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Northeast Notebook Live
WAMC’s Northeast Notebook Live brings listeners inside the conversations of the region. Each day, the hour-long show airing online and on-air will feature a deep dive into an issue that matters most, as well as analysis of the headlines and additional interviews with newsmakers and journalists to provide a broad overlook of what matters most. The show will feature reporting by WAMC journalists, and highlight the vital work local journalists do to inform their communities. Northeast Notebook Live will regularly feature reporting by the Albany Times Union, the Berkshire Eagle, and the Adirondack Explorer thanks to a formal partnership with WAMC that’s meant to explore the region’s news with breadth, depth and context.

Northeast Notebook 10/8/26: Botstein fallout, AI's impact on teaching, and Peter Oberacker

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Sam Dingman
Published October 8, 2026 at 5:37 PM EDT
Wikimedia Commons

Starbuck's was once a place of refuge. But in 2026, as the company shutters locations around the country, refuge is hard to find.

AI, for example, is creeping into every aspect of life - including the workflows of university students, who are using it with varying levels of transparency.

Plus: more of former Bard President Leon Botstein's alleged email correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein has been uncovered by the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. Botstein has resigned from his remaining affiliations with Bard College, but he may be subject to a criminal probe.

And: New York State Senator Peter Oberacker is running for Congress as a centrist in a dicey electoral environment for Republicans. He speaks with us about his plans to carve out a middle path.

All that and more on this Oct. 8 edition of Northeast Notebook.
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News Northeast Notebook LiveStarbuckspeter oberackerBard Collegeleon botstein
Sam Dingman
Sam Dingman is WAMC’s Hudson/Catskill Bureau Chief. Previously, he was co-host and reporter at “The Show” on KJZZ, Phoenix’s NPR station. Prior to KJZZ, Dingman was the creator and host of the acclaimed podcast “Family Ghosts,” which has been hailed as a critic’s choice by NPR, the LA Times and the New York Times. Dingman also co-hosted the BlueWire original series “The Rumor,” which was featured in the Washington Post and New York Magazine, and was a Webby honoree for Best Podcast Writing. He was story editor for Lemonada Media’s Signal Award-winning series “Pack One Bag,” writer and showrunner for John Stamos’s Webby-winning podcast “The Grand Scheme: Snatching Sinatra,” editor of Karina Longworth’s “You Must Remember This,” and a producer for WNYC’s Peabody-winning “On the Media.” He is a four-time winner of the Moth Grand and Story Slams, and has created, written, hosted, produced and edited podcasts for The Atlantic, Audible Originals, Gilded Audio, Gimlet Media, Lincoln Center, Panoply Media, Paramount Pictures, Pushkin Industries, Spotify, Slate, Stitcher, and Wondery.
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