Stephen Witt is an American journalist, whose first book, How Music Got Free, was praised by the New York Times: “Witt’s nimble new book… is the richest explanation to date about how the arrival of the MP3 upended almost everything about how music is distributed, consumed and stored. It’s a story you may think you know, but Mr. Witt brings fresh reporting to bear, and complicates things in terrific ways.” He sat down for Writers On The Fly to discuss asteroids, killer drones, his methodologies, and the time frame a writer has to be useful.
Stephen Witt was born in New Hampshire in 1979 and raised in the Midwest. A graduate of the University of Chicago and Columbia University’s School of Journalism, he has worked for hedge funds in Chicago and New York, and in economic development in East Africa. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, and he lives in Brooklyn, New York.