On the “season finale” episode before Erik goes on paternity leave for a few months, we talk about the many swirling feelings around going on leave in...
Episode 145—RWA Madness, or: What Should Literary Institutions Actually Do?
After another RWA mess surrounding their recent issuing of the Vivian Award, we use the occasion to ask a fundamental question: what’s the point of th...
Episode 144—The Summer To Loon-isode
This week, we made the whole plane out of To Loon It May Concerns. We spent the episode answering your most burning and specific publishing questions,...
Episode 143—Irreplaceable
It’s summer, and in publishing that means one thing: we’re all getting each other’s out-of-offices. In this episode we talk about how, actually, that’...
Episode 142—Change the Frame
This week we take a look at the far too slanted battlefield on which people who want change in publishing are forced to fight--and how, rather than re...
Episode 141—Science, Fake Science, and Publishing
This week we talk about the state of nonfiction publishing amidst the changing conditions of both the industry and the wider world--how has a pandemic...
Episode 140—Speculation on the Speculative
This week we take on a term we all love but can never quite pin down: speculative fiction. What do industry people--and readers--mean when they say “s...
Episode 139— Taste and Agency
This week we take a look at Laura McGrath’s fascinating paper on how literary agents shape the acquisitions landscape. It’s got a lot of insights we a...
Episode 138—Literary Survival
This week, we unpack a fascinating essay about the ways in which Philip Roth managed his authorial image and career, and the various questions it rais...
Episode 137—THE BACKISODE
We’re back! In our first episode since going on leave in late 2020, we talk about how our approach and views toward the industry may have shifted sinc...