Fran Lebowitz is the author of books like Metropolitan Life (1978) and Social Studies (1981). She is also a renowned public speaker, performing across the country in auditoriums and lecture halls. That was, until, the pandemic. In the absence of modern technology—she doesn’t have a cellphone, computer, etc.—there were no virtual events for Fran.
When we spoke in the summer of 2020, she called in from her landline. After we finished taping I asked how she could listen to our talk once aired. Crickets. But then I had an idea: “What if we printed a vinyl record of the podcast, and have it sent to you?” Fran was entertained by this prospect… before admitting to me that she does, in fact, not own a record player either. By the time she made this admission, I had fallen in love with the concept. And so here we are.