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The Printing Press: The Invention Built on Debt and Sin
Published 1 week, 5 days ago
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Podcast: Business History (LS 44 · TOP 1% what is this?)
Episode: The Printing Press: The Invention Built on Debt and Sin
Pub date: 2026-07-29
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Episode: The Printing Press: The Invention Built on Debt and Sin
Pub date: 2026-07-29
Get Podcast Transcript →
powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarization
Before 1450, books were written out by hand. It was slow and expensive. But Johannes Gutenberg borrowed a ton of money to create a printing press that could crank out Bibles and pamphlets and documents in huge numbers. Science, politics and philosophy were all up-ended.
For example, the Catholic Church seized on the invention to sell special certificates absolving people of their sins - a move that made money, but caused a permanent schism in Christianity.
And Gutenberg too found himself in trouble - when a financier sued the inventor to reclaim his loan, plus interest.
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The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Pushkin Industries, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.