How do we choose the kinds of things we talk about, and in what order? When do we talk about art or about beauty, and when do we talk about the suffering of others? I think much of this has to do with media and “the media,” in this case print media like newspapers, which present the world to its readers, first this way and then that way. While I have no idea what they are reading and what they are thinking, I find it astounding that none of my friends ever talk about Syria. About Israel with great heat, ad nauseum. About Syria, never.