Ryan Schreiber: Weird Era w/ Amanda Petrusich

See Event Guidelines Below An Almost Famous–like memoir for the twenty-first century: Pitchfork’s founder opens up about running the most influential, and infamous, music publication of the internet age. In 1996, as legacy media slowly went digital, a nineteen-year-old Minneapolitan named Ryan Schreiber fired up his family’s desktop computer and brought his dream to life: a daily online music zine published for, and by, nerds like him. He wasn’t yet a writer, but he was passionate about discovering and sharing new music; he figured if he didn’t do it, someone else would. He named his site Pitchfork, an homage to the assassin tattoo Tony Montana sports in Scarface. Schreiber also decided to eschew a five-star rating system for a new one based on a decimal scale from 0 to 10. Little did he know that he had launched what would become one of the most consequential cultural forces of our time. Thirty years after Pitchfork’s founding, Schreiber recounts the extraordinary story behind the site and the generation of listeners and musicians it fostered. He was in the room for it all: the consequences and thrills of Pitchfork’s make-or-break criticism; the boom and bust of digital media; and the albums, concerts, and meltdowns he witnessed from some of this century’s most beloved musicians. Along the way, he writes candidly about the site’s and his own growing pains as he sought to stay true to Pitchfork’s roots despite its morphing from a bedroom blog to a global behemoth, a journey that culminated in the site’s shocking sale to Condé Nast in 2015. From one of the most influential names in the industry, Weird Era is a compulsively readable and revealing memoir of fandom, music, media, and the power of trusting your gut. Ryan Schreiber founded Pitchfork in 1996 and served alternately as its editor in chief and CEO until 2019. A National Magazine Award winner twice honored in Time magazine’s TIME100 poll of the world’s most influential people, he continues to shape culture as a journalist, media strategist, and public speaker. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Amanda Petrusich is a staff writer and the pop music critic at The New Yorker, and the author of three books about music. She is the writer-in-residence at NYU's Gallatin School, and lives in the Hudson Valley. Event guidelines: Additional copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event. A signing line will follow the talk. As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event, even if you have a ticket; email us and we'll work it out. If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request accessibility accommodations, please contact .