Topline:
Oliver Mayer is an award-winning playwright and professor of dramatic writing at USC — and he's been named by his students the "most calming professor" at the school.
The backstory: Mayer won a competition at the university set up by the Trojan Health Club and mental health company Calm to find the most tranquil teacher.
The prize: He was awarded the opportunity to record a Sleep Story for Calm app users.
Read on ... to listen to a sample of his calming narration.
Oliver Mayer is an award-winning playwright and professor of dramatic writing at USC. But recently he found out his students love him for yet another talent: the "most calming professor."
“Are my students falling asleep in my class?" he said, joking.
Mayer won a competition at the university set up by the Trojan Health Club and mental health company Calm to find the most tranquil teacher. Students voted him most calming professor and he was awarded the opportunity to record a Sleep Story for Calm app users.
The professor said, for him, it means more than ever to be considered a voice of calm, especially in what he calls the “upside down days” we’re living through. And Mayer also enjoyed being a twilight tour guide for his city.
“I do love the idea that not only might I be calming someone with a route through Los Angeles, but I’m also hopefully inspiring students and everyone else to explore their cities, Los Angeles and otherwise,” he said.
Mayer's sunset trek includes an audio journey to the Griffith Observatory:
“Our climb ends. Here we are: The perfect place to fall asleep under the stars," he says on the recording.
"And we easily find a spot to park.”
Maybe the most calming words an Angeleno can hear.
Mayer’s Sleep Story is available on the Calm app. You can check out a preview here.
Topline:
Looking for things to do this week? How about spending a couple hours inside Harry Style’s latest music video?
What? The video for Aperture features the Westin Bonaventure hotel, the mirrored, futuristic-looking behemoth on Figueroa Street in downtown L.A.
So? The building offers a pretty unique experience in and of itself for how visually and spatially disorienting it is.
It's not everyday you can credit one of the world's biggest pop stars for rekindling your memories of a place.
So, thank you, Harry Styles, for reminding us of the mesmerizing, confounding, iconic and the brashly weird wonders of the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown L.A.
Last week, the singer returned to pop music after a four-year respite with the surprise release of a new album. Along came the first music video for “Aperture,” a breezy electronic number that unfolds as a non-sequitur romp through a sleek hotel — beginning as an inexplicable chase, then breaks into a long, nifty dance sequence, and crescendos in a hat tip to Dirty Dancing.
The absurdity makes for a nice fit.
In the video, when Styles steps onto the escalator before realizing he is being followed, a distant recognition went off in my head.
That hunch grew more certain when he and his pursuer tumbled down a spiral of staircases that's almost Hitchcockian in its composition.
And later, when the two somersault through a cocktail lounge with Los Angeles twinkling in the backdrop, the setting could only have been The BonaVista, the revolving restaurant (yes, it really spins) on the 34th floor of the Bonaventure.
Styles is the latest among a long list of artists and moviemakers to make use of the location. In 1993's In the Line of Fire, Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich had their big shoot-out finale there, and managed to squeeze in a little repartee inside one of its famous capsule elevators. More recently, Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s "Luther" and Maroon 5 and LISA's "Priceless" prominently featured the hotel.
Since it opened in January 1977, the behemoth — towering hundreds of feet over Figueroa Street with some 1,400 rooms and the reigning title as Los Angeles's largest hotel — all but demanded the attention.
The Bonaventure was built between 1974 and 1976 in the midst of Bunker Hill's redevelopment that started two decades back with land seizures through eminent domain and the evictions of thousands of low-income Angelenos.
The ambition was to remake the urban core into a world-class arts and cultural destination.
Architect and real estate developer John C. Portman brought his signature vaulting atrium to the task. For the Hyatt in his hometown of Atlanta, that feature was 22 stories high. For the Bonaventure, the atrium was seven.
The Bonaventure’s interior has been described as Brutalist in style, a raw concrete maze of dangling lounges, shooting columns, swirling staircases, curved walkways, glass elevators and seemingly dead ends. Its mirrored and cylindrical exterior has been called postmodern and futuristic.
Portman's idea was to create a city within its walls, and populated his creation with shops, restaurants and other amenities so people simply wouldn’t have to leave.
I have always thought of it looking a little dated, like a sad disco ball.
A few days ago, I went to the Bonaventure again for old times’ sake. I took this same walk several times a week for six years, when I worked downtown in the mid-aughts. Back then, this network of pedways was really our only way to get to any place for coffee or lunch.
The Bonaventure was one of our options, with its food court on the fourth floor. Sometimes, I spent my lunch simply walking its various floors, entranced by the vast, hushed space that felt somehow endless and somewhat abandoned. I have always thought it was the perfect setting for a chase scene.
On my latest visit, the lines and curves were clashing and crisscrossing in ways that I hadn't before noticed. Cultural theorists have famously written about the disorientation the building is said to inspire — how easily you can feel lost.
And what a privilege it is.
Thanks, Harry, for the nudge to go and spend a couple leisurely hours getting lost in a quintessentially Los Angeles riddle.
Everyone should do it.
Topline:
Big Bear’s famous bald eagle nest has taken a turn — both of Jackie and Shadow’s eggs have been attacked by ravens.
What happened: Via livestream, a raven could be seen in the nest poking a large hole into, and potentially eating, one of the eagle eggs.
Why it matters: Jackie and Shadow have a large fanbase.
“Our hearts are with Jackie and Shadow always and we wrap our arms around them,” Jenny Voisard, the organization’s media and website manager, wrote in a Facebook update. “Our hearts are also with you eagle fam, we know how you are feeling now."
Go deeper: Second egg seen in Big Bear’s famous bald eagle nest
Big Bear’s famous bald eagle nest has taken a turn — both of Jackie and Shadow’s eggs have been attacked by ravens.
In the nest overlooking Big Bear Lake, a raven could be seen poking a large hole into, and potentially eating, one of the eagle eggs. The intrusion was noticed on a popular YouTube livestream run by the nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley.
Jenny Voisard, the organization’s media and website manager, confirmed the crack in Friends of Big Bear Valley’s official Facebook group, which has nearly 400,000 members, after Jackie and Shadow were away from the nest, and eggs, for several hours Friday.
Voisard told LAist one of the eggs may still be partly intact, but both eggs are believed to be breached. Jackie returned to their nest shortly after the raven left to lay on the remaining egg, according to organization records.
“Our hearts are with Jackie and Shadow always and we wrap our arms around them,” Voisard wrote. “Our hearts are also with you eagle fam, we know how you are feeling now."
“Step away from the screen when needed,” she continued in the post. “Try and rest tonight.”
Jackie laid the first egg of the season around 4:30 p.m. last Friday and the second egg around 5:10 p.m. Monday as thousands of eager fans watched online.
It was almost exactly a year after the feathered duo welcomed the first egg of the 2025 season.
Bald eagles generally have one clutch per season, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley. A second clutch is possible if the eggs don’t make it through the early incubation process.
For example, Jackie laid a second clutch in February 2021 after the first round of eggs was broken or destroyed by ravens the month before.
Jackie and Shadow may have the left the nest unattended Friday because they knew on some level "that not everything was right," Voisard wrote.
"We are hopeful however, because bald eagles can lay replacement clutches if something happens early enough in the season," she continued. "The fact that the raven came to do its job so quickly may be just what Jackie and Shadow needed."
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Topline:
Lawsuits in California federal and state court are unearthing documents embarrassing to tech companies — and may be a tipping point into federal regulation.
Conversation in lawsuit: The Meta researcher’s tone was alarmed. “oh my gosh yall IG is a drug,” the user experience specialist allegedly wrote to a colleague, referring to the social media platform Instagram. “We’re basically pushers… We are causing Reward Deficit Disorder bc people are binging on IG so much they can’t feel reward anymore.”
About the suit: Condensing complaints from hundreds of school districts and state attorneys general, including California’s, the suit alleges that social media companies knew about risks to children and teens but pushed ahead with marketing their products to them, putting profits above kids’ mental health. The suit seeks monetary damages and changes to companies’ business practices.
Read on... for more about the lawsuits in California.
The Meta researcher’s tone was alarmed.
“oh my gosh yall IG is a drug,” the user experience specialist allegedly wrote to a colleague, referring to the social media platform Instagram. “We’re basically pushers... We are causing Reward Deficit Disorder bc people are binging on IG so much they can’t feel reward anymore.”
The researcher concluded that users’ addiction was “biological and psychological” and that company management was keen to exploit the dynamic. “The top down directives drive it all towards making sure people keep coming back for more,” the researcher added.
The conversation was included recently as part of a long-simmering lawsuit in a California-based federal court. Condensing complaints from hundreds of school districts and state attorneys general, including California’s, the suit alleges that social media companies knew about risks to children and teens but pushed ahead with marketing their products to them, putting profits above kids’ mental health. The suit seeks monetary damages and changes to companies’ business practices.
The suit, and a similar one filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, targets Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap. The cases are exposing embarrassing internal conversations and findings at the companies, particularly Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, further tarnishing their brands in the public eye. They are also testing a particular vector of attack against the platforms, one that targets not so much alarming content as design and marketing decisions that accelerated harms. The upshot, some believe, could be new forms of regulation, including at the federal level.
One document discussed during a hearing this week included a 2016 email from Mark Zuckerberg about Facebook’s live videos feature. In the email, the Meta chief wrote, “we’ll need to be very good about not notifying parents / teachers” about teens’ videos.
“If we tell teens’ parents about their live videos, that will probably ruin the product from the start,” he wrote, according to the email.
In slides summarizing internal tech company documents, released this week as part of the litigation, an internal YouTube discussion suggested that accounts from minors in violation of YouTube policies were actively on the platform for years, producing content an average of “938 days before detection – giving them plenty of time to create content and continue putting themselves and the platform at risk.”
A spokesperson for Meta didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
A YouTube spokesperson, José Castañeda, described the slide released this week as “a cherry-picked view of a much larger safety framework” and said the company uses more than one tool to detect underage accounts, while taking action every time it finds an underage account.
If we tell teens’ parents about their live videos, that will probably ruin the product from the start.
In court, the companies have argued that they are making editorial decisions permitted by the First Amendment,. That trial is set for June.
The state court litigation moved into jury selection this week, increasing the pressure on social media companies.
While the state and federal cases differ slightly, the core argument is the same: that social media companies deliberately designed their products to hook young people, leading to disastrous but foreseeable consequences.
“It's led to mental health issues, serious anxiety, depression, for many. For some, eating disorders, suicidality,” said Previn Warren, co-lead counsel on the case in federal court. “For the schools, it’s been lost control over the educational environment, inability of teachers to really control their classrooms and teach.”
Meta and other companies have faced backlash for years over their treatment of kids on their platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. Parents, lawmakers and privacy advocates have argued that social media contributed to a mental health crisis among young people and that tech companies failed to act when that fact became clear.
Those allegations gained new scrutiny last month when a brief citing still-sealed documents in the federal suit became public.
While the suit also names TikTok, Snap, and Google as defendants, the filing includes allegations against Meta that are especially detailed.
In the more than 200-page filing, for example, the plaintiffs argue that Meta deliberately misled the public about how damaging their platforms were.
Warren pointed to claims in the brief that Meta researchers found that 55% of Facebook users had “mild” problematic use of the platform, while 3.1 percent had “severe” problems. Zuckerberg, according to the brief, pointed out that 3% of billions would still be millions of people.
But the brief claims the company published research noting only that "we estimate (as an upper bound) that 3.1% of Facebook users in the US experience problematic use.”
“That’s a lie,” Warren said.
In response to recent interest in the suits, Meta published a blog post this month arguing that the litigation “oversimplifies” the issue of youth mental health, and pointed to past instances where it has worked with parents and families with features to protect kids.
The federal case faced a key hearing this week, as the defendants argued that a judge should summarily dismiss the case. A decision on that motion is likely coming in the next few weeks, Warren said.
Social media companies, like other web-based services, receive protection from some legal claims under a part of federal law. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act gives legal immunity to website operators for potentially illegal content on their platforms.
Mary Anne Franks, a legal scholar in First Amendment issues at George Washington University who has long studied Section 230, said rather than online content in and of itself, the recent social media cases are focusing on the design of the platforms and their marketing.
“The litigation strategy is saying it's the way that you're providing that space and you're pushing this toward individuals that are vulnerable that is really an issue here,” she said. “It's your own conduct, not somebody else's.”
The companies are making key decisions behind the scenes, she said, and could be held responsible for them.
“You were manipulating things,” she said the plaintiffs are arguing. “You were deliberately making choices about what comes to the top or what is directly accessible or may be tempting to vulnerable users.”
Meanwhile, the related state lawsuit went to jury selection this week.
The case, which makes similar claims about personal injury caused by the social media companies, has also drawn nationwide attention, and major industry figures like Zuckerberg are expected to appear on the stand.
The personal injury case focuses on an unnamed plaintiff who claims to have had her mental health damaged by an addiction to social media.
In a last-minute development this week, TikTok and Snap reportedly reached undisclosed settlements in the case. Meta and Google are continuing as defendants.
Franks said these trials could be a tipping point in regulating how tech companies design and market their products. While the companies have faced scrutiny in the past, she said, the glare of examination at trial could be especially bright.
“There's always been talk of it and the members of Congress have kind of said, ‘maybe we'll regulate you,’” she said. “I think now the platforms are really getting nervous about what this is going to mean if they look really bad on the stand.”
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
Topline:
Burbank is officially launching a new hiking-trail-accessibility program for people with disabilities. Two new all-terrain wheelchairs will be available to rent, starting Saturday, at Stough Canyon Nature Center.
The background: The program is the first of its kind in Southern California. Several jurisdictions in the region have beach accessibility programs, but this is the first for mountain trails.
Read on ... for more on the program and how to reserve a chair.
On Saturday, Burbank is officially launching a new hiking trail accessibility program for people with disabilities. Two new all-terrain wheelchairs will be available to rent at Stough Canyon Nature Center for use on the fire trail.
The program is the first of its kind in Southern California. Several jurisdictions in the region have beach accessibility programs, but this is the first for mountain trails.
In recent years, Burbank has become a leader in the movement to make sports and the outdoors more accessible to people with disabilities.
Since 2021, the city has launched several adaptive sports programs, including offering wheelchair rugby and fencing, Piper’s Pals youth baseball and basketball, powerchair soccer, boccia and the Burbank Adaptive Sports Expo, which is coming up for its third year running on Feb. 21.
Where: Stough Canyon Nature Center, 2300 Walnut Avenue, Burbank
When: Saturday, Jan. 31 at 10 am
What: Attendees will be able to try out the new all-terrain wheelchairs for themselves, ask questions and learn more about adaptive sports efforts from Burbank Parks and Recreation staff.
(Side note: There’s some debate among the people of Burbank as to how to pronounce “Stough Canyon.” LAist did some digging and found this transcript from the Burbank Public Library. The canyon was named after prominent 19th-century real estate developer Oliver J. Stough, a descendent of German immigrant Gottfried (or Godfrey) Stauff, whose spelling of his surname was changed to Stough after migrating to the U.S in 1752. The verdict? Stough rhymes with “wow.”)
The new all-terrain wheelchairs are the latest in that effort, said Diego Cevallos, assistant director of the city’s parks and recreation department.
“We are building an ecosystem here in Burbank of robust programming and activities that cater to folks with disabilities,” he said. “Really what we want to do is inspire the community and also our other civic leaders to engage in this movement of making outdoor equity more accessible through programs just like this.”
The city purchased the all-terrain Action Trackchair AXIS 40 wheelchairs — each about $20,000 — exclusively with funds raised by Leadership Burbank. The community-based organization raised about $90,000 for the trail accessibility program. The remaining funds went to the city’s parafencing program and all staff time associated with maintaining these programs comes out of the city’s general fund, Cevallos said.
The program is open to anyone with mobility issues in the region, not only Burbank residents.
You can reserve one of the two wheelchairs by going to BurbankParks.com. The process is a bit clunky, but city staff are working to simplify it.
Go to BurbankParks.com, then click on the “Facility Rentals” tab, scroll down to “Stough Canyon Nature Center” and click on “Adaptive Hiking Rentals.”
Available times will be in highlighted green in the calendar.
You’ll have to create a profile and log in to reserve the chairs. Before getting on the trail, you’ll have to watch a safety tutorial video, sign a waiver and do a test drive.
Once reserved, the user will have to bring a non-disabled companion to assist them and a staff member or volunteer with the Nature Center will accompany them on the trail. That docent will provide nature education during the hike and make sure everything is going smoothly and safely.
Right now, the chairs can only be reserved for up to two hours, said recreation services manager Noah Altman, but he said staff welcomes feedback from the public and will consider updating the requirements for the program as needed.
And an important note: Residents with all types of disabilities can use the chairs — it’s not necessary to have mobility in one’s hands. The family member or friend accompanying the user can remotely control the wheelchairs if needed.
Mobility challenges are the most common type of disability in L.A. County — around half a million Angelenos have some type of ambulatory disability, according to the county’s Aging and Disabilities Department.
But all-terrain wheelchairs cost around $20,000 and weigh around 400 pounds, making them out of reach and impractical for most individuals to own themselves, said Austin Nicassio, a San Dimas resident and founder of Accessible Off-Road, a nonprofit that advocates and is raising funds for more off-road mobility devices.
Nicassio provided consultation early on in the Burbank accessible trail project effort, and is currently working with L.A. County and California State Parks to bring all-terrain wheelchairs to more areas. The nonprofit is raising money to purchase all-terrain wheelchairs for use in those jurisdictions.
“ It's a huge milestone,” Nicassio said of the Burbank program. “It's going to be absolutely life changing for everyone in Southern California.”
For Nicassio, these efforts are deeply personal. Growing up in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, he used to be an avid hiker and mountain biker.
“Five years ago I was completely able-bodied working as an aerospace engineer, mountain biking, hiking, surfing,” Nicassio said. “My body did whatever I wanted it to do, and I always took it for granted.”
But in 2022, after a mild case of COVID-19, he started experiencing strange symptoms — muscle weakness, severe brain fog. He was later diagnosed with a condition that affects his blood flow and makes it difficult to stand for long periods of time and impossible to do anything too strenuous. He was also diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.
“I went from being very active to being a wheelchair user,” Nicassio said.
His mental health plummeted — he realized he used to cope with strong emotions by getting out on the trails or in the ocean. When he finally saved up enough to purchase his own off-road wheelchair, it was “life changing.”
“And not just for me, but for my father, for my wife, for my friends, my whole community,” Nicassio said.
He says he wants to see a world where access to such offroad wheelchairs is the norm.
“ No one has told me that their favorite hike or trail's been paved unless you're disabled, and it has to be,” said Nicassio. “Being out on these trails, a couple miles from the noise, from the trash, from the people, it's life changing.”
