Consumption in the Age of Pandemic with Dan Frommer

In this episode recorded in early April 2020, Dan Frommer (Twitter) of The New Consumer joins host Glenn Fleishman. Dan is a long-time journalist. He’s been the editor in chief of Recode at Vox Media, an editor and writer at Quartz, and helped create Business Insider.

The New Consumer is a subscription newsletter and site that charges a fee for access to keen insights by Dan about the shape and changes in the retail economy. Dan started the site a year ago, long before a pandemic was even suspected, and he’s well poised to document the massive upheaval happening now.

While paid newsletters aren’t new, Dan is part of a small but growing number of people who have built expertise and audiences who then turn to direct support as a way to create their work solely for subscribers. This keeps them independent of advertising and the vagaries of employers’ changing priorities.

• The Power Law Curve, an essay by Clay Shirky

• The Magic Middle, a term coined by Dave Sifry

• The Long Tail, an article and book by Chris Anderson