Dear
Reader,
Hello there, this is Mark Bauerlein. I come today bearing not a podcast but a request. We have entered the final week of our 2022 Year-End Campaign, and our $800,000 goal is in reach.
Please consider a tax-deductible gift to FIRST THINGS today.
I ask this with some urgency, as I truly believe that readers like you are vital to the future of our nation and our faith. If you've read my articles or books, you'll know that I'm distraught about the condition of the young—their minds, hearts, and spirits. Test scores have plummeted, attention spans have shrunk, faith has diminished, and wokeism has invaded our educational institutions.
What can be done?
Quite simply, we need to take matters into our own hands. We need to read great books and raise our children to do the same. We must feed them the Bible, the architecture of Chartres, the sounds of Mozart, the colors of Impressionism, and the words of our greatest poets. We must teach them to think deeply about life's biggest questions, even as many others, sadly, don't think deeply about much at all.
Venues for such pursuits are few, and of inestimable value. What is estimable: the cost of sustaining and growing such an institution. For each dollar of subscription revenue, we need to raise $2.50. Meeting our $800,000 goal will make possible our 2023 magazine and core educational programs.
If you agree that FIRST THINGS is such a venue, I hope you'll deepen your engagement with our work by contributing to our 2022 Year-End Campaign today. 
