“We too often fail to scrutinize the quality and meaning of what we read and spread. … We use our devices to the exclusion of better things. We let them speed up our hedonic treadmills. We let them foster what in German is called streitsüchtig, a word that is usually translated “quarrelsomeness” but that literally means something like “dispute-addicted”—possessed of a hunger for rancor and a need for an enemy. We let our screens take mental, emotional, and spiritual attention and energy we owe to God and each other. We let them make us lonely—and yet we don’t recognize it as loneliness, because the content constantly blasting in our faces is a temporary simulacrum of relationship.”
— Bonnie Kristian, Untrustworthy
Tomorrow at 12 p.m. (EST), I am very excited to discuss Bonnie Kristian’s new book with you all. In Untrustworthy, Bonnie—a veteran editor, essayist, author, and columnist—considers vital issues surrounding knowledge, news consumption, and trust in everyday American life. She helps readers to consider what they can know to be true, how to navigate conflicts between and with the people we care about, and the habits that ought to govern our modes of news consumption.
Bonnie has long been a reasoned, thoughtful writer, and I deeply admire her commitment to truth telling and careful scholarship. I hope you’ll join us for this discussion! I’ll try to record it for those who cannot join us tomorrow.
Feel free to email or comment below with any questions you might have. I would love to share them, if time allows.