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While I focus on Technology, Innovation, and Publishing, because I have a platform, I also flag items that I think are important. I also try to include some resources & opportunities. Please let me know what you think.

Important Items

The Heritage Foundation Is Taking Aim At No-Fault Divorce Next

Social justice organizations — and a strong body of research — say doing so would put women in danger.

https://www.scarymommy.com/lifestyle/heritage-foundation-taking-aim-at-no-fault-divorce

 

Technology

AI will rewrite publishers’ websites in 2026

Forbes Joins Media Rewriting Websites for AI. Traditional news homepages will soon “feel archaic” to readers. “Publishers ignore that at their peril.”

https://digiday.com/media/bold-call-ai-will-rewrite-publishers-websites-in-2026/

Can AI-Enhanced E-books Be Made Ethically? This Startup Thinks So

Lixandria, a new digital reading platform, will offer AI-powered enhancements to e-books developed with the permission of rights holders while offering fair compensation to authors and publishers.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/99502-lixandria-aims-to-offer-ai-enhanced-ebooks-ethically.html

Cloudflare acquires AI data marketplace Human Native

MT @benedictevans Cloudfare wants to be an AI rights gatekeeper, screening LLM bots as they scrape publisher websites for content & training data. UK startup Human Native is building a rights marketplace

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/15/cloudflare-ai-human-native-acquisition.html

Stealing Isn’t Innovation

Join over 700 artists, writers, and creators calling for protections for human creativity in the age of AI.

https://www.stealingisntinnovation.com

Global publisher Google traffic dropped by a third in 2025 due to AI

Dramatic decline expected to continue throughout 2026.

https://pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/google-traffic-down-2025-trends-report-2026/

Cumulus Media Partners With Eon Media on AI Audio Technology

Cumulus Media has entered a partnership with Eon Media aimed at building and monetizing AI-enabled audio tools that expand how listeners find, engage with, and access content across Cumulus’s broadcast stations and digital properties nationwide.

https://radioink.com/2026/01/21/cumulus-media-partners-with-eon-media-on-ai-audio-technology/

Black Forest Labs launches open source Flux.2 [klein] to generate AI images in less than a second

https://venturebeat.com/technology/black-forest-labs-launches-open-source-flux-2-klein-to-generate-ai-images-in

YouTube will soon let creators make Shorts with their own AI likeness

YouTube will also equip creators with new tools to manage the use of their likeness in AI-generated content

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/21/youtube-will-soon-let-creators-make-shorts-with-their-own-ai-likeness/

I let Anthropic’s Claude Cowork loose on my files, and it was both brilliant and scary

Let’s just say backups and restraint are nonnegotiable. Security, scale, and trust remain major open questions.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/anthropic-claude-cowork-ai-file-management-test/

Todoist’s app now lets you add tasks to your to-do list by speaking to its AI

Todoist Ramble can capture details such as deadlines, priorities, durations, & assignees in real time as you speak, even responding to mid‑sentence changes like adjusting dates

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/21/todoists-app-now-lets-you-add-tasks-to-your-to-do-list-by-speaking-to-its-ai/

In an effort to protect young users, ChatGPT will now predict how old you are

OpenAI has added an “age prediction” feature to ChatGPT to detect under-18 users and automatically apply content filters for sensitive topics.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/20/in-an-effort-to-protect-young-users-chatgpt-will-now-predict-how-old-you-are/

Re-imagining the corporation in the age of AI

HT @neilperkin Implemented well, AI can strip away bureaucratic frustrations that slowly suffocated human agency in biz (endless approvals, report compilation, mtg prep that consumes hrs + creates nothing).

https://onlydeadfish.substack.com/p/fish-food-674-re-imagining-the-corporation

The AI productivity paradox

Managers say it makes them more productive. Workers don’t. What gives?

https://www.platformer.news/ai-productivity-paradox-metr-pwc-workday/

Meet the new biologists treating LLMs like aliens

AI researchers developing tools to trace paths that activations by AI models follow, revealing internal workings, mechanisms & pathways inside AI model, similar to brain scans revealing activity patterns.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/01/12/1129782/ai-large-language-models-biology-alien-autopsy/amp/

Even the Sky May Not Be the Limit for A.I. Data Centers

ICYMI Some tech leaders are concerned that the artificial intelligence race will exhaust available land and energy. The solution might lie in orbit.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/technology/space-data-centers-ai.html?unlocked_article_code=1.HVA.ejnw.xHjrNwtfGWmR&smid=tw-share

Not to be outdone by OpenAI, Apple is reportedly developing an AI wearable

It’s a pin that users wear + comes equipped w 2 cameras + 3 microphones. But it remains to be seen if consumers want this – Sounds like the Humane pin, which shut down.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/21/not-to-be-outdone-by-openai-apple-is-reportedly-developing-an-ai-wearable/

Spotify is quietly developing a game-changing feature for book lovers

HT @publishingtrend With Page Match, users scan a page in a physical book using their phone’s camera + (using OCR) it will trigger Spotify to play the audiobook from the exact spot.

https://www.androidpolice.com/spotify-is-quietly-developing-a-game-changing-feature-for-book-lovers/

Meta to begin rolling out Threads ads globally

Meta will begin to show advertising on its Threads microblogging service to all users globally starting next week.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/21/meta-ads-global-threads.html

Well, there goes the metaverse!

Meta announced 1,500 layoffs—10% of its Reality Labs division—and the closure of several VR game studios, despite investing approximately $73 billion in Reality Labs.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/19/well-there-goes-the-metaverse/

Wing to expand drone delivery to another 150 Walmart stores

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/11/wing-to-expand-drone-delivery-to-another-150-walmart-stores/

Amazon gets approval to build massive retail concept in Chicago

Amazon is set to open a “first-of-its-kind” 230,000 square foot retail store, offering general merchandise, household items and groceries

https://chicago.suntimes.com/real-estate/2026/01/20/amazon-approval-build-massive-new-retail-concept-orland-park

Publishing & Media

Substack’s pivot to video is now on your TV

Substack launching TV app for Apple TV and Google TV. It will support both video posts and livestreams, and it’ll have a “For You” section for recommendations. Eventually, the app will also support things like audio posts and multiple shows per publication. It sounds, essentially, like the YouTube app.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/substacks-pivot-to-video-is-now-on-your-tv/

Vox executives detail how Vox is using Patreon to grow reader revenue and interactions

Sign-ups grew 350% in the first two months after Trump’s inauguration

https://pressgazette.co.uk/paywalls/vox-patreon-interview/

Twin Cities Children’s Booksellers Provide Refuge Against ICE

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/99505-twin-cities-children-s-booksellers-provide-refuge-against-ice.html

Could “Bookstreaming” Save the Literacy Crisis?

HT @publishingtrend Creators like Kai Cenat are hopping on live just to read. Here’s why that trend could be pivotal.

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a70062900/bookstreaming-kai-cenat-literacy-crisis/

Many Americans Read 0 Books in 2025. A New Reading Challenge Wants to Change That

HT @publishingtrend ThriftBooks introduces the 500 Billion Page Challenge to help Americans fall back in love with reading.

https://people.com/join-thriftbooks-reading-challenge-11888144

Resources & Opportunities

WMG Comedy Night: Smart Laughs, Big Energy

1/27 6pm (VIP Reception) | 7:15 pm General Admission

Last chance! ❄️ It’s cold. It’s snowy. Inside? It’s LIT. WMG Comedy Night will be the hottest room in NYC! Come thaw out with us. 🔥🎤

Featuring Ophira Eisenberg, Akilah Hughes, Leighann Lord, Youngmi Mayer, Phoebe Robinson, and Maysoon Zayid with emcee Audra Boltion-Ortiz, this live show brings together some of the funniest and most fearless voices in entertainment.

https://womensmediagroup.org/event-6425404

Bookstore & Brasserie with Kathleen Schmidt

2/12 6:30 p.m. ET. WMG members only; FREE

Join Women’s Media Group Board member Kathleen Schmidt for an evening of bookstore love and camaraderie! We’ll meet at 6:30 at the bookstore for shopping in the East Village of NYC and then walk to dinner to talk about our favorite books.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6509655

WMG Job Seekers

2/23, noon; Penguin Random House, NYC. WMG members only; FREE

Are you looking for a job, underemployed, or planning to pivot? Women’s Media Group is pleased to offer our first Job Seekers event of the year to network, share tips, and offer support. Come join us for a free, in-person, members-only small group session. Connect with each other, hear from an expert, and come armed with questions! Former WMG Membership Chair Susan McCulloch will be in conversation with WMG Board member Keline Adams, Director at Penguin Random House. Feel free to bring your own lunch.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6509718

We Need Diverse Books: The Unbanned Book Network

WNDB is launching this initiative to combat censorship by providing under-resourced schools with diverse titles by banned diverse authors. They will select 20 schools in states heavily affected by rising book bans to receive a bookshelf or cart filled with about 100 titles; a visit with a diverse Author Ambassador; and an additional donation of the Ambassador’s books. Schools apply by 2/13. Sponsor a classroom so they can establish this in all 50 states.

https://www.diversebooks.org/programs/unbanned-book-network

Institute of Museum and Library Services Open to Funding Opportunities Again

Currently, they are accepting applications to 13 funding opportunities. Institutions across the United States are encouraged to apply to most of the FY26 opportunities by March 13, 2026.

https://www.imls.gov/find-funding/funding-opportunities

Maria Moors Cabot Prizes

Honoring reporting on Latin America & the Caribbean. Winners receive a Cabot medal and $5,000 honorarium. Deadline 3/12.

https://journalism.columbia.edu/cabot

The American Library in Paris Visiting Fellowship

Open to writers, researchers, journalists, poets, screenwriters, playwrights, directors, and documentary filmmakers. One month fellowship is $5,000 USD paid prior to the Fellowship period to cover travel and expenses in Paris.

https://americanlibraryinparis.org/visitingfellowship/

Community Aid Network MN and Local Schools Book Drive

Red Balloon MN bookstore gathering donations for Community Aid Network MN and local schools who will distribute the books to kids who are currently staying home. Looking for mostly Spanish titles for ages 0-11. Books can also be purchased online or in-store and donated using the code CANMN20. Monetary donations will be used to purchase books.

https://redballoonbookshop.com/can-mn-and-local-schools-book-drive

NYC Tool to see how recently streets were plowed

https://plownyc.cityofnewyork.us/plownyc/

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