‘Something Big Is Happening’ + A.I. Rocks the Romance Novel Industry + One Good Thing
February 13, 2026 · 1 h 4 min
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Show notes
This week, we discuss Wall Street’s software-stock sell-off and a viral essay on X about the potential for widespread job displacement from A.I. Then, the New York Times reporter Alexandra Alter walks us through the process that a growing number of writers are adopting to churn out romance novels with help from A.I. chatbots. Finally, we each share one bit of good tech-related news — a new way to make playlists on Spotify and progress toward decoding whale sounds.
Guest:
• Alexandra Alter, a New York Times reporter covering books and publishing.
Additional Reading:
• The Dark Side of A.I. Weighs on Tech Stocks • Matt Shumer’s essay “Something Big Is Happening” • The New Fabio Is Claude • How a New A.I. Tool Fixed My Single Biggest Problem With Spotify • How A.I. Trained on Birds Is Surfacing Underwater Mysteries
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