Today in “On the Square,” Joseph Bottum describes what would have been for some others a misspent weekend, spent watching the old televisions how What’s My Line? on Youtube. And in Lining Culture finds that what “the weird, silly, self-important old show did have, that would soon be lost, is an imagination of culture. And a unified culture, at that.” Which, as he goes on to say, is important for us to know, because we don’t.
Also, in October Comes Early , we describe the next issue, now in the mail.
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.
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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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