{"id":1534,"date":"2016-05-16T13:47:40","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T13:47:40","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-08-03T16:41:52","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T16:41:52","slug":"whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/","title":{"rendered":"Whiskey and Words: Talking the future of media with author Robin Sloan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Write a House<\/a> is Detroit’s twist on the “Writer’s Residency” where authors, poets, journalists, and writers from all walks of life are rewarded with a home to keep \u2014 forever. We’ve partnered with this organization to spread the power of the written word by hosting writer talks in each of our stores.<\/p>\n

Shinola invites you to join us at our Write A House Whiskey & Words event for a special conversation between Robin Sloan<\/a>, author of Mr. Penumbra\u2019s 24-Hour Bookstore, and technology journalist and columnist to TechCrunch, Kim-Mai Cutler<\/a>, to benefit Write A House. The two will join us for a conversation in our San Francisco store<\/a> on Tuesday, May 17 from 7-9 p.m. All are welcome, please RSVP to RSVP_PA@shinola.com<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We sat down with Robin, a former Twitter manager and self-described “media inventor”, to understand what convinced him to write a book and hear his take on the future of media. <\/p>\n

[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”1996″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”540″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”960″}}]]<\/p>\n

Robin Sloan.<\/p>\n

With a degree in economics and a background with companies like Twitter and Poynter it seems you had to question “the future of media” constantly in your career. When did you decide to write Mr. Penumbra\u2019s 24-Hour Bookstore<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Books were always magnetic for me \u2014 I spent uncountable hours in the public library as a kid \u2014 and I think if you grow up like that, the idea of writing a book of your own is always somewhere in your peripheral vision. I certainly started writing a lot of things \u2014 only to lose steam in the first page. Then, at my first job in San Francisco, I fell in with a couple of colleagues (now friends) who were also kinda-sorta-maybe-aspiring writers, and we began to read each others’ drafts and, importantly, goad each other to write more. That was the spark I needed to take it more seriously.<\/p>\n

Any future plans to write another book? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, there is another novel on the way! I might even have some news to share on that front at the event in San Francisco\u2026<\/p>\n

[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”1997″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”540″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”960″}}]]<\/p>\n

Robin Sloan’s first novel will be available at the event in our SF store.<\/p>\n

You grew up near Detroit \u2014 do you ever come back to visit?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I went to Athens High School in Troy, then on to college at Michigan State. I do come back to Michigan every year, though I spend more time up north, near Gaylord, than I do down in the southeastern part of the state. I have to say: when I was growing up, I honestly did not realize how beautiful Michigan is! Maybe it’s because I always had my nose in a book\u2026<\/p>\n

Why do you often talk about the notion of a \u2018media inventor\u2019 and what do you mean by that term?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you go back and study up on the early history of any medium \u2014 books, movies, video games, anything \u2014 you quickly find one of these moments when a familiar format we take for granted today (the 300-page novel; the two-hour movie; the first-person shooter) was so new and strange it didn’t even have a name yet. To me, it’s always a welcome reminder that media formats aren’t immutable laws of the universe. They’re artifacts developed and popularized by particular people in particular places at particular times. And, if THEY did it \u2014 if they invented the novel, the movie, the video game \u2014 doesn’t it stand to reason that WE can invent new formats just as interesting? And that such formats are probably being invented all around us, right now?<\/p>\n

We hope to see you May 17 in our San Francisco store<\/a> (722 Montgomery St.)!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Write a House is Detroit’s twist on the “Writer’s Residency” where authors, poets, journalists, and writers from all walks of life are rewarded with a home to keep \u2014 forever. We’ve partnered with this organization to spread the power of the written word by hosting writer talks in each of our stores. Shinola invites you […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[24,7],"yoast_head":"\nWhiskey and Words: Talking the future of media with author Robin Sloan - Our Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Whiskey and Words: Talking the future of media with author Robin Sloan - Our Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Write a House is Detroit’s twist on the “Writer’s Residency” where authors, poets, journalists, and writers from all walks of life are rewarded with a home to keep \u2014 forever. We’ve partnered with this organization to spread the power of the written word by hosting writer talks in each of our stores. Shinola invites you [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Our Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-16T13:47:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-03T16:41:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Taylor Rebhan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/\",\"name\":\"Our Stories\",\"description\":\"A journal by Shinola dedicated to THE joy of craft\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/\",\"name\":\"Whiskey and Words: Talking the future of media with author Robin Sloan - Our Stories\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-16T13:47:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-03T16:41:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#\/schema\/person\/060aa96ae4cfa418688aa72467ed4568\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Whiskey and Words: Talking the future of media with author Robin Sloan\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#\/schema\/person\/060aa96ae4cfa418688aa72467ed4568\",\"name\":\"Taylor Rebhan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ef281772e6ea80de61c511c2f4d4eef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ef281772e6ea80de61c511c2f4d4eef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Taylor Rebhan\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/author\/trebhan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Whiskey and Words: Talking the future of media with author Robin Sloan - Our Stories","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Whiskey and Words: Talking the future of media with author Robin Sloan - Our Stories","og_description":"Write a House is Detroit’s twist on the “Writer’s Residency” where authors, poets, journalists, and writers from all walks of life are rewarded with a home to keep \u2014 forever. We’ve partnered with this organization to spread the power of the written word by hosting writer talks in each of our stores. Shinola invites you [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/","og_site_name":"Our Stories","article_published_time":"2016-05-16T13:47:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-08-03T16:41:52+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Taylor Rebhan","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/","name":"Our Stories","description":"A journal by Shinola dedicated to THE joy of craft","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/","name":"Whiskey and Words: Talking the future of media with author Robin Sloan - Our Stories","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-05-16T13:47:40+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-03T16:41:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#\/schema\/person\/060aa96ae4cfa418688aa72467ed4568"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/whiskey-and-words-talking-future-media-author-robin-sloan\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Whiskey and Words: Talking the future of media with author Robin Sloan"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#\/schema\/person\/060aa96ae4cfa418688aa72467ed4568","name":"Taylor Rebhan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ef281772e6ea80de61c511c2f4d4eef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ef281772e6ea80de61c511c2f4d4eef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Taylor Rebhan"},"url":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/author\/trebhan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1534"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2119,"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534\/revisions\/2119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}