First Things Podcast Admiration as Inspiration (ft. Elizabeth Corey)
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Feb 26, 2026 
Elizabeth Corey, writer and university teacher known for her essay "On the Pleasure of Admiring," discusses admiration, education, and cultural habits. She explores how admiration counters self-promotion and competition. She recounts classroom sparks, defends connoisseurship, and links admiration to generosity, gratitude, and a calm, receptive disposition.
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Academia's Self-Promotion Narrows Attention
- Academic life often becomes self-promotion that narrows attention and repels genuine engagement.
- Elizabeth Corey wrote the essay after noticing universities prioritize resume-building and wanted to re-center attention on others and admiration.
Admiration Expands Attention Not Shrinks It
- Zero-sum competition and limited attention block admiration by making others' success feel like your loss.
- Corey argues admiration instead expands attention; seeing excellence in another enlarges what you notice and can inspire you.
Sitting In On A Class Sparked The Essay
- Corey recounts sitting in Alan Jacobs's class on Dorothy Sayers and unexpectedly being opened to Sayers's person and work.
- That experience was the spark for her essay: admiration can arise where you least expect it if you put yourself in the position to see it.