We’ve all been there. You need to buy something random and a bit urgently. You hop in the car and drive to a nearby Walmart, or open your Amazon app and get a next-day delivery through Prime. No doubt that these regular fixtures of our modern economy have brought convenience and expedience to our lives, but what are the tradeoffs that we aren’t considering? Kathryn Judge is the author of Direct: The Rise of the Middleman Economy and the Power of Going to the Source. We talk about how “middlemen” became part of our everyday consumer lives and whether or not the way we shop necessarily lines up with our Catholic values. In Signs of the Times, Zac and Ashley talk with Kevin Clarke, America’s chief correspondent, about what happened at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual meeting in Baltimore. Links from the Show:  Direct: The Rise of the Middleman Economy and the Power of Going to the Source Archbishop Broglio, questioned on abuse, homosexuality and whether he’s a ‘Pope Francis’ bishop in first press conference as USCCB head Jesuitical Litany of the Saints What’s on tap?  Fancy Free (Luxardo liqueur Old Fashioned) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices