The Kindle Chronicles

Latest Episodes:

TKC 569 Chris Schluep & Erin Kodicek Jun 29, 2019

Show notes

Just a few of Amazon's Best Books of the Year So Far

Interview starts at 12:58 and ends at 45:20

"(Erin Kodicek:) So June is the halfway marker for the year, and it's also a time when a lot of people are going on vacation. So they're going to want to leave filling their bags and filling their Kindles with books. If you're having trouble filling those things with, we are happy to help you. Just visit Amazon.com/bestbookssofar. "

Interview with Chris Schluep and Erin Kodicek

Amazon's Best Books of the Year So Far

Press release announcing best books of the year so far - June 18, 2019

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover (Amazon's best book of the year for 2018)

Erin Kodicek's Amazon Book Review podcast interview with Elizabeth Gilbert, author of City of Girls, the best book of the year so far for 2019

The Signature of All Things: A Novel by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Parisian by Isabella Hammad - 576 pages!

Next Week's Guest

Lauren Mechling, author of How Could She?

Music for my podcast is from an original Thelonius Monk composition named "Well, You Needn't." This version is "Ra-Monk" by Eval Manigat on the "Variations in Time: A Jazz Perspective" CD by Public Transit Recording" CD.

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TKC 568 Noah Magel in Munich Jun 22, 2019

Show notes

Co-founder of N2Kindle

Interview starts at 19:21 and ends at 49:24

"The thing that we're doing is we're changing the newsletter into a Kindle-friendly format, and then we forward them automatically. It would be a huge hassle to do that by yourself and to do that every morning or for every edition that you want to receive, so that's the thing that we're doing in the background."

News

Information on Amazon fulfillment center tours

Forbes review of all-new Kindle Oasis

Comments on new Oasis at redditKindle

Amazon announces a new Off To College Store

Anjali Sud, former Amazon exec now CEO of Vimeo, interviewed on Recode Media by Peter Kafka

Tech Tip

"External drive support in iOS makes it possible to easily share files with a Kindle" by Chance Miller at 9TO5Mac - June 18, 2019

"How to share files between iPhone and Kindle with iOS 13" by napabar at YouTube - June 18, 2019

Apple Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter at Amazon.com - $31

Interview with Noah Magel

Technical University of Munich

N2Kindle website

The Highlighter Newsletter by Mark Isero

Substack and Revue

Axios and Skim newsletters

Readwise

My interview with Tracy Schultz, Amazon's head of product for Kindle reading

Next Week's Guest

Chris Schluep and Erin Kodicek, members of the Amazon Books team who will discuss their recently released Best Books of the Year So Far list.

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

Right-click here and then click "Save Link As..." to download the audio to your computer, phone, or MP3 player.

TKC 567 Neal Thompson Jun 15, 2019

Show notes

Manager of the Amazon Literary Partnership

Interview starts at 15:41 and ends at 52:45

"I feel strongly that everyone has a story, and everyone deserves to have the opportunity to tell their story. The rest of us don't have an obligation to buy that story, but if it's out in the world and there's a way for people to find it, that's doing good work."

News

"What exactly is the point of Amazon's Treasure Truck?" by Kaitlyn Tiffany at Vox - May 28, 2019

"Amazon to Joe Biden: We pay all the taxes we owe" at by Lydia DePillis at CNN Business - June 13, 2019

Interview with Neal Thompson

Amazon Literary Partnership 2019

"Amazon Literary Partnership Announces 2019 Grant Recipients" - press release May 20, 2019

Examples of organizations receiving support from Amazon Literary Partnership: Words Without Borders, Pen America World Voices Festival and Best Translated Book Awards, Asian American Writers' Workshop, Cave Canem, Kundiman, Black Mountain Institute (creator of the City of Asylum program), Young Writers Project, Transit Books, Hurston/Wright Foundation

Amazon Literary Partnership web site

Academy of American Poets (creator of the Poem-a-Day skill for Alexa)

Hugo House

Community of Literary Magazines and Presses

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Literature programs

Books by Neal Thompson: Kickflip Boys: A Memoir of Freedom, Rebellion, and the Chaos of Fatherhood, A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe It or Not!" Ripley Light This Candle: The Life and Times of Alan Shephard, and Driving with the Devil: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR

Books recommended by Neal Thompson: Working by Robert A. Caro, The Library Book by Susan Orlean, The Nickel Boys: A Novel by Colson Whitehead (available for preorder with delivery July 16, 2019), and Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon

Next Week's Guest

Noah, a co-founder of N2Kindle

Please check out my latest video review, "How to Choose a Kindle."

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TKC 566 Amazon Previews the Future at re:MARS Jun 07, 2019

Show notes

Your Host beside the Blue Origin capsule

Links

Excerpts from Jeff Bezos's fireside chat at re:MARS on June 6, 2019

AI Today podcast hosted by Kathleen Walch and Ron Schmelzer of Cognilytica

Next Week's Guest

Neal Thompson, director of the Amazon Literary Partnership

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

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TKC 565 Author John Rossman Jun 01, 2019

Show notes

Author of Think Like Amazon: 50 ½ Ideas To Become a Digital Leader

Interview starts at 2:38 and ends at 35:46

"I don't think that part of the story of Amazon and Bezos gets told enough, about how he bet on himself and on the idea of Amazon. They stuck with it when everybody was a naysayer. They stuck with it for a long period of time when the stock was flat and there was no wealth being created. I think it's really the all-American dream, how Amazon has progressed. I don't think that story gets told enough. "

News

"Amazon debuts a new Echo Show amid Alexa privacy concerns" by Lauren Goode at Wired - May 29, 2019

Echo Show 5 available for pre-order at Amazon.com

Interview with John Rossman

Rossman Partners

Think Like Amazon: 50 ½ Ideas to Become a Digital Leader by John Rossman

Jeff Bezos's 2018 Letter to Shareholders

Comments

Mark Isero's Kindle Classroom Project

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Moby Dick by Herman Melville, and The Mueller Report

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power by Shoshana Zuboff

Shoshana Zuboff interviewed by Recode's Kara Swisher (via Vox) - February 20, 2019

Next Week's Show

My report from Amazon's re:MARS conference to be hosted by Jeff Bezos in Las Vegas

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

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TKC 564 Kindle Tips from Tracy Schultz May 25, 2019

Show notes

Amazon's Head of Product for Kindle Reading

Interview starts at 18:29 and ends at 47:37

News

"How creepy is your smart speaker" in The Economist - May 11, 2019

Alexa Guard

"Amazon Alexa's New 'Guard' Can Help Keep Your Home Safe While You're Away" by Emily Price at Fortune - May 15, 2019

Interview with Tracy Schultz

Upcoming Shows

Next Week: John Rossman, author of Think Like Amazon: 50 ½ Ideas to Become a Digital Leader

TKC 566 on June 7, 2019: My report from Amazon's re:MARS conference to be hosted by Jeff Bezos in Las Vegas

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

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TKC 563 Technology for the Blind May 18, 2019

Show notes

Peter Tighe, my cousin who lives in Austin

Interview starts at 11:09 and ends at 38:27

News

Amazon updates the Fire 7 Tablet - press release on May 16, 2019

Tech Tip

Nadene Laird's review of the MobiScribe E Ink tablet

Interview with Peter Tighe

Aira web site

"Aira at SXSW" - March 8, 2019 at Aira website

2019 Interactive Innovation Awards Winners at SXSW

Aira Pricing Plans

"Get Paid to Help the Blind from Home: Aira Seeks Part-Time Agents in San Francisco" at Lighthouse - May 16, 2019

Voice Dream Scanner app for iOS

Comments

Amazon's information on eTextbooks

Kindle eBooks for teams and groups

Upcoming Shows

Next week: Tracy Schultz, Senior Manager of Product Management - Kindle Reader

TKC 564 on May 31, 2019: John Rossman, author of Think Like Amazon: 50 ½ Ideas to Become a Digital Leader

TKC 565 on June 7, 2019: My report from Amazon's re:MARS conference to be hosted by Jeff Bezos in Las Vegas

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

Right-click here and then click "Save Link As..." to download the audio to your computer, phone, or MP3 player.

TKC 562 Tech Writer Tim Carmody May 10, 2019

Show notes

Editor of The Amazon Chronicles newsletter

Interview starts at 16:32 and ends at 49:27

"You can imagine an Amazon without Alexa that is still very successful, but Alexa is a huge key to Amazon's future."

Intro

Aira glasses for the blind

News

"Assisted Living Community Gives Every Resident 'Alexa' to Help Keep Their Independence" at CBS13 in Sacramento - May 7, 2019

Eskaton communities

Echo Dot on sale for $29.99 Amazon.com (regular price $49.99)

"Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is back on sale for $40 off" by David Carnoy at CNET - May 5, 2019

Kindle Paperwhite at Amazon.com (Using this link to buy one benefits TKC with Associates commission - thank you!)

Kindle Paperwhite Essentials bundle (includes leather case and power adapter) on sale for $150 - $60 off

Interview with Tim Carmody

The Amazon Chronicles newsletter

Articles by Tim Carmody published in Wired Magazine

Noticing newsletter by Tim Carmody at kottke.org

"Unlocking the Commons" by Tim Carmody at Nieman Lab

Inside Amazon newsletter

KUOW's Primed Podcast

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TKC 561 An Asynchronous Dialog w/ Austin Kleon May 04, 2019

Show notes

Author of Keep Going at Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver

Dialog starts at 5:33 and ends at 40:34

"So we all like to think that if we could just change our circumstances we'd be more creative. I could just move to Paris, rent a light-filled studio, maybe buy a beret, fall in with a gang of misfits.Then I could really paint my masterpiece. But we know this is wishful thinking, that everything we need to make our good work is here. We just have to pay more attention to it."

News

"Amazon plans to create 400 tech jobs in Denver with new office expansion" by Lauren Feiner at CNBC - April 30, 2019

Amazon press release on Denver expansion

Tech Tip

Kindle firmware updates

Links related to Austin Kleon's presentation

Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver

Robert Creeley

Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by Austin Kleon

Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness by William Styron

The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon

Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things that Happened by Allie Brosh