Some people bob their heads to playlists on Spotify, ad-heavy stations on Pandora or guilty pleasure albums on iTunes, but if you press your ear to bookworms’ headphones, you will hear The New Yorker’s Fiction podcast. Imagine a DJ who spins club banging short fiction stories that you can blast from your speakers. The stories are read by the authors who wrote them.

The podcast is hosted by none other than The New Yorker’s fiction editor herself, Deborah Treisman. The West Village native brings a clear voice, impeccable analysis and an authentic interest in her contributors. It is worth noting that The New Yorker’s fiction section catapults writers into unrivaled recognition in the literary world while bringing high brow culture to street newsstands. With that kind of cultural reach, Treisman has access to a cultural gavel that she rarely misuses.

The first woman to step into one of the most coveted roles in the literary world since Katharine White in 1925, Treisman’s new job triggered the kind of back-talk you might hear at the sandlot when a girl gets picked for the team because she is a better player. In 2003, The New York Times reported on her new job and her response to claims that her womanhood would radically change the magazine. “Since all the publicity said I was only going to publish, like, young Vietnamese women, I’ve had to go stick my hand out to all the older white men and say, ‘It’s all right, you still have a place,’‘‘ Treisman said.

She is certainly balanced the hype with putting out great works. Of course, the writing curated in The New Yorker’s fiction section can speak to the higher intellect, but exciting things happen when Treisman invites writers who upend the norms. Pieces like “The Cheater’s Guide to Love,” Junot Diaz’s  advice to a younger version of himself, or Isaac Bashevis Singer’s “Job,” an unorthodox account of the Eastern European shtetl, have appeared in the magazine thanks to Treisman.

Great fiction reveals certain truths, and great editors can curate truth in palatable forms for the humble readers and podcast listeners like us. For that, we can thank Deborah Treisman, whose hard work spins a balanced fiction forum and proves that women can influence the literary world just as much as men.

A version of this article appeared in the Fall 2014 Arts Issue. Email Talia Kuhel at [email protected].