Episode 65 — Branding is Being

This week, we talk about Sean Penn’s deeply terrible debut novel, and give him the First Pages Show treatment—it’s very cathartic. We also discuss the implications of Microsoft cracking down on explicit content across its online platforms, which includes Office, which means it includes writers. Finally: what should we make of the response to the distribution plan for John Oliver’s book, and what does the rift between Chronicle and booksellers reveal about the state of the industry?