From the Editor
Introducing an audio edition of The New Consumer
And: Monthly memberships are back. Join us!
By Dan Frommer on Thursday, June 22, 2023 at 8:00 am
Hello hello! Two quick updates:
First, I’m excited to launch The New Consumer Audio Edition, a podcast feed for members featuring audio versions of everything I publish, starting today.
I’ve also re-launched monthly memberships at $20 per month — the easiest way to get started with The New Consumer.
Why audio? The main reason is to make it easier to keep up with The New Consumer. Take it on your run, in your car, on the subway, in your kitchen while you’re loading the dishwasher, grocery shopping — whatever you like! If this is more convenient and screen-free than reading an email newsletter, then problem solved.
Another reason is to offer some more nuance provided by the human voice, especially for longform interviews.
I’m kicking this feed off today with a conversation: 40 minutes with Olipop’s co-founder and CEO Ben Goodwin, about what he’s learned from scaling one of the fastest-growing modern beverage brands. I hope you’ll enjoy it, and I plan to do more of these regularly.
(I’ve published Q&As in text format since I started, but I’ve always wanted you to be able to experience them the same way I do. Now you can.)
And, also, some fun audio-only texture. For example, I just invested in a $40 MIDI keyboard (affiliate linkage!) to bring the audio Chart of the Day to life. Something I’ve been wanting to do for a decade. Now to find some piano lessons…
For articles and briefings that I write, I’ll do the narration, and will aim to get the audio editions up the same day the text version goes out. For interviews and conversations, I’ll aim to publish the audio at the same time as the text.
On a personal note, many of you don’t know this, but radio was my first love — and for a while, my career plan. I had an overnight show in college — Fromming at the Mouth — and was a news intern at Chicago’s NPR station. So I’m actually looking forward to making these. Alas, that was also 20 years ago, so I appreciate your patience as I get back up to speed.
If you have any feedback, requests, issues, questions, whatever — reach me any time at dan@newconsumer.com. And thanks for listening.
Hi, I’m Dan Frommer and this is The New Consumer, a publication about how and why people spend their time and money.
I’m a longtime tech and business journalist, and I’m excited to focus my attention on how technology continues to profoundly change how things are created, experienced, bought, and sold. The New Consumer is supported by your membership — join now to receive my reporting, analysis, and commentary directly in your inbox, via my member-exclusive Executive Briefing. Thanks in advance.