The Break

The Break

Share this post

The Break
The Break
Scrolling Through the Pain of Others:

Scrolling Through the Pain of Others:

Losing Sight of the Firebrand Art of Seeing

Ellen Kirkpatrick
Oct 12, 2023
∙ Paid

Share this post

The Break
The Break
Scrolling Through the Pain of Others:
1
Share

Images of human suffering circulate the world like money should, freely. They have done so for centuries. Writing in the mid-1930s, Virginia Woolf described a world ‘bursting with misery’, where ‘On every placard and every street corner was Death; or worse— tyranny; brutality; torture; the fall of civilization; the end of freedom.’ Writing today, Woolf …

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to The Break to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Ellen Kirkpatrick
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share