What We’re Reading: The Books Redefining Marketing and Innovation
This week, we shift direction to a conversation between Avery and Sam about their book recommendations offering listeners insights into the long-form writing that has shaped their careers and thinking in the industry.
ABOUT
In this episode, hosts Avery and Sam explore the books that have impacted their careers in marketing and innovation. From classic advertising texts to AI literature, they discuss how these works have shaped their thinking and approaches to business.
Links mentioned from the podcast:
Avery’s Picks:
- Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less
- Day Trading Attention: How to Actually Build Brand and Sales in the New Social Media World
- Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies
- Laws of Growth (How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don't Know)
- The Algebra of Wealth: A Simple Formula for Financial Security
- Bonus: Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Sam’s Picks:
- The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
- The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King
- Propaganda
- Steve Jobs
- Ogilvy on Advertising
- Bonus: Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, Zero History
Watch this episode on video:
Follow us on Twitter:
"Gen C" features hosts Sam Ewen and Avery Akkineni. Executive produced by by Uyen Truong. Our theme music is "1882” by omgkirby x Channel Tres with editing by Doc Blust. Artwork by Nicole Marie Rincon.
HOSTS
Sam Ewen is CoinDesk's SVP, head of CoinDesk Social, Multimedia & CD Studios

EPISODES
Yorke Rhodes on Why Credible Neutrality is the Safety Net
Yorke Rhodes III, Co-Founder, Blockchain at Microsoft, reveals how Credible Neutrality and the convergence of AI agen...
21 hours ago
The Art of Crypto Brand Building at Scale
Olivia Santarelli, Gemini’s Head of Marketing, breaks down how innovative campaigns and visionary storytelling drive ...
Aug 11, 2025
The Wireless Revolution Fueled by Blockchain
Frank Mong of Helium reveals how blockchain-powered hotspots and shared infrastructure are disrupting traditional tel...
Aug 4, 2025
Legacy Rewired: Where Traditional Media Meets New Tech
Maya Draisin, Chief Brand Officer at TIME, highlights how the 102-year-old brand evolves with new technologies while ...
Jul 28, 2025

The Mining Pod
Feb 10, 2025

CoinDesk Podcast Network
The top stories and best shows in the blockchain world, delivered daily from the team at CoinDesk.
Dec 20, 2023

Markets Outlook
Tune in as CoinDesk runs down action in the crypto market and some of the most important recent industry development.
Dec 19, 2023

Unchained
Unchained, your no hype resource for all things crypto by former Forbes senior editor Laura Shin, author of The Cryptopians.
Dec 18, 2023

