Pulped

AI companies are buying up used books, scanning them, and destroying the originals. At least, that's the headline... the real story is weirder. Charlie Becker, a seventh-generation bookseller in Houston, went viral for tracing one of these mysterious bulk orders - following overlooked books into Amazon warehouses filled with entire categories of obscure human knowledge. Today we're taking the plunge into a mystery that spans artificial intelligence, culture, and the LTV of a "rare" book.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) - Episode setup and guest intro

(01:22) - Mic check and welcome

(02:01) - Viral post and lawsuit context

(04:05) - Who is Charlie Becker

(10:40) - Amazon warehouse mystery

(13:02) - Which books are vanishing

(16:28) - FBA arbitrage and pulping

(18:53) - Amazon irony and AI layer

(22:11) - ISBN gap and metadata tool

(26:12) - Missing middle and preservation risk

(28:36) - Used Bookstore Churn Myth

(29:27) - Why Obscure Books Matter

(30:33) - AI Is Not Retrieval

(32:30) - Cookbook Chef Metaphor

(33:51) - Smaller Models Personal Agents

(34:38) - Houston Bookstore Renaissance

(37:31) - Book Crawl Themed Shops

(40:00) - Foreign Language Treasure Troves

(46:06) - Estate Libraries Rare Finds

(47:02) - Mystery Bulk Orders Explained

(51:22) - Optimism And Preservation Tool

(54:44) - Internet Slop Back To Bookstores

(57:22) - Closing Thanks And Outro

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Referenced in the Show:

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Jacob Shapiro Site: jacobshapiro.com

Jacob Shapiro LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacob-l-s-a9337416

Jacob Twitter: x.com/JacobShap

Jacob Shapiro Substack: jashap.substack.com/subscribe

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The Jacob Shapiro Show is produced and edited by Audiographies LLC. More information at audiographies.com

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Jacob Shapiro is a speaker, consultant, author, and researcher covering global politics and affairs, economics, markets, technology, history, and culture. He speaks to audiences of all sizes around the world, helps global multinationals make strategic decisions about political risks and opportunities, and works directly with investors to grow and protect their assets in today’s volatile global environment. His insights help audiences across industries like finance, agriculture, and energy make sense of the world.

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