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

(There’s so much crazy stuff going on. Here’s some you may have missed.)

These Extremists Are Running for Election in November

With the threat of political violence at unprecedented levels, state and federal GOP candidates are openly sharing racist, pro-militia, anti-vaccine, sexist, antisemitic, and secessionist views.

https://www.wired.com/story/these-extremists-are-running-for-election-in-november/

A Pentagon Influencer Called Liberal Women a ‘Pestilence’ Who Will End Western Civilization

Kurt Schlichter was part of a task force rooting out so-called woke ideologies at the military’s war colleges. He has called to bar childless adults from voting.

https://www.wired.com/story/a-pentagon-influencer-called-liberal-women-a-pestilence-who-will-end-western-civilization/

State laws on intoxication and consent get new scrutiny after Cornell rape allegations

In NY state (and a lot of other states) rape charges generally need to involve force or a clear refusal of sex, unless the victim is physically helpless due to being unconscious, or mentally incapacitated due to being drugged without their consent. Those limitations have led to something nicknamed the “voluntary intoxication loophole.” Prosecutors can’t easily bring charges against someone who engaged in sex with someone who voluntarily became intoxicated to the point where their ability to say “yes” or “no” to sex was compromised.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/state-laws-on-intoxication-and-consent-get-new-scrutiny-after-cornell-rape-allegations

Pennsylvania nears 1,000 measles cases, state health department reports

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/6127566-pennsylvania-measles-cases-approach-1000/

Innovation

Brain implant lets paralysed patients speak via digital avatar

UCSF used AI to turn paralyzed patients’ brain signals into speech and gestures at the same time, through a digital avatar

https://www.ft.com/content/a5cbdc0a-3345-4930-a0a6-93caf1106b83?syn-25a6b1a6=1

An AI model has found a new ‘CRISPR‑like’ biological system. Here’s what it means for science

Claude autonomously discovered a novel enzyme system associated w array of DNA repeats (reminiscent of CRISPR) in viruses that infect bacteria.

https://theconversation.com/an-ai-model-has-found-a-new-crispr-like-biological-system-heres-what-it-means-for-science-292777

This ‘Cell Tower in the Sky’ Just Completed a Record-Breaking 18,641-Mile Round Trip to Japan

ST1 is an oblong silver airship that completed record-breaking 30-day roundtrip to Japan, flying thru Earth’s stratosphere for mobile broadband connectivity.

https://gizmodo.com/this-cell-tower-in-the-sky-just-completed-a-record-breaking-journey-from-the-u-s-to-japan-2000810616

Technology

Audible’s new features let you explore book worlds — and use AI to talk to characters

HT George Walkley Audible introduced three new features that will allow listeners to explore a book’s characters, engage in interactive stories, and view additional imagery and bonus information about landmarks or places mentioned in the book.The feature will first arrive in just one title for now, “The Cultural Tutor: A Modern Guide to History, Art and Philosophy in 49 Short Chapters” by Sheehan Quirke, which focuses on making culture more accessible by teaching about poetry, art, architecture, geography, and more in short lessons.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/01/audibles-new-features-let-you-explore-book-worlds-and-even-talk-to-characters/

Problems when humans can’t match AI creative that was approved

HT George Walkley If you show a client an AI-generated comp that you can’t actually deliver, this will be a problem! Case study of RTL Nederland (a Bertelsmann company).

https://hbr.org/2026/09/research-gen-ai-is-collapsing-creative-processes

Jeffrey Katzenberg on what AI means for Hollywood and creativity

Reasoning operates on what already exists: facts, premises, evidence. Creating produces something that didn’t exist before. How we come through this is a choice.

https://x.com/jeffreykWNDR/status/2102774995315245469

What The New York Times looks for in AI licensing partnerships

HT George Walkley The New York Times is evaluating AI partnerships around compensation, lasting collaboration and control over how its journalism is used. Protecting their direct relationship with subscribers is also central to its approach, and they point the company’s Amazon agreement as a partnership that meets its principles.

https://digiday.com/media/what-the-new-york-times-looks-for-in-ai-licensing-partnerships/

Condé Nast, Hearst among 300 media execs to push federal ‘bad bots’ bill on AI scraping

The Stealth Bot Prohibition Act would force AI stealth crawlers to clearly identify themselves and their purpose instead of disguising their traffic and skirting publishers’ attempts to block scraping.

https://digiday.com/media/conde-nast-hearst-among-300-media-execs-to-push-federal-bad-bots-bill-on-ai-scraping/

Federal appeals court upholds Thomson Reuters’ landmark AI copyright win

The first U.S. federal appeals court to examine fair use in AI training has sided with Thomson Reuters, upholding its landmark copyright win against the AI startup Ross Intelligence.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/09/federal-appeals-court-upholds-thomson-reuters-landmark-ai-copyright-win/

Google Wins Dismissal of Penske Media (The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, & Rolling Stone) Lawsuit Over AI Search Snippets

The court said the issue isn’t in the realm of antitrust laws and should be decided by lawmakers. Publishers have seen drops in search traffic because of AI overviews.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/google-wins-dismissal-of-pmc-lawsuit-over-ai-search-snippets-1236720513/

Digital publishers are turning GEO from an experiment into a business

Digital publishers are increasingly monetizing Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) as a branded content offering, with companies like Future, Ziff Davis, Time, and several European publishers securing clients and revenue. Future’s GEO product has over 30 clients and renewals, while Ziff Davis reports multiple clients. Time’s offering involves placing brand messages in markdown files read by AI agents, despite Perplexity’s initial pushback. Publishers see GEO as a premium opportunity to capitalize on AI-driven discovery, though measurement and longevity remain concerns. The IAB is developing a framework to standardize AI advertising measurement. Publishers are guarded about revenue figures due to competition, but the overall sentiment is optimistic, with GEO perceived as a real commercial opportunity rather than a defensive play.

https://digiday.com/media/media-briefing-publishers-are-turning-geo-from-an-experiment-into-a-business/

Reddit is ending RSS feeds — with no replacement. You can blame AI bots.

Reddit announced that it’s shutting down support for RSS feeds, sunsetting its public AI, and even placing restrictions on Old Reddit. The reason? All the AI bots scraping Reddit for data.

https://mashable.com/tech/reddit-rss-feeds-public-api-shutdown-ai-scraping

Two 23-year-olds used AI to create a daily audio briefing. It’s now the top news app in Argentina.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/two-23-year-olds-used-ai-to-create-a-daily-audio-briefing-its-now-the-top-news-app-in-argentina/

OpenAI launches always-on AI agents a day after apologizing for a hack by its bots

OpenAI launched a new agent product focused on continuous work just a day after it announced it had refrained from releasing its latest system due to safety concerns.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/openai-launches-dots-ai-agents-safety-questions-rcna600338

What Happens When AI Starts Doing Business with AI?

HT George Walkley As agents increasingly access platforms, represent firms and users, and interact with other agents, the rules of the environments in which they operate will shape what they can see, decide, and do.

https://hbr.org/2026/09/what-happens-when-ai-starts-doing-business-with-ai

Religious Scholars Met With Anthropic. What They Heard Stunned Them.

In a series of private meetings, the company consulted religious scholars to help instill morality into its AI models — and make the case that Claude could be conscious.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/us/anthropic-claude-morals-ai.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GFE.ITiF.yIzSttCQrUDk&smid=nytcore-ios-share

A Hacking Tool Built With AI Can Breach Phones Without a Click

An attack discovered by AI researchers could have compromised hundreds of millions of devices within hours, experts said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/us/politics/calif-ai-worm-wechat-hack.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GFE.P5Qm.PKspR-STJAr7&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Battle of Hospital AI vs. Insurer AI Is Pushing Medical Costs Higher

Hospitals are using AI for more complex coding.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/business/ai-hospitals-insurers-health-care-costs.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GFE.DBMz.BaA5xz5ZACE3&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Google thinks SpaceX’s Starship has to launch 1,800 times before space data centers get off the ground

Google’s SunCatcher initiative is a long-term project for data centers in space.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/01/google-thinks-spacexs-starship-has-to-launch-1600-times-before-space-data-centers-get-off-the-ground/

Tesla workers balk at training Optimus humanoid robots as replacements

Despite challenges, Tesla aims for 1,000 Optimus robots per week by end of 2026.

https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/09/tesla-workers-balk-at-training-optimus-humanoid-robots-as-replacements/

Meta VR Glasses hands-on

HT @FoSTorg Lighter frames, tethered pocket puck, & eye/hand controls remove the need for controllers. Less fully immersive but surprisingly intuitive, less abt total escape than lowering the friction of entering virtual space.

https://www.engadget.com/2267222/meta-vr-glasses-hands-on-hand-tracking/

Publishing & Media

As Supply Chain Problems Increase, Some Books Miss On-Sale Dates

Challenges with getting copies of Josh Silver’s Fruit Fly and Marlon James’s The Disappearers are just two examples of a supply chain stretched thin this fall. New US tariffs on goods from Canada including paper, higher fuel prices, and the closure of the Coral Graphics plant in New York have all made it harder for publishers to reprint to fill demand, and print books on time in order to hold their original publication dates.

https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2026/10/as-supply-chain-problems-increase-some-books-miss-on-sale-dates/

California’s big local news bill becomes law

The state of California passed a bill to give news organizations tax credits based on the number of journalists they employ. It’s the largest local news bill in the U.S. — expected to generate as much as $40 million for the state’s newsrooms each year. It gives newsrooms tax credits of $20,000 each for up to five journalists on staff, and $15,000 for every journalist after, as well as $7,500 credits for journalists working part-time and $15,000 new hire credits.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/californias-big-local-news-bill-becomes-law/

Five Generations, One Newspaper: New York Times Chief Writes About Surviving

AG Sulzberger: “Tech giants dominate information. Google makes more profit every day than the Times does in a year

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/opinion/new-york-times-family-ownership-stewardship.html?unlocked_article_code=1.FVE.2NBc.FEfVXPEwWNhV&smid=nytcore-ios-share

People Inc Bid a Possibility from MGM Resorts

The Wall Street Journal reported MGM was exploring an offer for People Inc. after People Inc. last week withdrew its $48.30-per-share proposal to buy the rest of MGM.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/30/mgm-barry-diller-people-inc-casino-dealmaking.html

‘Pink Slime’ Sites Target US Midterm Elections

“Pink slime” outlets are proliferating, outnumbering US newspaper sites and eroding trust in traditional media.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/pseudo-journalism-partisan-news-sites-012705653.html

The Recipe Site That Ate Itself

How Food52 went from a wholesome home-cook community to a $300 million e-commerce empire—and ended up being sold for spare parts.

https://airmail.news/issues/2026-9-19/the-recipe-site-that-ate-itself

Columbia Journalism School will pause its M.A. program (and launch an online degree).

The country’s most prestigious journalism school has initiated “a critical evaluation” of the Master of Arts program and is pausing admissions to it.

https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/columbia-journalism-school-will-temporarily-pause-its-m-a-program-and-launch-an-online-degree/

Pocketbook e-readers can now borrow magazines with Libby

https://goodereader.com/blog/pocketbook-news/pocketbook-e-readers-can-now-borrow-magazines-with-libby

Forget the Shushing. Librarians Have a Whole Lot to Say.

These librarians want you to know that they don’t sit around reading all day. They want you to know about book bans and budget cuts, but also about career counseling and crafting groups and pop-up medical clinics. They want you to worry, the way they worry, about AI, looming legislation, and harassment of their staff. But most of all, they want you to know what the library really is: a safe place for people to gather around books, ideas and one another.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/10/01/books/state-of-libraries-librarians.html?unlocked_article_code=1.F1E.o3E3.60ZiWwqU202a&smid=nytcore-ios-share

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

The Responsible Journalist: Practical AI, Ethical Boundaries, and Newsroom Reality

10/7 12-1pm ET via Zoom. Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how journalists report, write, investigate, and engage with audiences, but questions remain about accuracy, transparency, and ethics. This interactive seminar w Yelena Dzhanova explores how journalists and media creators can incorporate AI into their work while maintaining the core values of the profession. Participants will learn practical ways AI can support reporting, discuss the ethical challenges surrounding its use, and examine where human judgment remains indispensable. Through demonstrations, case studies, and group discussion, attendees will leave with practical strategies for using AI responsibly in their own journalistic work.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-6778338

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