Book Riot - The Podcast

Episode: "AI Was The Story of the Year"

Hosts: Jeff O’Neal & Rebecca Schinsky
Date: December 22, 2025

Episode Overview

In their final news show of 2025, Jeff and Rebecca examine the biggest trends and standout stories from the year in books and publishing. Unsurprisingly, Artificial Intelligence (AI)—from copyright lawsuits to generative image and text models—was the defining topic, casting a long shadow over both the publishing industry and broader media landscapes. They also touch on the year's relatively minor industry news stories, notable adaptations, shifts in book sales, the state of indie and chain bookstores, award trends, and the evolving role of media literacy in a post-truth era.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. 2025 as the Year of AI in Publishing

• AI Copyright Lawsuits:

  • Major court cases against Anthropic and OpenAI dominated the news, raising unresolved—and diverging—legal questions about the permissible uses of copyrighted materials for model training (03:13, 05:09).
  • One judge suggested using copyrighted material was legal so long as it was obtained lawfully; another was more hesitant, illustrating an unsettled legal landscape.

• Industry Uncertainty:

  • No major legislative moves towards regulation are on the horizon, and a "becalmed" legislature leaves tech giants room to maneuver and exploit legal gray areas (06:07).
  • The central question for books: Can you buy, scan, and feed a book into an LLM to train it, even if you’re not publishing direct copies? The answer remains unclear.

• Implications for Copyright:

  • The traditional legal defense ("I never saw your work") is eroded when AI models are trained on huge copyright-protected datasets.
  • AI's “plausible deniability” problem upends past norms for plagiarism and copyright infringement (07:02–08:02).

• Memorable Moment:

  • Jeff: “You don’t have to have read ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ [to have AI produce something similar]. That is going to introduce a lot of complexity…We’re not even having those conversations yet. It’s all been about what you are allowed to use to feed the models.” (07:11)

2. Media Literacy in the Age of Synthetic Truth

• Rise of Generative Image/Video Models:

  • The sophistication of AI-generated media means we can no longer trust visual evidence at face value (08:07–12:05).
  • Both hosts discuss how trust must return to the standards of pre-digital reporting: corroborated sources, receipts, and transparency.

• Quote:

  • Jeff: “First of all, newsflash: we may already be there [in a post-truth world]…We have to go back to two sources. Trusted and show your receipts. Regular old reporting.” (08:23)

• Tips for Listeners:

  • Assume digital content (especially viral images/videos) is fake until proven otherwise.
  • Media literacy and skepticism are more crucial than ever (11:11–11:32).

3. The “Potpourri” Year in Book Industry News

• Unlike previous years, 2025 lacked major new developments or resolutions.
• Topics like book bans and romanticity trends continued without major shifts or conclusions (03:13–03:57).
• Other stories:
  • AI and copyright remain at the forefront.
  • Smaller news items included Edelweiss price hikes, Barnes & Noble developments, and tariffs mildly impacting book prices (19:28–21:09).
  • Bookshop’s growth and entry into e-books noted as a possible turning point (19:28).
  • No “bloodbath” in advances or sales for romance/romantasy, but some industry softening (21:09–23:02).

4. State of Bookstores and Publishing

• Barnes & Noble and Daunt Books IPO Rumors:

  • Potential merger and public offering could be a major story for 2026, and hosts agree a healthy B&N benefits the US book ecosystem (23:06–25:35).
  • Rebecca: “You want the Barnes & Noble turnaround to be successful. It does provide a ballast, especially against Amazon.” (25:35)

• Indie Stores:

  • Fewer indie bookstore struggles or closures—a sign of stability post-COVID (26:12–27:17).
  • Localized stories (e.g., Powell’s) did not indicate broader trends.

5. Awards and Book Trends

• Book Gossip via The Cut:

  • Fun anonymous industry survey highlighted the year’s best reviews, trends to retire, and skepticism about “men don’t read” debates (28:33–29:17).
  • Majority view: “men don’t read” is not a real concern.

• Award Predictions & Preferences:

  • Discussion of the National Book Critics Circle as reliably quirky, mixing critical darlings and overlooked small press titles (33:13–36:18).
  • Reflection on award voting structures: Should major book awards adopt a more democratic, Academy-style voting system?

• Trend Sighting:

  • Shift towards either very short (e.g., 120 pages) or very long (e.g., 500 pages) literary novels, with less in the middle (30:16–32:03).
  • Rebecca: “I think the low end is a product of the Internet and decreased attention spans…But if it serves the story, great.” (31:01)

6. Adaptations & Upcoming Releases

• Jasmine Guillory’s ‘The Wedding Date’ Adaptation:

  • Announced for Netflix with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s involvement; celebrated as a watershed for rom com adaptations and contemporary romance representation (41:50–44:09).

• Frontlist Foyer – Upcoming Notables:

  • Terry Tempest Williams, “Visitations from the Holy Ordinary” (March 2026): Meditation on grace and beauty, blending climate focus and poetic nonfiction (47:36–49:16).
  • Rachel Kong, “My Dear You” (April 2026): Highly anticipated short story collection (52:16–52:24).
  • George Saunders, “Vigil”: Jeff looking forward to diving into Saunders’ latest (49:16–50:32).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AI’s Impact:
  • Jeff: “As our image generation AI stuff is more capable…we’re going to have to back to a different standard of something being true.” (08:07)
• On Media Literacy:
  • Rebecca: “Media literacy does remain critical. I think we need a whole lot more of it… You should assume that you have been tricked by an AI image or video right now.” (11:11)
• On Industry Calm:
  • Jeff: “A strangely calm year. Publishers Weekly…The 10 bookselling stories of the year…It was a little hard for my eyes and attention to grab onto any of them.” (19:28–20:48)
• On Bookstore Health:
  • Rebecca: “It seems to me that post-COVID indie bookstores have normalized.” (26:34)
• On Book Award Preferences:
  • Jeff: “I do feel like if my reading soul was put into one of these templated book cover longlists, the NBCC is probably closest to mine.” (34:06)
• On Book Length Trends:
  • Rebecca: “A lot of books do need to be shorter and more edited. So if getting them closer to a novella actually serves the story, great. If we’re just going short because we’re worried about attention spans, I don’t love that.” (31:17)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:13 — Year’s largest stories: AI lawsuits and book bans
• 05:09 — Legal questions around AI training data
• 08:07 — AI image/video fakery, post-truth media literacy
• 19:28 — Review of “biggest” book industry stories in 2025
• 23:06 — Barnes & Noble/Daunt Books IPO rumors
• 28:33 — Book Gossip: Industry’s best/worst of the year
• 33:13 — National Book Critics Circle award discussion
• 41:50 — Jasmine Guillory adaptation breakthrough
• 47:36 — Upcoming books for 2026

Overall Tone & Takeaways

The episode’s tone is conversational, witty, and self-aware, with a dash of exasperation over legal and cultural inertia. The hosts express a healthy skepticism toward digital media, a preference for realness and specificity in reading and reporting, and a cautious optimism for a publishing industry adapting (fitfully) to rapid technological and cultural change.

“The danger of a single narrative…is it’s so compelling because we are such visual creatures.” – Jeff (14:16)

If you’re looking to catch up on 2025’s book world—especially the implications of AI, the year’s surprisingly “quiet” news landscape, and what to watch for in 2026—this episode is the ideal primer.