Read, learn, and think about what’s worth preserving and honoring.
At National Review, we often hear from our readers and supporters that they value NR as an island of sanity in a world that appears to be losing its mind. To me, over the past several months, that respite has never seemed so vital — and, if you agree, if you’ve found yourself relying on National Review now more than ever, I hope you’ll consider supporting our summer fundraising drive.
It can feel as if no one and no thing — no statue or saint or piece of art or formerly revered author — is immune from the ever-expanding reach of cancel culture. (I, for one, didn’t expect Loyola University to be the first to come for Flannery O’Connor.) It can be rage- or apathy-inducing, but one of the best ways to resist ignorance, illiberalism, and iconoclasm is to read, learn, and think about what in our culture is worth knowing and preserving: history, arts and letters, music, film. That’s what National Review’s books and culture coverage is dedicated to. It’s always been a core part of our mission, and it’s newly urgent now.
Here’s just a small sampling of essays and reviews from our recent issues and on the Web: Rich Lowry on William Tecumseh Sherman; Joseph Epstein on Philip Roth; Madeleine Kearns on Brideshead Revisited; Michael Brendan Dougherty on Central European filmmakers; and David Pryce-Jones on Henry Kissinger.
Our writers are consistently fearless in countering groupthink and intellectual fads in the arts and the academy, whether it’s Armond White chronicling 25 films that mis-educated a generation of nihilists, Brian T. Allen unraveling the narrative of the New York Times’ 1619 Project with a fascinating tour through American art history, or Jay Nordlinger defending race-blind auditions for orchestras.
And, in what is now an increasingly rare experience in our media landscape, you’ll often read writers on our site who strongly, and respectfully, disagree with one another (whether on the Trump administration or the prequels to Star Wars).
None of this could happen without the help of our readers. Your generosity truly makes possible the work that we do. So thank you for anything you can give — and stay sane out there!
