Well-worn are the theories that advancing technology isolates us more, not less, and it is easy to idealize centuries-past life as simpler, more civil, more intelligent and, ironically, more ‘connected.’ The point is, we live in a very different time, and we would appear to place our priorities in very different places: what entertains our selves versus what serves our society. Clearly a society must be politically free to indulge in the luxury of such introspection. But has the complacency of our political freedom blinded us to the potential our ancestors fought for?

Cover image: “Washington Laughing Out Loud,” 2012, acrylic and pencil on canvas.

INTERVIEWS

CHRIS DUFFY (interview with Chris Gethard) is a writer, educator, and comedian. He’s the host of You’re the Expert, a new public radio show where comedians try to guess what the nation’s leading professors study all day. More info at: www.chrisduffycomedy.com

ALEX RONAN (interview with Chris Kraus) grew up in New York. She currently lives, writes, and occasionally babysits fancy children in Providence.

ABBY KOSKI (interview with Dossie Easton) is originally from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and now resides in Brooklyn and works in publishing. Find her @aekoski.