Devoted readers have probably noticed the ad in this issue announcing that we’re accepting applications for the Junior Fellows program.
I’m sure many of you are thinking that this is a great opportunity, but please heed the advice of one who knows: Don’t be be taken in. For unless you like intensely interesting reading and frequent conversation with some of the brightest contributors to the most fascinating and urgent debates of our time, a junior fellow’s life is no life at all. Unless you value the privilege of testing your ideas against sharp minds and your prose against expert editing, you’d be better off in the coalmines. Unless you’re one of those eccentrics for whom lively interaction with brilliant and witty peers counts as a “good time,” then for heaven’s sake keep your writing samples to yourself.
If you still feel tortured by a subrational urge to apply against your better judgment, take heart. The deadline is almost here , so the danger will soon be past.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
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