Announcement: Audio Versions Now Available

Announcement: Audio Versions Now Available

Dear readers,

I’m dropping into your inbox to let you know that I have posted audio versions of several of my essays from the past few months. You can now find the audio, read (imperfectly and unprofessionally) by me, at the top of each of the following posts:

“Neil Postman’s Technopoly at 30” (August, 2023)

“When the Machine Consumes Itself” (October, 2023)

“Teaching Silicon to Talk” (December, 2023)

“On Common Sense and Expertise” (January, 2024)

I hope that providing an audio format may lessen the burden of reading for those who are interested in what I have to say, but would rather not have to stare at a screen (or even sit still) in order to do so. Whenever audio is available, I myself often prefer to listen rather than to read, and I have benefitted from other Substack writers who have offered this option. So, from now on, I plan to include an audio version each time a new essay comes out.

While I’m here, a few other (very brief) orders of business. Compared to some other newsletters, I don’t publish all that often. This is the first post some of you are receiving as a subscriber to Ever Not Quite, and you may be wondering just what it is you’ve signed up for. If that’s the case, I refer you over to the About page, which has recently seen some light updating.

For subscribers who are reading the email version of the newsletter, I confess that I will occasionally make changes—always minor but, to me, meaningful—to an essay after it has already gone out. These small revisions, of course, don’t show up in the email once it’s been sent. I feel a little guilty about this practice (at least when the change is anything more substantial than the correction of a typo), but not enough to swear it off entirely; sometimes little details really bother me and I feel compelled to fix them. So, if you are reading after some time has passed since the email landed in your inbox, you can always be sure you’re seeing the most up-to-date version of any given post by pulling it up on the website.

I plan to publish the next essay, which will look at the relationship between the effective altruism movement and modern technology, within a week or so.

As always, thank you for reading and subscribing!

With much appreciation,

Patrick