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The Book-Club Edition Monday, September 23, 2019

Oprah's Book Club Debuts In Apple Books, Author Interview Series Launching On Apple TV+, by Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac

Apple today announced that Oprah’s Book Club is today launching inside Apple Books, and an Apple TV+ show of the same name will be available starting November 1st.

The exclusive TV series will feature interviews with authors of the featured books, with new episodes released every two months.

Oprah Just Revealed Her New Book Club Pick—And We Can't Wait To Read It, by McKenzie Jean-Philippe, Yahoo

It seems like just yesterday that Oprah announced her last Oprah's Book Club Pick in 2018: Michelle Obama's best-selling memoir, Becoming. And while it could be difficult to follow former first lady of the United States, we think Lady O's latest choice page-turner—her 81st ever selection, and her first as part of her new book club iteration with Apple—is the perfect follow-up. Ready for the big reveal? It's Ta-Nehisi Coates' new novel, The Water Dancer.

“I have not felt this way about a book since Beloved,” says Oprah, referring to the late Toni Morrison's celebrated novel. "I knew early on the book was going to cut me up. I ended up with my soul pierced.”

[...]

“Every sentence is about ‘then’ but it’s also about ‘now,'" Oprah says. "I realized that those who did run, they had to do it…they couldn’t stay. They had to risk everything.”

Stuff

Apple TV+ Makes A Splash In Emmy Awards Commercial Breaks, by Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac

In a new ‘Stories to believe in’ campaign, Apple is airing 15-second clips of its hero shows, online and on TV. It screened a handful during the Emmy Awards ad breaks (via ScreenTimes). This includes clips for The Morning Show, See, For All Mankind and Dickinson.

Napan Invents App To Help Those With Autism, by Jennifer Huffman, Napa Valley Register

The InnerVoice app — created by Guggemos and his business partner — is an award-winning communication tool for children with autism that teaches social communication skills using engaging animated 3-D avatars of themselves, characters or favorite toys.

“It’s just using phones to activate natural learning processes,” said Guggemos.

The Latest Version Of Yahoo Mail Helps Users Find Attachments And Deals, by Anthony Ha, TechCrunch

For example, Jacobson said he joined Yahoo after the company acquired his previous employer, the smart inbox service Xobni. At the time, everyone assumed that when it came to helping users find things in email, “search is the way to go.” (Note: Yahoo, like TechCrunch, is owned by Verizon Media.)

Instead, he said it turns out “people just don’t know or want to have to figure out what to type into that imposing white box to find the thing that they’re looking for.”

So Yahoo Mail now offers a number of different views that should help you find stuff without searching, by focusing on specific types of content from your inbox.

Notes

Is The Era Of The $100+ Graphing Calculator Coming To An End?, by Zachary Crockett, The Hustle

Yet, for millions of middle school and high school students around America, the graphing calculator is still a required standard — and TI controls an estimated 80% of the $300m+ market.

An obsolete piece of technology has managed to maintain a stranglehold on an increasingly tech-savvy education market. But it appears that the rise of new, free-to-use technology is starting to chip away at this empire.

Charli XCX Explains How Streaming Is Changing Songs, by Dani Deahl, The Verge

We all know that streaming has changed the way we listen to music, but it’s also changing the way artists write and release music. With streaming, artists can instantly put their music online, which lets them test out songs, release music on a whim, or even adjust albums after they’re released. Charli has always been at the cutting edge of pop, and she has built a career around disregarding norms, including traditional release structures. It’s increasingly becoming a trend as more artists are leaving the tried and true album cycle behind.