Number 46 - Wednesday, March 19, 2008

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a periodical newsletter from
MARS HILL AUDIO

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What We’re Reading

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Possibility Junkies
University of Virginia English professor Mark Edmundson has a keen eye for cultural ecosystems. He has written perceptively about how changes in the texture of the everyday lives of his students affects the orientation of their souls. In a 1997 article in Harper’s, “On the Uses of a Liberal Education,” he described how the conditioning of his students by consumer/entertainment culture (and their desire to be cool) made it hard for them to acquire a passion for learning. . . . [Read more about Mark Edmundson’s latest essay on the frenetic mood on campuses]

The Meaning of Human Dignity
In his 1985 book, Toward a More Natural Science, Leon Kass observed: “Liberal democracy, founded on a doctrine of human freedom and dignity, has as its most respected body of thought a teaching that has no room for freedom and dignity.” Kass was referring to the fact that a materialistic science, science detached from any metaphysical or religious definitions of human nature or purpose, had achieved an exalted place in Western societies. . . . [Read more about a recent anthology on the meaning of human dignity in bioethics]

A Culture of One
“In this era of exploding media technologies there is no truth except the truth you create for yourself.” That’s the assertion of Richard Edelman, the founder and CEO of one of the world’s largest public relations companies. The work of PR professionals has always caused concern from people concerned with truth. But Edelman’s observation suggests that in the communications ecosystem that is the Internet, where everyone is a spinmeister, the very idea of truth becomes less and less plausible. . . . [Read more about Andrew Keen’s book, The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture]

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“Whatever one’s view of the transition from ‘soul’ to ‘self’ as the preferred name for human significance, the transition from ‘self’ to ‘brand’ is catastrophic.”

—Leon Wieseltier, “Branded,” The New Republic, March 12, 2008

Here’s What
You're Missing

Volume 89 of the Journal included the following features: Jerome C. Wakefield on how psychiatry began ignoring symptoms of mental suffering and so defined sadness as a disease (and on the role of drug companies in promoting new views of human well-being), Christopher Lane on the complex characteristics of anxiety and the tendency to treat the absence of ease with drugs, Dan G. Blazer on why psychiatric disorders require attention to the story of patients’ lives, Fred Turner on 1960s dreams of countercultural change and the rise of the Whole Earth Catalog, Barrett Fisher on the films of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, and Thomas Hibbs on the theme of the possibility of redemption in film noir, “neo-noir,” and similar films.

Volume 90 is now being edited and MP3 subscribers should be able to hear it in about 3 weeks. It includes a special collection of interviews about the decline of reading in American society. This issue features an interview with National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia, talking about the NEA report, “To Read or Not to Read?” Other guests include: painter Makoto Fujimura on the relationship between reading, visual literacy, and thoughtful engagement with Creation; pastor/theologian Eugene Peterson on the importance of reading in cultivating our spiritual lives; and Rev. Gregory Reynolds on how insights from the discipline of “media ecology” can inform the life of the Church.

Other guests in the wings for future issues include Michael P. Schutt on Redeeming Law: Christian Calling and the Legal Profession; J. Mark Bertrand on (Re)thinking Worldview: Learning to Think, Live, and Speak in This World; George McKenna on The Puritan Origins of American Patriotism; Michael Ward on Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis; Glenn Tinder on Liberty: Rethinking an Imperiled Ideal; and some conversations about Alexis de Tocqueville and individualism.

Rev.-izing our Connections

A lot of the interviews we feature have consequences for the life of local churches. The positive comments we continue to receive from ministers leads us to believe that a lot of clergy who don’t know about our work might like to know. So we are going to start sending out some special announcements to clergy about materials available from MARS HILL AUDIO and from other sources (e.g., books, online texts, etc.). If you are serving in some ministerial position and would like to receive these e-mail announcements, please contact our Director of Marketing, Karen Frank, at kfrank@marshillaudio.org. Also, if you think a pastor or priest in your church would like to receive such materials but may not already be a MARS HILL AUDIO subscriber, please forward that person’s name, his or her e-mail address, and the name of the church to Karen Frank. Note: we never disclose e-mail addresses to any other organizations.

Ken Myers in Nashville

No, he’s not singing at the Opry. But he will be giving some lectures at a Forum sponsored by the Humanitas Project and held at the Belmont Church in Nashville. The Forum, scheduled for April 11 and 12, is entitled “More than a Personal Savior: Following the Great Commissioner Monday through Saturday.” Ken will be giving two lectures. The first is entitled “We’re Not Just Souls: How the Gospel Addresses our Cultural Lives,” and the second is called “Conformity or Transformation? Why the Church Can’t Be Too Relevant.” Also speaking is Jeremy Beer, a member of the MARS HILL AUDIO board of directors and Publications Director and Editor in Chief at ISI Books. Dr. Beer will speak twice, on “What’s So Weird about Modernity? Therapy and the Corruption of Culture” and “All Culture Is Local: The Christian Life and the Discipline of Place.” For more information, consult the Humanitas Project’s website.

Big Sale on Big Products

We’re proud of the fact that the content of MARS HILL AUDIO products is of greater longevity than the media through which they are delivered. Long-time subscribers to our Journal remember when it was called the MARS HILL Tapes, since audiocassettes were then the preferred medium for listening in cars or while jogging. But fewer and fewer people listen to tapes any longer (although the Journal is still available in that form). We need to make some storage space available for CDs and other supplies, so sometime this summer, we’re going to clear shelf space of a number of cassette products, especially three of our Reports and three of our Audio Books. The content of these products remains insightful and illuminating, so if you still have a Walkman in working order, or a cassette player in your vintage automobile, now’s your big (and last) chance to save on these six products. Cassette subscribers to the Journal will receive notice with volume 89, and everyone can find out more at this special page on our website.

Various Details, Disclaimers, etc.

From time to time, MARS HILL AUDIO may send you an e-mail about your subscription (such as renewal offers) and information that may be of interest about subjects we discuss on the Journal and on our other products. Under no circumstances will we sell, rent, or give away your e-mail address to third parties. For further details on how we use your personal information see MARS HILL AUDIO's privacy notice.

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