Aaron Armstrong's Blog, page 25

Influencers of Influencers

We’re back once again with our latest episode of Table of (mal)Contents! This week, Scarlet, Dave, and I are joined by our friend Jenaye White. Jenaye works as part of B&H Publishing Group’s marketing team, where Dave previously worked as well. Now, Dave is sure that he had a plan that would involve talking about the Enneagram as much as possible as we recorded this episode on my birthday. But he failed because I was ready for it. Instead, listen in as we discuss:

How book publicity has chan...

Cat Fashion Shows

We’ve got a new episode of Table of (mal)Contents this week, and it’s a big one—our 100th episode of the show in its current form!

And what better way for us to celebrate than to have Barnabas Piper rejoin us for our look back on 100 episodes of book recommendations,

Listen in as we discuss:

Barnabas’s wedding and how his life has improved even during a pandemicWhat books we’ve enjoyed that we were recommended by someone else on the showOur favorite conversations and guestsThe Mandela...

It’s All Dave’s Fault (and Other True Sayings)

I wanted to make some sort of reference to Wayne Gretzky in this episode’s title, but it wouldn’t make any sense. Aside from it being the 99th episode of the podcast since we relaunched as Table of (mal)Contents.

Yes, we’re really there after all this time.

But this week, we’re back with mostly good mics, and joined by a friend of the podcast, Will Mitchell. Will is a teacher, longtime listener, and a lover of books, and he kindly jumped on Zoom for a weird and wonderful conversation that...

The Writer’s Kid

This past week was rough on Team (mal)Contents, y’all. Scarlet’s shared a bit about what’s going on with her family on social media recently (so go read about it there). Dave was feeling pretty rough on Friday, so we had to postpone recording. But rather than skip this week, I decided to do something fun and introduce you to a member of the next generation of the Armstrong army: my eldest daughter Abigail.

Abigail loves reading, and she’s becoming quite the writer herself, spending many hour...

The One Where We Keep Not Talking About Books

So, we had a plan for this episode. (Maybe.) And it was a good plan, too. (Also maybe.) But then one of our co-hosts was called away unexpectedly and couldn’t join us when we hit record. So, instead, Dave and I talked about a lot of things. Listen in to hear:

Dave airs his grievance with my editing of last week’s episodeHow to interpret the number of reviews of books for children on AmazonThree books I have bought recentlyAudiobooks Dave is trying to listen toFlying in a COVID-19 worldDave t...

Quest Squads, Book Club Names, & Boring Book Descriptions

This week, we decided to keep things serious and tackle the tough topics that are shaping the world in which we live. Which, of course, means we’re answering questions inspired by Goodreads and our friend Andy Whisenant from B&H Publishing. Listen in as we answer:

You are traveling on a Lord of the Rings style journey. You can only take 3 characters with you that are featured in books you’ve read this year. Who is on your squad? Describe your favorite book in the most boring way possibleWhat ...

Dave vs the Internet Connection

We’re wrapping up our special summer series today, where each of the co-hosts jumps into the hot seat to introduce him or herself to our listeners! This time, Dave is in the hot seat—as long as his internet connection holds out. Listen in to hear:

How Dave got into publishing (and met his lovely wife)How he fell in love with history books, and how many Winston Churchill biographies he’s read (this week)One obvious publishing trope that needs to go away foreverA few of the books that made hi...

Scarlet vs the Canadian

We’re continuing our special summer series today, where each of the co-hosts jumps into the hot seat to introduce him or herself to our listeners! This time? It’s my (Aaron’s) turn. But there’s a twist! One of us had internet problems because he was on the beach or something. So Scarlet got stuck asking me the hard questions and cringing at some of my answers. Listen in to hear:

The epic tale of where I come from and why I started this podcast in the first placeOne of the first books I reme...

5 Questions for Scarlet

As you are no doubt aware, podcasts are always growing and changing, and new people pick up the show along the way. (At least, we hope that’s happening.) So, today we’re kicking off a special summer series today on the show, where each of the co-hosts jumps in the hot seat to introduce him or herself to our listeners! Listen in to hear:

Scarlet’s early life and where she’s fromThe first book she remembers lovingWhat Scarlet loves about reading—and why she needs to stop being worried about no...

Social Media is Bad For You

Is social media the worst, or are we? What if the answer is yes? Our friend Chris Martin joins us to talk about all things social media and give us the inside track on his upcoming book on the subject on this episode. Listen in as we discuss:

What social media does to people’s brainsWhy social media actually isn’t morally neutral How Neil Postman speaks to the effects of social media despite writing more than 20 years before it became part of our livesWhich algorithm is more sinister: Facebo...