Episode 185—Mahjong on the Telephone
From Print Run Podcast by Erik Hane and Laura Zats
April 16, 2026 · 42 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the implications of online presence for artists and the challenges of maintaining authenticity in a digital age.
In light of the recent controversy around Helen DeWitt winning and then losing the lucrative Windham-Campbell Prize, we talk about the dying era of the true literary eccentric, the artistic costs of writers being online, and making room for genuine artistic and intellectual curiosity in an age when every idle moment is filled with an obligation to produce optimized digital marketing content. Which artists get to be offline weirdos, anymore? What happens when an “artist” is a marketing idea instead of an authentic pursuit?
People in this episode
Hosts: Erik Hane, Laura Zats
Topics covered
- literary eccentricity
- artistic costs of online presence
- digital marketing in art
- authenticity in art
- offline artists
Keywords
- Helen DeWitt
- Windham-Campbell Prize
- literary eccentricity
- digital marketing
- artistic authenticity
More episodes of Print Run Podcast
- Episode 187—Goblins in the Source Code · June 12, 2026 · 57 min
- Episode 186—Middlemen, featuring Laura B. McGrath · May 6, 2026 · 1h 2m
- Episode 184—The Hanger Games · February 27, 2026 · 43 min
- Episode 183—The Only Genre Is My Feelings · January 9, 2026 · 31 min
- Episode 182—Print Run Goes Nano · October 24, 2025 · 19 min
- Episode 181—Tote Bag Mindset · September 12, 2025 · 50 min
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