The ultra-rich just ain’t like the rest of us.
Companies and countries bend rules and regulations in their favor. “Free zones” give foreign businesses tax breaks. E-residency programs allow people to incorporate businesses in places they don’t live. Shipping companies reflag their ships to avoid regulations.
In “The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World,” author Atossa Araxia Abrahamian has uncovered the economic cracks in the nation-state system.
“Atossa has done some absolutely remarkable journalism about things that are crucially important in the global economy and our understanding of wealth and power,” says Mary Childs, a co-host of NPR’s economy-focused “Planet Money” podcast. “The way the world actually works for the rich is quite different from the rest of us. Atossa, more than anybody, puts a really fine point on that and understands it.”
On Wednesday, Abrahamian will speak at the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University as part of Author RVA, a new book talk series that invites writers to discuss their craft. Spearheaded by a triumvirate of cultural heavy hitters that includes Childs, Resonate Podcast Festival creator Chioke I’Anson and Lit Hub senior editor Jessie Gaynor, Author RVA aims to illuminate how writers craft their books.
The series was partially inspired by a video filmed at the ICA about “The Bond King,” Childs’ book about how an American investor and fund manager revolutionized the bond market. The 2022 video goes beyond the book’s content to detail Childs’ writing and reporting process.
“A lot of it was about her working as a journalist covering economic stuff, but then some of it was about her exhaustion,” says I’Anson, who is also NPR’s underwriting voice and the VPM+ICA Community Media Center’s director of community media. “Over the course of the video you get this picture, not just of what the book is, but about the person that wrote it.”
“We’re going to let smart people talk about what interests them. That’s what makes a great conversation: when you have a free flowing exchange where people talk about the things that interest them most.”—Jessie Gaynor of Lit Hub
Other inspirations include author talks Childs and Gaynor held at Richmond’s Fountain Bookstore and Buxton Books in Charleston, South Carolina.
Gaynor says authors are often asked the same questions over and over again when they embark on publicity tours. Author RVA, she hopes, will get into deeper conversations about how writers bring their ideas to fruition.
“These are going to be deep, interesting, funny conversations,” says Gaynor, author of the wellness industry satire “The Glow.” “We’re going to let smart people talk about what interests them. That’s what makes a great conversation: when you have a free flowing exchange where people talk about the things that interest them most.”
In June, the series will host Eric Puchner, the author of “Dream State: A Novel.” Spanning fifty years, the novel explores time and grief against the backdrop of the American West. The novel was recently selected to be part of Oprah’s Book Club.
“Eric Puchner has been writing for a really long time, and it’s exciting to get him at this inflection point in his career because he has just been tapped for this huge commercial breakout,” Gaynor says. “‘Dream State’ is a really beautiful, funny novel about friendship and climate change and the trajectory of life.”
Future programming for Author RVA will be based on what Childs, I’Anson and Gaynor find interesting and relevant to Richmond.
“We’re enthusiastic members of this community and love the city so much,” Childs says. “The idea was to contribute something to the community that we would want to see.”
Author RVA’s talk with “The Hidden Globe” author Atossa Araxia Abrahamian takes place Feb. 26 at the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, 601 W. Broad St. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., event at 6:30 p.m. Free. For more information, visit icavcu.org.
