Nick Fountain

Testing one, two.

Okay.

It's recording.

Who are you and what do you do?

Yes, books.

But hold on.

This is not a show about the Planet Money book.

It's about two books that Christian from Fantagraphics has been working on that are weirdly connected to the war between the U.S.

and Iran.

I first called Christian a little over a week ago, just before the ceasefire was announced, and he told me about the books in question.

The books were printed in India, and Christian got word in February that they were on schedule to be put on an enormous and very, very hot pink container ship called the One Majesty.

and would get to the U.S.

in early April, right on time for a book launch party.

And then the war started, and Iran effectively cut off these skinny waterway ships used to get in and out of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz.

And yet, a couple weeks later, Christian was wondering about the status of those books, and he Googled the name of the bright pink ship, the One Majesty.

Christian learned that the crew was safe, the cargo too.

Apparently the attack left the ship with just a small hole in it.

But it was not going anywhere anytime soon.

It was stranded in the Persian Gulf.

And Christian, sitting at his desk in Seattle, he knew these books were not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.