Missing Pages: An Investigative Podcast on the Book Publishing Industry

Writing Communities: The Man Who Played Hache Carrillo

We take a look at the case of Hache Carrillo, who lied about his ethnicity, and put it in context with his contributions to the communities he worked in. We talk to forme

Writing Communities: The Bad Art Friend Saga

We cover the story behind Bad Art Friend. In this episode, we plan to observe how the publishing industry is built on trust and investigate what happens when that trust i

Ghostwriting: Bonus - Big Business

We’ve been talking a lot about ghost writing, because ghosting – that’s the industry term – is BIG business. This is a bonus episode of our series about ghostwriting. In

Ghostwriting: Bonus - Cookbooks

How does a ghostwriter capture the subject’s voice when writing a cookbook? And for the ghostwriters behind the stories, how does ghostwriting cookbooks differ from non-f

Podcast Perspectives: The State of the Audiobook Industry

Today we’re looking at audiobooks. While the explosive growth of podcasting has dominated headlines in the audio world, the audiobooks market has slowly and steadily grow

Ghostwriting: Fiction - Will The Real Tom Clancy Please Stand Up?

We explore what ghostwriting looks like for fiction. For genres like spy novels and fantasy, how does book publishing capitalize on ghostwriters to unlock lucrative IP ex

Ghostwriting: Non-Fiction - The Literary Chameleon

In this episode of Missing Pages we examine the lucrative culture of non-fiction ghostwriting and all its thorny edges, with a focus on what the elusive and often secreti

Nerdette Best Books of 2023

This week we're excited to share an episode from Nerdette, a fun weekly interview show produced by our friends at WBEZ. In this episode, fellow professional book lovers M

Bans & Violence: Bonus - Gaby Wood Interview

We look into the results of censorship in extreme cases, using Salman Rushdie as a case study. Does extreme censorship of books lead to violence? We spoke with Gaby Wood,

Bans & Violence: Bonus - The Full Jodi Picoult Interview

If you listened to our episodes about the rise of book banning, you heard about the efforts around the U.S. to censor books on sexual or racial grounds. However it seems

Book Banning Part II: The Current State of Banned Books

In episode 1 of this series, we looked at the history of banned books in America. Today, we look at its current state. Is there more nuance to book censorship than is at

Book Banning Part I: The History of Banned Books

When it comes to books, America has had the same cultural arguments since its founding. One group perpetually focused on the moral ramifications and societal threats a st

Paradigm Shift: DOJ v. PRH: The Hidden Peaks of a Flat Industry

With Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House barred from merging, are publishers losing substantial power as gatekeepers to the industry? What is the current state of p

Paradigm Shift: Botched Initiative: The Dungeons and Dragons Story

As an extension of our last episode on the paradigm shifts in the fanfiction community, we take a look at the complicated history of Dungeons and Dragons and how the game

Paradigm Shift: Copyright & Fanfiction: Who Owns What?

Are fanfiction communities becoming stronger than traditional publishers? In this episode, we’ll look at how fans, publishers, and creators are (or aren’t) working togeth

Paradigm Shift: The Colleen Hoover Story

Colleen Hoover created a book empire through self-publishing, in part due to the power of social media. Is her career a sign of a changing landscape where publishing gate

Season 2 of Missing Pages: An Investigative Podcast about the Book Publishing Industry

Book bans are on the rise across America. With the rise of social media, book publishers are losing their power as the industry gatekeepers. More and more celebrities and

Missing Pages Unabridged: Constance Grady on How the Book World Works

To get a better sense of the book world Caroline Calloway found herself in, we talked to Constance Grady, a senior correspondent and culture critic for Vox, who covers fi

Missing Pages Unabridged: The Full Kaavya Viswanathan Interview

In Kaavya Viswanathan: The Full Package, we looked back into "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life," and the plagiarism scandal that brought everything dow

Greg Mortenson: Cups Half-Full

He enlightened millions with his writings and built dozens of schools in the Middle East. But despite his praiseworthy deeds, author-philanthropist Greg Mortenson suffere