Julie Satow and Alice Robb sit down with Laura McGrath, the author of Middlemen to tell the surprising story of how literary agents went from magazine brokers to the most powerful figures in American publishing. Through archival sleuthing, vivid fieldwork, and data that brings catalogs and auction-room drama to life, this episode traces pivotal moments — from the first auctions to the birth of the super agent — and the intimate, sometimes fraught relationships that shape what readers get to see on shelves.

Listen as they weave anecdotes about deals, loyalty, and gatekeeping with sharp reporting on today’s shifts: agents as editors, agents on Substack, and the ways technology and consolidation are rewriting old rules. It’s a fast-moving, character-driven narrative that reveals not just how books get made, but who gets to decide.