We usually blame friction for slowing things down. Turns out it’s also the force behind fire, engines, modern medicine, and spacecraft. Jennifer Vail joined On with @karaswisher.bsky.social to talk about her new book Friction: A Biography. Check it out! podcasts.voxmedia.com/show/on-with...

My first podcast appearance 🥹 Thank you to @katecarp.bsky.social for having me on to demystify book publicity! I had so much fun yapping about it all and I’m glad we ended on the hill I will die on: books will ALWAYS matter. Culture doesn’t move without ideas and ideas still start on the page.

Always nice to see a Wall Street Journal review land! Peter Mauch’s Tojo looks at how one man’s discipline/ideological rigidity helped steer Japan into a war it was unprepared to fight. As the reviewer puts it, the prose is “direct and determined, like the man himself.” www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

For those looking for freelance work in the wake of WaPo layoffs: I'm an editor at large overseeing Ideas & Culture at Bloomberg, including our Books coverage. Find me at [email protected]

My heart breaks at the end of the Books section at the Post. So many brilliant people there, especially @roncharles.bsky.social, the most beloved book critic I know. I feel like I should write more about this, but I’m on deadline and trying to finish a freelance piece myself.

Essay-ready = needs background, unfolds over time, makes room for history and complexity, not tied to the news cycle. This is not a lesser form, it’s often the right form. Both are good. They just belong in different places. Mixing them up = a lot of work and a very polite pass

Quick test for authors (esp. big national papers): is your idea op-ed-ready or essay-ready? Op-ed-ready = reacting to news within 24–48 hrs, clear in first 2–3 sentences, one sharp point, very little setup. Not a lecture. No jargon. If "can you say this more simply?" scares you, it's not ready.

Why op-eds matter for publicity: they're rocket fuel for radio bookings. Producers at NPR, public radio, podcasts are looking for smart guests who can speak clearly about the news. A strong op-ed is proof you can make a tight argument in real time. It's a audition tape that bookers actually read.

Small lesson from the publicist trenches: worked w/ author for months on an op-ed at a major paper, editor very engaged, I'm booking NPR in my head, victory lap ready... then boom a pass. Not bc it wasn't good, but op-eds need "why this, why now" immediately. Right now "now" lasts about 11 minutes.

Hey hey, academic Booksky, first post is me doing the most publicist thing possible: 📣 sharing an interview I did about how scholars can get meaningful attention for their books. Here's a few key takeaways: yourwordsunleashed.com/ep-99-book-p...