As the Great Hunkering hunkers on, I want to thank all of you around the world who swing by here each day, whether seeking insight into the crisis or seeking escape. This is the part of the line-up that does both, we hope, so welcome to Episode Eighteen of A Journal of the Plague Year, Daniel Defoe's account of the Great Plague of London in 1665. In tonight's episode, our Londoners fleeing the city enter into socially distant relations with their new country neighbors:
They had got some remote acquaintance with a victualling-house at the outskirts of the town, to whom they called at a distance to bring some little things that they wanted, and which they caused to be set down at a distance, and always paid for very honestly.
During this time the younger people of the town came frequently pretty near them, and would stand and look at them, and sometimes talk with them at some space between...
If you're a member of The Mark Steyn Club you can hear Part Eighteen of our serialization of A Journal of the Plague Year simply by clicking here and logging-in. All previous episodes can be found here.
We've introduced a matinal complement to our sunset stories - an audio edition of The Mark Steyn Show. Opinion is divided. From Frank Williamson in Georgia:
I don't like the audio format- I don't want to have to listen for extended periods. I like printing out the column and then reading it later when I have time.
On the other hand, John Lesow, a First Month Founding Member of the Steyn Club:
Audio version is exceptional, particularly for the hard of reading ...even the sound quality of your audio is great. Entertaining too. Best forty minutes of my day!
Notwithstanding the division of opinion, we shall be here with another edition of the show tomorrow morning, Wednesday.
~Membership in the Steyn Club is not for everyone, but it helps keep all our content out there for everyone - in print, audio, video, around the world, and hopefully changing a mind or two here and there. And, aside from Tales for Our Time, being a Steyn Club member does come with a few other benefits:
~Exclusive Steyn Store member pricing on over forty books, CDs and other items in the Steyn store;
~The opportunity to engage in live Q&A sessions with yours truly;
~Transcript and audio versions of our video content, such as Mark's Mailbox and The Mark Steyn Show;
~Comment Club privileges;
~Our weekend series of video poetry and other specials;
~Advance booking for my live appearances around the world, if I'm ever again permitted to make any, and for the third Mark Steyn Cruise, if it's ever permitted to set sail;
~Customized email alerts for new content in your areas of interest;
~and the opportunity to support our print, audio and video ventures as they wing their way around the world.
To become a member of The Mark Steyn Club, please click here - and don't forget our special Gift Membership. Once your chum is signed up, he or she will get full access to our entire archive of Tales for Our Time, including The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Time Machine, The Thirty-Nine Steps and much more. For more details on our special Gift Membership, see here.
And do join me tomorrow for the nineteenth episode of A Journal of the Plague Year.
