451 NOW

451 NOW is a new podcast launching in January with the goal of encouraging deep reading of both modern and classic works. It features book based interviews with their respective authors. Thomas Jefferson once (allegedly) wrote “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.” According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics less than 19% of Americans age 15 and older reported reading for pleasure. 33% of high school graduates never read another book. 42% of college students stop reading books after graduation. Some have told us that reading is a hobby of the elite from an era long bygone. They have said, “ it’s a lost cause”. In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Jefferson Smith played by James Stewart quips “I guess this is just another lost cause… (but) they are the only causes worth fighting for”. With that in mind, we created 451 NOW. Not because we believe that the government will, like in Fahrenheit 451, hire firemen to burn books, rather it seems that people have stopped consuming them on their own. Through this podcast, we hope of creating that educated citizenry that Thomas Jefferson spoke of. A few guiding quotations: "If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads." - Ralph Waldo Emerson "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." - Ray Bradbury “The pen is mightier than the sword” - Edward Bulwer-Lytton Some of the Guests for Season 1: Dennis Prager, Peter Hitchens, Andrew Klavan, Will Witt, and More.