Let me try to put Tattoo Gate to you plainly. This might be old news to some of you listening,

but I figure if Katie hadn't heard about it. I hate to say it, but it's kind of genius because

if somebody's going to fucking pay you that money.

Hello everybody. Welcome to another episode of Books Closed. I'm your host, Andrew Stortz, and this is the 50th episode of the show, if you can even possibly believe we've been together for 50 episodes. It's really great. And while you still have your grubby little hands, either on your computer, your cellular telephone, your tablet, whatever it may be, your Kindle. Make sure you're subscribed to the show. If you're on

YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and while you're out, I give a five-star review, a thumbs up,

whatever it takes. That stuff really helps. It goes a long way in making sure that new people

find the show and that you don't miss future episodes. This episode is a very fun one. I've got New York City tattooer Katie Vaughn joining me,

and we talk about all sorts of stuff. You know, I like to get into the hot button tat world topic.

So we talk about anesthesia tattoos. We talk about tattoo gate a little bit. And we also start off

talking a little bit about apprenticeships,

how people learn to be tattooers, how Katie learned. And my apprentice, my first and only

apprentice Kenley, also sits in with us on this episode. And we talk a bit about her experience

as she gets into the Tat World herself. This is the first and a batch of new episodes

that I've got ready for you guys and they will be releasing weekly over the next few weeks.

So buckle up for that. And the only way that this is all possible is because of my fantastic

sponsors. And this week's episode is sponsored by Tattoo Dream, Doss M, and Black Dagger Books.

I'll tell you more about those folks in a little bit, but for now, let's get into it with Katie Vaughn.

Hello, everybody. Long time no see. I think it's been over a year since I've done this.

Really?

So I have a lot of shit to catch up on. But maybe a lot. I don't know. I was just telling you that there's not a lot of internet tattoo drama in the past year.

So maybe. I mean, maybe not that we've found directly, but I'm sure if we dig a little bit.

Okay. Well, grab your shovel because today I'm joined by Katie Vaughn, the one and only, who is my

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