.D. your point: "The end of print culture is already upon us. "

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Groke Toffle's avatar

This is going to be a banger i can tell :))))

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TD Craig's avatar

Perhaps the basic truth about digital media is that it compounds and accelerates everything, leading to a whole lot of 'sound and fury signifying nothing'. We need to be picky about who and what we engage with.

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hv's avatar

For one thing, this is such an interesting, cogent, original response to the shallow, painfully inorganic “No Kings” sloganeering. Much to consider, as always. Well done. I look forward to exploring my new First Things subscription if this is the sort of essay they are publishing. Maybe I’ll even try the print option … ;)

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William Copley's avatar

Thank you for making this essay, which had been behind the First Things paywall, available for your Substack subscribers. I’m sure First Things is a fine site, but my number of subscriptions have been getting a bit out of control. Looking forward to reading.

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Richard Aston's avatar

Really disappointing this really interesting essay is behind a Paywall.

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Chris Coffman's avatar

Uh oh, sounds persuasive—I’ll go the First Things and read it

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