Empire of Words - Marc McGurl on Amazon and the fate of Literature (WSS01)

RiVAL Radio

In Marc McGurls " Everything and Less" the Stanford University professor of American literature explores the fate of the novel in the "Age of Amazon." Well known for his illuminating studies of the institutions that surround how we read and write, McGurl turns his attention to what he suggests may be the most important shift in literature in our moment: the fact that, today, one corporation has disproportionate control over the market for books and especially e-books. In this interview, we consider the consequences for readers, writers and the future of the written word. * https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2769-everything-and-less * https://english.stanford.edu/people/mark-mcgurl The Workers' Speculative Society is a research podcast about the world Amazon is building and the workers, writers and communities that are demanding a different future. It is part of the Worker as Futurist Project, which supports rank-and-file Amazon workers to write speculative fiction about "The World After Amazon". It is hosted by Xenia Benivolski, Max Haiven, Sarah Olutola, and Graeme Webb and is an initiative of RiVAL: The ReImagining Value Action Lab, with support from the Social Sciences a Humanities Research Council of Canada. Editing and theme music by Robert Steenkamer. * https://soundcloud.com/reimaginevalue/sets/the-workers-speculative * http://workersspeculativesociety.org * http://reimaginingvalue.ca