When did American news get political?

On this episode of Mountain Money, hosts Roger Goldman and Kevin Kennedy dive deep into this hidden history with author Alex Wright, discussing his latest book, Empire of Ink: The Printers, Rogues, and Radicals Who Invented the American Newspaper. Wright details how early American printing transformed from a tightly monitored government side hustle into a booming, opinionated, and highly competitive capitalist engine. The conversation explores the systemic motivations that drove this rapid expansion, including the Postal Act of 1792, which heavily subsidized newspaper delivery and created an early "gift economy" network of free content sharing, and the deletion of newspapers from early copyright protections, which allowed articles to go viral long before the internet. #historypodcast #economicspodcast #podcast #news