The supporter groups encouraged people to wear black in protest of ICE. And minutes into the home match against Nashville, a bunch of supporters left including the band, La Murga, who normally play every minute of every game. They took their banners and their cheers and their songs.

Pretty amazing act of protest and solidarity from the supporters section at Austin FC, which is one of the most devoted in the country (despite generally underwhelming teams).

Liz Sepper@lsepper.bsky.social · 6h ago

THE SUPPORTER SECTION IS WALKING OUT. THE POLICE MADE THEM TAKE DOWN THE SIGN. All the normal signs are gone. No "y'all means all." No "trans lives matter." Nothing. It is now quiet. No music, no drums, no chants #AustinFC

Directly to this, I had decent Interest from other publishers on a first book, but a lot of them wanted to tell me the kind of book they thought I should write. U Texas press asked me what I wanted to do and never tried to steer me into a “marketable” lane and the book was better for it

Joel Pinckney@jpinckney.bsky.social · 2d ago

Really enjoyed this piece, which implicitly suggests another good reason to support small and university presses as much as you can: many of them are the ones willing and ready to take chances on nonfiction books that big five publishers are more than ever too scared to take on.

It was not the kindest day on here for the book people among us. I hope you all have the chance to read something beautiful this weekend.

Well-sourced, eye-opening (but in hindsight, unsurprising) piece from Adam. The main use of AI by publishers appears to be publicity/marketing. I would like to explain why this is a bad use from the perspective of someone who gets pitched dozens of books a week for coverage.

Adam Morgan@adamm0rgan.bsky.social · yesterday

For @wired.com, I spoke with workers about the quiet push to experiment with AI tools from book publishing executives at the Big Five. www.wired.com/story/book-p...

Well. None of this is especially surprising, but boy is this a deflating read. The lack of any kind of vision from leadership beyond the logic of inevitability and the fear of being left behind is breathtaking—though, again, not especially surprising. (Great reporting, @adamm0rgan.bsky.social.)

Manisha Krishnan@manishakrishnan.bsky.social · yesterday

NEW: Staff at HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette told @adamm0rgan.bsky.social AI is infiltrating their workplaces, from generating cover art and back cover copy, to publicity materials, to rejection emails, as execs tell junior staff to "champion" the tech. www.wired.com/story/book-p...

Really enjoyed this piece, which implicitly suggests another good reason to support small and university presses as much as you can: many of them are the ones willing and ready to take chances on nonfiction books that big five publishers are more than ever too scared to take on.

Tajja Isen@tajjaisen.bsky.social · 2d ago

You may have heard that nonfiction's having a rough time. I investigated for @thewalrus.ca. And it's very true, but not for the reasons you might think. thewalrus.ca/nonfiction-i...

"The federal contracts awarded this year to build a 30-foot-tall steel fence, roads, lights, and cameras along the...southern boundary of our county total around $2.1 billion dollars, or about $350,000 per resident. Presidio is one of the poorest counties in Texas. We could have used that money."

Luke O'Neil@lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 2d ago

When I talk about “them” I mean it in the paranoiac sense that becomes real when you live under occupation. When I talk about “us” I mean it in the sense of community and family and loving one another. www.welcometohellworld.com/the-most-bea...

Can't stop thinking about this kid, man. Five years old, watched his dad get shot in the neck and taken away. Now no one knows where his dad is, what sort of condition he's in, any of it. All across the country, every day, we are destroying children's lives.

Andrew Couts@couts.bsky.social · 2d ago

The man shot by ICE in NYC yesterday has disappeared after he was admitted to the hospital, and his lawyer reportedly doesn’t know where he is. www.courthousenews.com/ice-shot-a-m...

Got paid today for a piece that hasn't dropped yet. This is something I could get used to.

"One senior official said a 5-year-old child was in the back seat of the car at the time of the incident." www.nbcnewyork.com/new-york-cit...

Person shot by ICE officers in Upper Manhattan

One source said the person shot was apparently in a vehicle when at least one officer opened fire.

nbcnewyork.com

Kid came home from daycare today feeling rough, got on the couch to relax. Asked her if she wanted to watch something. Her response: “Can we watch all the movies?” I know how that feels, girl.

"I don't know what the term means anymore," he says right before this (transparently stupid, evil, cynical) line. Good thing a certain socialist in elected office gave us his own answer to this question mere days ago!

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3d ago

Q: How do you define socialism personally? JD VANCE: I think in reality what it actually means in the American context is you want to replace American workers with foreigners workers, and you want boys to play in girls' sports

I know I’m not the only one on here who has spent the last near-decade of my reading life trying to find something that will scratch the STEPHEN FLORIDA itch. If that’s you, I have to insist that you get your hands on this book immediately.

Whenever I have to speak in front of a lot of people (as I did at a regional booksellers meeting this morning), I always think about this beautifully simple advice from @joshgondelman.bsky.social: "Everyone wants you to do a good job, and no one will be mad if you mess up a little." It helps!

Josh Gondelman@joshgondelman.bsky.social · last yr.

Sometimes people ask me for public speaking advice and I included my most crucial tip in this week’s That’s Marvelous! There’s other stuff in it too! Read it: www.thatsmarvelousnewsletter.com/142-pep-talk...

This is always nice to see, but especially so here since it’s gotta be one of the first quotes from a piece of @defector.com book criticism to make it into a book’s paperback edition. Many more to come thanks to @brandyjensen.bsky.social and team. Huge credit to them for making space for the books.

One to look out for, I’m quite excited about this.

Patrick Iber@patrickiber.bsky.social · 7d ago

The podcast is up and running. "Experts in a Dying Field" includes the Washington Post's former TV critic, @lililoofbourow.bsky.social, writer and critic @zunguzungu.bsky.social of the Oakland Review of Books, and me. Each week we are taking on a cultural object, big or small, present or past

Playing with my child this morning, she whips out “scary doctors are going to come and they’re going to shock you” ??

We were there today as well for the bday, and similarly did our part to keep the lights on. Austin’s Alienated Majesty is one of the best-curated bookstores I have ever had the good fortune to get my brain food from, and run & staffed by really exceptional people alienatedmajestybooks.comp

Joel Pinckney@jpinckney.bsky.social · last wk.

May have lost my bearings a bit today at Alienated Majesty. I regret nothing. Three years in, AM is truly one of the best bookstores in the country.

May have lost my bearings a bit today at Alienated Majesty. I regret nothing. Three years in, AM is truly one of the best bookstores in the country.

I’m about 150 pages in here and ready to declare that this is a Good Book.

Another moment when sports is useful, when it gets right at the truth of things. People want so damn badly to move on from reports of harm, from having to even think about the harm that men have done to women. Playing well in a game allows that. It's crude, yes, but it's common. ANYTHING to move on.

Sarah Spain ✨@sarahspain.com · last wk.

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.

"[Readers are] often looking not just for a book, but for help slowing down, discovering something unexpected, and reconnecting with the pleasure of sustained attention. It’s our job to help them do that.” Great stuff all around

Joel Pinckney@jpinckney.bsky.social · 2w ago

There are ways to both engage with the challenges facing readers and reading today while also rejecting this kind of triumphal doomerism; the booksellers I spoke with for this piece are exemplars of that. Maybe you'd like to read this today instead?

Hopefully there are booksellers local to you that you'd like to nominate, but if you need some ideas...

What Do Booksellers Make Of “The End Of Reading”? | Defector

If you haven’t yet encountered the cover story for the August issue of The Atlantic, I have some bad news to share: “The End of Reading Is Here.” It’s an intentionally provocative headline for a sligh...

defector.com

Caroline Casey@cacasey.bsky.social · last wk.

time to nominate your favorite bookseller *and* your favorite store

time to nominate your favorite bookseller *and* your favorite store

"By my definition of writing, writing with AI isn’t. Isn’t writing. One can do it, of course, and people are, and will—but it’s not the thing that I love and have lived for. I want to be a person and speak to other people. End of story."

Ryan Packer@typewriteralley.bsky.social · 2w ago

George Saunders on using AI: "Writing is the most precious way one person can communicate their essence to another person. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to get better at making myself present in my writing. Why would I want to sacrifice even one iota of that?"

There are ways to both engage with the challenges facing readers and reading today while also rejecting this kind of triumphal doomerism; the booksellers I spoke with for this piece are exemplars of that. Maybe you'd like to read this today instead?

What Do Booksellers Make Of “The End Of Reading”? | Defector

If you haven’t yet encountered the cover story for the August issue of The Atlantic, I have some bad news to share: “The End of Reading Is Here.” It’s an intentionally provocative headline for a sligh...

defector.com

Maris Kreizman@maris.bsky.social · 2w ago

Today in I want to burn this place down:

If your political commitments are conditioned on no one receiving more help than they "need," I do not trust that you actually believe in your stated political commitments.

Email from our neighborhood association just now advertising a visit from the police, "our protectors," on October 6's National Night Out. In our world of ICE and 287(g) partnerships, and knowing that we live in the part of Austin that's actively being targeted by ICE, this is really disgusting.

If you hear a man taking offense to or "not-all-men"-ing any conversation around the Cornell horrors, run as far away from them as you can (unless you're another straight man—if they're doing that, they definitely are straight—in which case, stick around and have it out).