Sponsored message
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
 — 
See All Episodes
Subscribe

Hey, LA listener!

Download our app for the optimal streaming experience

Apple Store logo Google play logo
  • Listen Now Playing Listen

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
News

ICYMI: The Unexpected Civic Benefits Of Pokemon Go

Devon McReynolds
Published Jul 18, 2016 11:00 PM
mels-icymi.jpg
Mel's Drive-in on Sunset. (Photo by LaTur via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr. Tag #LAist on Instagram if you want to see your photo featured here

One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.

  • Follow LAist on Twitter, on Instagram, and like us on Facebook. You can also see what T-shirt LAist Editor-in-Chief Carman Tse is wearing today on the Shirts of My Boss Instagram. And to get the top stories mailed to you, sign up here.
  • Curbed writes that Pokemon Go is responsible for encouraging a unique kind of civic engagement, as wannabe Pokemasters explore parks and parts of cities they might not have been to before. Nice to see a consequence of the game that doesn't involve finding a dead body.
  • The RNC is underway in Cleveland (follow the coverage over at Chicagoist), and no time was wasted when it came to a participant making an offensive, racist, and just plain bizarre statement. In a discussion about the Republican party's overwhelming whiteness on MSNBC, Congressman Steve King said that non-white "sub groups" have contributed less to civilization. Yes, that actually happened, and no, we can't even think of anything snarky to say. It's going to be a long week.
  • Former Los Angeles Laker Metta World Peace has un-retired from rap, and performed at West Hollywood club Bootsy Bellows last night.
  • It's about time we had a romcom about Tinder.
  • Southern California beaches often see the bloated carcasses of humpback whales wash up on shore, but in Poland, a boar emerged from the sea to tackle two beachgoers.
  • Today would have been Hunter S. Thompson's 79th birthday. Here he is in a fantastic interview with The Paris Review.
  • Bruce Springsteen wrote a moving remembrance of Suicide's Alan Vega, complimenting his "generous and sweet spirit." The Boss continued, "The blunt force power of his greatest music both with Suicide and on his solo records can still shock and inspire today. There was simply no one else remotely like him."
  • Speaking of Bruce, on this day in 1988, the Boss played an epic 4-hour long set in East Berlin, tearin' down that wall metaphorically with good old fashioned Amurrican rock 'n' roll:
    • One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.

    You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.

    If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
    Headshot of Megan Garvey
    Megan Garvey
    Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

    Make your tax-deductible donation today

    Trending on LAist
    The Brief