I'm Warren Smith, and today you'll be listening in on my conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Bilbrough,

the author of a provocative new book called Reading the Times, a literary and theological inquiry into the news.

The church has historically made some big claims on our attention through worship and through regular gathering together and shared meals.

But if we replace those with media consumption, then our sense of belonging shifts from the church to however we imagine our tribe of fellow news junkies.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you that we live in a media-saturated culture.

I need look no further than this very podcast to identify new media that didn't even exist

a generation ago.

And that proliferation of new media,

with all of its promise of benefits,

has also brought new problems,

distraction, anxiety, noise, information overload.

We're in the paradoxical state

of having more information than ever and simultaneously more confusion,

more knowledge, but less wisdom, more outrage at the problems we see, but fewer solutions

and less clarity about which of the solutions is the right one. If you're a listening

and regular, you know that these questions, these concerns are not new ones for me. When

World News Group's editor-in-chief, Marvin Alasky and I revised his classic book, Prodigal Press in

2013, we devoted a new chapter to new media and the challenges

that it presents. I have many guests on this program, in fact, who have discussed this very

topic. So I'm not easily impressed when I encounter a new book about news, media, and the

digital revolution. I was, though, very impressed

with Dr. Jeffrey Bilbrose's new book, Reading the Times. He combines a sophisticated

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