Reading the Times

Whenever we reach for our phones or scan a newspaper to get "caught up," we are being not merely informed but also formed. Christians mustn't let the news replace prayer as Hegel envisioned, but neither should we simply discard the daily feed. In Reading the Times, Jeffrey Bilbro invites readers to take a step back and gain some theological and historical perspective on the nature and very purpose of news. He reflects on how we pay attention, how we discern the nature of time and history, and how we form communities through what we read and discuss.

Drawing on writers from Thoreau and Dante to Merton and Berry, along with activist-journalists such as Frederick Douglass and Dorothy Day, Bilbro offers an alternative vision of the rhythms of life, one in which we understand our times in light of what is timeless. Throughout, he suggests practices to counteract common maladies tied to media consumption in order cultivate healthier ways of reading and being.