Walter Goodman, editor and critic for The New York Times, moderates a conversation with literary critic Leslie Fielder and historian Christopher Lasch about the state of American culture. This is the first installment of a series, Our Country and Our Culture, inspired by a 1952 symposium of the same name published in the literary journal, Partisan Review. In each installment of the series, a writer who participated in the 1952 symposium returns to the subject in conversation with another contemporary cultural figure. Fielder, who participated in the original symposium, reflects on his words from 1952 and makes new observations on the relationship between “high culture” and “mass culture.” He argues, for example, that the difference between “high” and “low” art is “more a matter of the perception of them than anything intrinsic to them.” Lasch specifically reflects on the relationship of mass culture and technology. The discussion is followed with questions from the audience.