Spanning the Atlantic from New York to Oxford, the Global Online Product Marketing team is a motley bunch with a love for all things digital. As custodians of a diverse portfolio of online offerings, they definitely know what’s what on the web. Read on for some literary and digital favourites from the team, and a glimpse into the minds of our online gurus here at Oxford University Press.
What is your favourite blog or podcast and why?
“This American Life and The New Yorker fiction podcast.”
—Sam Zimbler, Marketing Associate
“I am obsessed with the Invisibilia podcast from NPR. Read the description from their site and just try not to listen: “Invisibilia (Latin for all the invisible things) is about the invisible forces that control human behavior—ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions. Co-hosted by Lulu Miller and Alix Spiegel, Invisibilia interweaves narrative storytelling with scientific research that will ultimately make you see your own life differently.”
—Erin Fegely, Assistant Marketing Manager
Erin Fegely. Used with permission.“I love Desert Island Discs on Radio 4, it’s perfect listening when cooking or doing the mind-numbing chore of ironing my work shirts. My life goal is to be on it, so Kirsty Young, if you’re reading this…”
—Barney Cox, Senior Marketing Executive
“Clutch Magazine is one of my favorite blogs. It’s for women of color like myself. The blog reports on beauty, health, love, sex, fashion, and politics in a fun tone while expertly addressing serious matters that affect young African-American women in today’s society.”
—Miki N. Onwudinjo, Junior Level Marketing Coordinator
“Brain Pickings. The images and quotations paired together are really inspiring.”
—Georgia Brodsky, Assistant Marketing Manager
If you had to be trapped in an elevator for ten hours with any famous person living or dead, who would it be?
“I’m extremely claustrophobic and I’m having a mini panic attack just imagining this scenario; given that fact, I am going to have to pick Thich Nhat Hanh who I am sure could calm me down.”
—Erin Fegely, Global Assistant Product Marketing Manager
“Agatha Christie! I love crime fiction (some may say I’m a little bit obsessed)—especially the novels of the Golden Era of crime, with Christie being the Queen of Crime. I bet she would be able to while away the hours coming up with stories of murder and intrigue, and I’d love to ask her about her writing style, inspirations, and what she was doing in Yorkshire when she disappeared.”
—Hannah Charters, Associate Marketing Manager
“Firstly, ten hours, that’s a long time! I don’t think I’d want to be trapped in an elevator with anyone for ten hours, at least not without prior warning, so I could bring snacks. I’d pick somebody fascinating from history so they could tell me all about their life to pass the time. Let’s go with Cleopatra VII, the last Pharaoh of Egypt.”
—Barney Cox, Senior Marketing Executive
Barney Cox. Used with permission.“Michael Pollan, so we could spend ten hours talking about food and then exit the elevator to gorge ourselves on local eats.”
—Georgia Brodsky, Assistant Marketing Manager
Which fictional literary world would you most like to inhabit and why?
“Lyra’s world in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy—I would love to know what animal my dæmon would be!”
—Hannah Charters, Associate Marketing Manager
“I’d live in Dorne in Game of Thrones, preferably in the Water Gardens, whilst steering clear of all the beheadings, poisonings, and massacres. The buildings are beautiful, everyone dresses stylishly, and I bet the food would be good too (although I’d pass on the grilled snake). Plus, winter is coming and I want to be somewhere warm.”
—Barney Cox, Senior Marketing Executive
“I would inhabit the fictional literary world of Alice in Wonderland because I think abstractly and have an avant-garde mind suited for that distorted realm.”
—Miki N. Onwudinjo, Junior Level Marketing Coordinator
“Gatsby’s home and grounds, right at the beginning of a cocktail party, when everyone still has their wits together. I can’t imagine anything more glamorous.”
—Georgia Brodsky, Assistant Marketing Manager
What website do you visit most often in your spare time and why?
“Colossal. It is an art and design blog that always inspires me (and I want to own everything in their store).”
—Erin Fegely, Assistant Marketing Manager
“Does Netflix count? I choose Netflix. I don’t know what I did before Netflix, I probably just stared at my living room wall.”
—Barney Cox, Senior Marketing Executive
“I visit Reddit too much in my spare time for the AMA’s and NoSleep scary stories. Reddit has the weirdest and most interesting stories and first-person accounts.”
—Miki N. Onwudinjo, Junior Level Marketing Coordinator
“New York Times Most E-mailed articles. To see what people are talking about!”
—Georgia Brodsky, Assistant Marketing Manager
What was the last book you read?
“The Story of B by Daniel Quinn.”
—Sam Zimbler, Marketing Associate
Samantha Zimbler. Used with permission.“The Lowlands by Jhumpa Lahiri. It’s beautifully written.”
—Victoria Davis, Assistant Marketing Manager
“The Dinner by Herman Koch. Sold as “the European Gone Girl” and set in one of my favourite cities, Amsterdam, this book is a dark and suspenseful summer read.”
—Erin Fegely, Assistant Marketing Manager
“American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I bought this a few years ago and it had been sitting on my bookshelf in all its black-and-gold glory until a few weeks past when I finally decided to give it a go. I really enjoyed it! I love the concept of old gods wondering around America, driving taxis and running funeral homes because nobody believes in them anymore. Also, fun fact, Neil Gaiman once signed my copy of Coraline with a picture of an angry mouse.”
—Barney Cox, Senior Marketing Executive
“120 Days of Sodom by Marquis de Sade.”
—Miki N. Onwudinjo, Junior Level Marketing Coordinator
“The Whole World Over by Julia Glass.”
—Georgia Brodsky, Assistant Marketing Manager
Image Credit: “Power Cut” by Graham Holliday. CC BY NC 2.0 via Flickr.
Getting to know the Online Product Marketing Team
