All the sad young literary men

Main Topic: The podcast episode discusses the claim that young white straight men are being shut out of high-end fiction, particularly literary fiction and memoirs. The episode explores the changing demographics of authors in the publishing industry and the potential reasons behind the decline of young male authors.

Key Participants:

1. Jude Cook, a British writer and critic who announced the launch of a small independent press to publish literary fiction and memoirs by young men.
2. Joel Waldfogel, a professor at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, who wrote a paper on the growth of female authorship in publishing.
3. Ross Barkin, a writer, journalist, and novelist who wrote an essay on the vanishing male in contemporary literature.

Key Points:

1. The number of female authors has increased significantly over the past few decades, with women now surpassing men in publishing books.
2. The publishing industry has become more diverse, with a greater variety of books being published, but there may be a lack of representation for young white straight men.
3. Ross Barkin argues that the decline of young male authors is not just about demographics, but also about the changing values and priorities of the publishing industry.