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.
Social media addiction and safety, Big Bear eagle Jackie dies, friendslop gaming and more
In this photo illustration, the Facebook and Instagram apps are seen on the screen of an iPhone on Oct. 4, 2021 in San Anselmo, Calif.
(
Justin Sullivan
/
Getty Images
)
Jump to
Today on AirTalk: Social media trial, what makes social media safe, Big Bear eagle Jackie dies, California ballot counting and friendslop gaming.
Have a question or comment about a segment? Want to pitch us a story?
Fill out the form below, and please include an email address so we're able to follow up if necessary! We're not able to respond to every inquiry, but all submissions are read and reviewed by our production team.
Meta trial asks: is social media addiction really a thing?
The topic:
Social media company Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, faces another legal case — this time in Oakland, California — to determine if its platforms are addictive.
Listen
29:24
Listen to the conversation:
Guests: Elias Aboujaoude, clinical professor of psychiatry, Douglas Gentile, professor of psychology, and Ian Anderson, postdoctoral scholar research associate.
Science is slow: Meta’s main argument is that social media addiction is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM. But many people in the field of psychology and psychiatry believe that people can become addicted to social media and that the DSM has not caught up.
More about our guests:
- Elias Aboujaoude, clinical professor of psychiatry at Stanford University. He is also the Director of the OCD Clinic and the Impulse Control Disorders Clinic at Stanford Medicine. He’s also on the faculty at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
- Douglas Gentile, professor of psychology at Iowa State University
- Ian Anderson, postdoctoral scholar research associate in Computational Neuroscience of Social Media and Emotion at Caltech
What actually makes social media safer?
A California law requires big social media companies to disclose harassment policies on their platforms.
(
stnazkul
/
iStockphoto
)
The topic:
Multiple countries have instituted social media bans or restrictions for minors. In New Mexico, a court ordered stricter age verification, mandatory time-use limits for minors and the elimination of nighttime push notifications, among other safeguards.
Sponsored message
Listen
20:06
Listen to the conversation:
Guests: Jane Shawcroft, assistant professor at Ohio State University, Sunny Liu, director of research at the Stanford Social Media Lab, and Andrew Zack, policy director at the Family Online Safety Institute.
The research says: Right now, research is inconclusive about what actually works and even what success means, but cell phone bans are popular among parents and Americans generally.
The question: What would make social media less harmful? Do you have thoughts as a parent, teacher, child or social media user? Call us at (866) 893-5722 or email atcomments@laist.com.
For parents: For tips on how to help manage your kid’s digital safety, you can visit this free guidebook from the Stanford Social Media Lab and the Family Online Safety Institute.
More about our guests:
- Jane Shawcroft, assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University; she studies the social and emotional role of technology in kids’ lives and families
- Sunny Liu, director of research at the Stanford Social Media Lab
- Andrew Zack, policy director at the Family Online Safety Institute, an international non-profit
Why so many people felt connected to Big Bear’s famous bald eagle Jackie
Jackie, the 14-year-old bald eagle from Big Bear whose livestreamed life captured the heart of fans around the world, has died.
(
Friends of Big Bear Valley and Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam
)
Sponsored message
The topic:
Jackie, the bald eagle whose livestreamed life with her partner Shadow won the hearts of fans worldwide, has died, rescuers announced Monday. The famous raptor, believed to be 14 years old, was receiving intensive care at the Ojai Raptor Center for severe anemia. She ultimately succumbed to her condition after a team of veterinarians struggled for weeks to figure out what was causing it.
Listen
15:27
Listen to the conversation:
Guest: Makenna Cramer, LAist reporter who has been following this.
Growth in interest: Jackie was the matriarch of the famous Big Bear bald eagle nest since around 2017. She’s believed to be the first bald eagle chick hatched in Big Bear Valley in recent history, according to the nonprofit.
With files from LAist
More about our guest:
- Makenna Cramer, LAist reporter who has been following this; her latest story is titled Big Bear’s famous bald eagle Jackie has died
Can California’s ballot counting be sped up and at what cost?
Ballots are sorted the day after California’s primary election at the L.A. County Ballot Processing Center, June 3, 2026, in City of Industry.
(
Jae C. Hong
/
AP Photo
)
Sponsored message
The topic:
California has become notorious for its ponderously slow vote counts that can drag on for weeks and sometimes longer, largely the result of multiple changes over the years that were intended to increase turnout but have done little to achieve that. Today on AirTalk, we look at some possible solutions.
Listen
20:56
Listen to the conversation:
Guest: Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization focused on improving the voting process.
Voting late: Many voters waited until the final days to make a decision in a wide-open and chaotic race for governor. According to state data, 148,241 mail ballots were rejected in the June election, or a rate of 1.73% of all mail ballots, with lateness accounting for 93,479 rejected ballots.
Solutions: From shortening signature curing timelines to providing more funding to election offices, there’s a number of proposed changes that the nonprofit and nonpartisan organization California Voter Foundation is arguing can speed up our count.
With files from the Associated Press
What multiplayer game makes you feel connected to your friends?
Big Walk is a cooperative multiplayer adventure about teamwork and talking, developed by Australian studio House House and published by Panic.
(
Courtesy House House and Panic
)
Sponsored message
The topic:
Shooting your bud in Fortnite is fun, but it’s not exactly a venue or activity that lends itself to deep conversation. Today on AirTalk, we ask listeners about the multiplayer games that transcend gaming as media, and get people to feel more like friends than players.
Listen
13:04
Listen to the conversation:
Guest: Nic Perez, AirTalk producer.
Background: Multiplayer games have been around since the dawn of gaming, but many focus on competitive elements. With the recent advent of collaborative multiplayer games like Helldivers and Lethal Company, this focus on competition has been examined and tossed to the side.
Friendslop: A bit cheeky, a bit pejorative, the term “friendslop” refers to a new burgeoning class of often hastily-made games centered on getting together a group of friends to complete a goal. Games like Peak and RV There Yet? simply tell the players to climb a mountain, or go camping, with neat gimmicks.
Friendgems: While friendslop games are having a real moment, it’s in spite of and not because of their low effort nature. Big Walk, which came out the first week of August, has received rave reviews by seizing on this appetite for cooperative multiplayer games while also being an actual good game.
-
Today on AirTalk: Trump and California's coasts, favorite L.A. auditoriums, LA28 Olympics tickets, Sally Field on her Emmy nomination and what evolution says about dieting. -
LAist sat down with Johnny Lee, chef and owner of Rasarumah, to talk about what inspired his restaurant's Southeast Asian fusion menu. -
What is the prettiest town in California? Listeners weigh in.
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.
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.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
