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.
Reminder: I optimized this newsletter for subscription. If you’re reading this on my blog or Medium (via website or email), please subscribe at https://www.sandlertechworks.com/ for the best user experience (and to get it in a timely fashion).
Important Items
(There’s so much crazy stuff going on. Here’s some you may have missed.)
How Much Longer?
An important read from Historian Heather Cox Richardson: So now, after more than a decade of pretending that he is not associated with Russia and that he would honor the U.S. national security position of support for Ukraine and our European allies, Trump is openly backing Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-10-2026-saturday
Fox News Attacks the Media Every 15 Minutes
Killing of Woman May Have Been Justifiable Because She Was Trans, TN Court Rules
https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/killing-of-woman-may-have-been-justifiable
Technology
Your Next Great Read Might Be Certified ‘Organic’
https://www.wired.com/story/organic-literature-books-by-people-stamp-ai/
Press Gazette launches a tool for newsrooms to help flag AI-generated content
Andi Bartz warns against relying too heavily on AI detectors to solve the authorship crisis.
HT @PublishersWkly Also, see several follow-up articles on this.
https://andibartz.substack.com/p/i-am-genuinely-terrified-about-this
The AI Agents Begging Editors to Keep Them Alive
https://www.vulture.com/article/ai-agents-from-ilands-are-begging-editors-to-keep-them-alive.html
Frankfurt Book Fair 2026: Publishing Jobs Will Adapt to AI, Not Disappear
USA Today becomes the latest publisher to sue OpenAI
https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1008198/usa-today-openai-copyright-lawsuit
ChatGPT is adding real cartoonists’ signatures to fake New Yorker cartoons
OpenAI’s chatbot isn’t just imitating the magazine’s style. It’s also falsely attributing AI-generated images to real artists.
Facebook Pages get charged for link posts
HT @inkbitspixels ICYMI Some accounts are now being limited to two link posts on Facebook per month, unless they pay for a Meta One subscription.
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-pages-get-charged-for-link-posts/830743/
Secret Billionaires, Mafia Brides, Alpha Kings: The Insane World of Microdramas
Hollywood Braces for New Era of Microdramas Short-form, mobile-first entertainment is growing fast – and AI microdramas are among the most-watched.
Meta is Winning the Microdrama Wars (So Far)
Meta is by far the most popular place for microdrama producers to market their stuff, industry players say.
https://www.businessinsider.com/micro-drama-meta-ads-long-content-2026-10
Sony Music steps up fight against streaming fraud
Sony Music asked streaming platforms to remove more than 260K tracks by the end of September. That is nearly double the 135K takedown requests it had reported 6 months earlier.
https://www.ft.com/content/51aed058-f8e0-4426-b92a-790b7863d350
TikTok rolls out an AI shopping assistant and one-click checkout
https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/05/tiktok-rolls-out-an-ai-shopping-assistant-and-one-click-checkout/
Meta, Walmart, Instinct, Shopify, Sierra, Stripe, and others publish the Personal Agent Protocol to standardize and secure how AI bots interact with businesses
Sam Altman to Decoded: ‘The world should accept some bad things happening’ for the benefits of AI
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/04/sam-altman-decoded-interview-ai-01106217
Google to Let Users Create Games Using AI
Google is introducing Playground, a new browser-based platform for making custom games from AI prompts.
https://www.theverge.com/tech/1006477/google-playground-unity-spark-ai
People are asking ChatGPT to help them decide how to vote in the midterms
1 in 5 voters consult AI chatbots for election info, but chatbots reinforce your existing lean. Instead look up your actual ballot from a nonpartisan source before asking any chatbot.
https://www.npr.org/2026/10/05/nx-s1-5977852/ai-chatbots-midterm-election
Mark: A journey to the heart of history’s largest nonterritorial empire
HT @benedictevans A long, but interesting, read on Zuckerberg.
https://colossus.com/article/mark-zuckerberg-profile/
Amazon rolling out smart glasses to its delivery drivers that will take a stream of pictures. What could go wrong?
Glasses capture images of whatever wearer sees, including backyards and other private property, sends to Amazon to be analyzed by humans & fed to AI.
DoorDash will test food-delivery drones in California with Chipotle and Popeyes
Publishing & Media
Wiley Agrees to Default Anthropic Split with “For Dummies” Authors After First Insisting They Were “Educational Works”
HT @PublishersLunch via @victoriastrauss
https://bsky.app/profile/victoriastrauss.com/post/3mwwcap7os22x
Spotify expands audiobooks to over 180 markets
https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/07/spotify-expands-audiobooks-to-over-180-markets/
Frankfurt Book Fair 2026: Audible Wants to Turn Every Book into an Audiobook
Canada’s Valsoft Acquires Firebrand Group
Canadian software company Valsoft has acquired Firebrand Technologies in a deal that brings the two leading digital galley distribution platforms, Edelweiss and NetGalley, under one roof.
What Is ‘Weird Girl Lit,’ Anyway?
The NHL Is Releasing Its Own ‘Hot’ Fanfic. Romance Lovers Hate It
Missing the point of the Heated Rivalry phenomenon, the NHL is releasing audio romance stories starring its players.
https://www.wired.com/story/the-nhl-is-releasing-its-own-hot-fanfic-romance-lovers-hate-it/
How to Pass a Right-to-Read Bill
Crafting statewide freedom-to-read legislation requires political passion, a streamlined legal strategy, and a deep bench of organized volunteers.
Book Bans Reach Record High of Nearly 12,000 in 2025-26
https://pen.org/report/book-bans-spotlight-2026/
What’s On Stage (Or Not)? Highlighting Censored Plays During Banned Books Week
Includes Ragtime!
“Weed On Purpose, Not Only After a Fight”
HT @AuthorsABB For the second year in a row, Florida’s Commissioner of Education is demanding schools across the state proactively ban more books, or else see their funding withheld.
https://bookriot.com/florida-education-commissioner-demands-book-bans/
Resources & Opportunities
WMG Job Seekers Weekly Meetup
Are you unemployed, under-employed, or just thinking about a career change? WMG members join our free virtual weekly support group and come when you can to help each other rise.
https://www.womensmediagroup.org/events
Target Acquired: Creating Custom AI Personas That React Like Your Audience
10/14, 12-1 pm ET via Zoom. Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members
What if you could ask your readers what they think before you publish? In this session w Erin Servais, you’ll learn how to build an “ideal reader assistant,” a custom AI tool trained to respond as your target audience. This allows you to pressure-test story ideas, headlines, and copy while you’re still creating instead of waiting for feedback after launch. Using a simple, repeatable framework, you’ll watch a reader bot come to life from scratch and leave with the tools to build your own, turning audience feedback from slow and reactive into fast, targeted, and available on demand.
https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6782788
Query Letter 101: How to Land Your Next Agent
10/19 12-1 p.m. ET, via zoom, Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members
Writing a good query letter is essential to finding an agent for your book-but there’s a lot of conflicting advice on how to create the perfect message. During this virtual session, editor Emily Murdock Baker and author Frances McGarry will demystify the querying process through interactive exercises, giving writers the tools they need to craft an attention-grabbing letter.
https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6844452
Memoir Plus: When Personal Stories Contain Multitudes
10/21 5:30-7:30pm NYC $20 for WMG members; $25 for non-members
Join moderator Estelle Erasmus and panelists Regina Brooks, Laura Carney, Hyeseung Song, and Bethany Saltman for a lively conversation about the possibilities of memoir and the power of personal stories that contain multitudes.
https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6805899
LinkedIn Strategies for Career Growth Part 2
10/23 12:30-1:30 p.m. ET, via Zoom, Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members
Join this followup to our popular LinkedIn Strategies for Career Growth virtual event to learn more about advancing your career with simple adjustments to your social profile. Hosted by Lynne Williams, Executive Director of Great Careers Network, this interactive session will recap lessons from Part 1 and include live demos and a Q+A, giving attendees the tools they need to take the next steps on their professional journeys.
https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6841347
The Lauren Brown Fellowship
The @IWMF fellowship funds projects proposed by women & nonbinary journalists from underrepresented backgrounds. Grants up to $2K to support reporting projects or professional development opps. Deadline 10/30.
https://www.iwmf.org/programs/the-lauren-brown-fellowship/
Documented Opens Applications For Its Second National Training Cohort to Better Serve Immigrant Communities
The 2027 Building Bridges: An Immigrant Media Training Program will offer a practical, intensive, and highly supportive training program for seven newsrooms interested in launching or revamping an editorial product based on inclusive, ethical, and high-quality journalism produced for and with immigrant communities in their regions. Each selected newsroom will receive a $10,000 stipend to launch a high-quality, community-driven journalism product.
https://documentedny.com/education/
New Yorkers with prior degrees can now get free SUNY & CUNY college—tuition, fees, & supplies all covered
2026 Disability Pride NYC Parade
Sunday, October 18, 2026. Theme: Together We Build!
https://www.nycdisabilitypride.org
Want to read my old newsletters or subscribe? Go to my blog here.