The Reading Commons

For the month of August we will kick off the group by discussing the cover story from the August issue. Perhaps appropriately the article is entitled "The Age of Reading is Over" (the online edition has a somewhat different name for the Internet: "The End of Reading Is Here").

As a brand new Meetup group, I expect things to be flexible for a while. So if another day of the week or time of day works better for you, I’d love to hear!

Here is the free link to next week’s article:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/08/reading-crisis-postliterate-age/687618/?gift=vIg6YgHx4KloTIXcuBO5E3bqQLnqwSNQG0W556Tmuvs&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

The article argues that as sustained reading gives way to digital distraction, video, and AI, we risk losing not just a habit but the forms of attention, critical thought, cultural memory, and civic reasoning that literacy helped create.

Does reading matter? Why?
What do we lose when we stop reading?
Are we witnessing a decline—or a transformation?

Let me know if you have any trouble accessing the article.

***

The Atlantic is perhaps America's most important journal. For nearly 170 years it has traced the cultural and political trajectory of the United States printing articles from W.E.B Dubois and Mark Twain through Virginia Woolf and Kurt Vonnegut to Ta-Nehisi Coates and David Brooks.

The Atlantic is opinionated, but unlike other long-running publications such as The Nation or National Review, it is not partisan. The heart of the publication has always honest conversation. Its pages wrestle with who are as a nation and a people and where we are going.

For our second August meeting we will read the article "What AI Will Do to Art" which makes the claim "the future doesn't have to belong to slop."

The article explores whether AI will diminish art by making creation effortless and impersonal, or open new forms of human creativity—ultimately arguing that technology may transform how art is made, but cannot replace the human intention, care, and emotional connection that give art its meaning.

Here is the free link to the article:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/08/ai-art-holly-herndon-mat-dryhurst/687619/?gift=vIg6YgHx4KloTIXcuBO5E_hfEuYQdjd-5AinTjqWwhA&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Please reach out to me if you need assistance getting a copy of "What AI Will Do to Art".

Note: the webpage for the digital edition also has an audio version available.

***

The Atlantic is perhaps America's most important journal. For nearly 170 years it has traced the cultural and political trajectory of the United States printing articles from W.E.B Dubois and Mark Twain through Virginia Woolf and Kurt Vonnegut to Ta-Nehisi Coates and David Brooks.

The Atlantic is opinionated, but unlike other long-running publications such as The Nation or National Review, it is not partisan. The heart of the publication has always honest, informed conversation. Its pages wrestle with who are as a nation and a people and where we are going.