Planet Money Wrote a Book And Then Dissected The Business of Publishing!
4/15/202643 min
This week we're handing over our podcast slot to NPR's Planet Money. They're currently 3 episodes in to a series all about the book industry. It’s very media, you’re gonna love it.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMicah Loewinger· Host0:00
Hey, you're listening to the On The Media midweek podcast. I'm Micah Loewinger. Every now and then in this time slot, we bring you something that was made by another audio team. This week, we're presenting you with an episode of the NPR show, Planet Money. They're three episodes into a five-episode series all about the book industry. It's very media, and we think you're gonna love it. To explain the premise, here's the host of the series, Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi.
Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi· Guest0:28
For a long time, whenever I entered the cozy refuge of an independent bookstore, I couldn't help but suspect that there was this whole hidden world, this whole economy lurking behind the bookshelves. And I know in the era of TikTok and Polymarket and video podcasting, it can be easy to overlook the humble book, but it is undeniable. Books are one of the most influential technologies ever. From The Wealth of Nations and Das Kapital to The Art of the Deal or Dreams From My Father. Books can make us all lean in one day, or suddenly everyone you know is finding life-changing magic in tidying up. Even if you haven't picked up a book in years, the forces that shape the marketplace for books have the power to shape everything else in your life. They shape the ideas that make it to the masses. So last year, when my boss informed the team in an editorial meeting that the Planet Money book, which had been in the works for a while, was now hurdling toward publication, I found