Join us for a talk with Karl Berglund on Reading Audio Readers: Book Consumption in the Streaming Age as part of the Sociology of Algorithms Workshop.

To join in person (with catered lunch!), visit Knox Hall Room 509

To join virtually, access the talk via Zoom.

The current rise of streamed audiobooks is deeply affecting our book and reading culture, in manifold ways. Drawing from the recently published book Reading Audio Readers, this talk uncovers how people make use of this medium by investigating a unique set of reader consumption data, covering 74 million logged sessions of audiobook streaming during one year on the level per user and hour. Offering an academic perspective on the kind of user data hoard we associate with tech companies, this talk asks: when it comes to audiobooks, what do people really read, and how and when do they read it? And how can we use proprietary user data as a tool for algorithmic criticism?

Karl Berglund is an assistant professor of literature at Uppsala University, Sweden. His
research spans sociology of literature, publishing and reading studies, and cultural analytics.
He is the author of Reading Audio Readers: Book Consumption in the Streaming Age (2024).
His writing has appeared in PMLA, Journal of Cultural Analytics, European Journal of Cultural
Studies, and other publications.

The Sociology of Algorithms Workshop at Columbia University aims to bring together researchers who are interested in understanding the role that algorithms and algorithmic technologies play in public and private life. The workshop occurs in a number of formats, including formal research presentations, paper development sessions, and panel discussions featuring scholars and practitioners from around the world. We welcome participants of all disciplinary and methodological backgrounds.

The workshop meets a few times each semester on an irregular basis. If you would like to be added to the email list, please send a message to the workshop coordinator, Ari Galper.