Evan Friss on the Enduring Power of ‘The Bookshop’

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2024

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The smell of ink on paper. The handwritten staff recommendations. The plan to only buy one book, and the inevitable exit with five. Visiting a brick-and-mortar bookstore is not just a serotonin-releasing individual experience. Bookstores build community among the aspiring writer employee, the bookworm regular and everyone else who has “an attachment to the store and the store to them.” That’s according to Evan Friss, author of “The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore.” We’ll talk with Friss and with some California bookshop owners about the communities they serve, and we’ll hear from you: What’s your favorite bookstore? Why? Guests: Evan Friss, professor of history, James Madison University; author, "The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstores Brad Johnson, owner of East Bay Booksellers in Oakland Jhoanna Belfer, owner and head booknerd, Bel Canto Books in Long Beach Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, forum listeners. It's Alexis. Did you hear that forum is launching a video podcast? It is true.
0:07.0	Each week we'll drop a video recording of a recent forum episode on the KQED News YouTube channel.
0:14.0	We can't wait to bring you into the studio for our conversations on Bay Area Culture, California News, and beyond.
0:21.2	Our first few episodes are out now.
0:23.1	Just visit YouTube.com
0:25.0	slash KQED News to see it all.
0:28.0	That's YouTube.com slash
0:30.3	KQED News.
0:32.4	Greetings, boomtown.
0:33.8	The Xfinity Wi-Fi is booming.
0:36.1	Xfinity combines the power of Internet and mobile.
0:39.3	So we've all got lightning-fast speeds at home and on the go!
0:42.9	Learn more at Xfinity.com.
0:44.7	Restrictions apply. Exfinity, Internet required.
0:46.5	Actual speeds vary.
0:48.8	From KQBD in San Francisco, I'm Nina Kim.
1:08.8	Coming up on forum, a love letter to the American bookstore,
1:12.7	the smell of ink on paper, the handwritten staff recommendations, the plan to buy one book,
1:17.7	only to exit with five. We look at how the brick and mortar independent bookshop has been
1:22.6	able to endure in the face of online retail giants and a pandemic. We'll be joined by the owners of two indie bookstores,
1:29.9	including East Bay Booksellers, which was recently gutted by fire,
1:33.7	and by historian Evan Friss,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.