AirTalk parses through the effects of Amazon's major acquisition this morning and what it could mean for the company's expansion moving forward. We also check in on the SCOTUS decisions expected by the end of the month; discuss the US relationship with Cuba after President Trump's announcement today; review this week's movie releases on FilmWeek; and more.
What Amazon’s buying Whole Foods means for grocery stores and retail
Friday morning, Amazon announced that it will buy Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, shaking Wall Street and plunging the shares of grocery chains and big-box retailers.
This would be Amazon’s biggest acquisition by a long shot. Whole Foods has over 460 stores in the U.S., Britain and Canada, and may be a bellwether of the online giant’s expansion into physical retail.
Just last year, Amazon launched their beta Amazon Go, the Amazon brick and mortar grocery store sans check-out lines that presents a completely new model for retail. This was accompanied by patent applications for Amazon’s model of sensors and payment that would create a cashier-free retail experience.
Will we be seeing a large-scale roll-out of the Amazon Go system via Whole Foods? What does Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods mean for the future of grocery stores and retail?
Guests:
Joe Dobrow, former marketing executive for Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market and other natural markets; author of the book, “Natural Prophets: From Health Foods to Whole Foods” (Rodale Books, 2014)
Brad Stone, senior executive editor for technology at Bloomberg News; author of “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon” (Little, Brown and Company, 2013)
US Supreme Court cases you should be watching with rulings expected at end of month
For the first time since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court will end its term and rule on some of the cases in front of it with a full panel of nine justices.
There are 21 cases total for which we’re expecting rulings, though Judge Gorsuch was confirmed in time to hear only 12 of them.
In addition to an expected ruling on whether to reinstate President Trump’s controversial revised travel ban preventing citizens from six predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S., we’re also expecting rulings in several cases involving immigration issues, a case looking at whether federal trademark law violates the First Amendment, and another looking at how states offer funding to church schools.
Guest:
Greg Stohr, Supreme Court reporter for Bloomberg News; he tweets
What will and won’t change following Trump’s Cuba policy announcement
President Donald Trump declared Friday he was restoring some travel and economic restrictions on Cuba that were lifted as part of the Obama administration's historic easing. He challenged the communist government of Raul Castro to negotiate a better deal for Cubans and Cuban-Americans.
Announcing the rollback of President Barack Obama's diplomatic opening during a speech in Miami, Trump said Cuba had secured far too many concessions from the U.S. in the "misguided" deal but "now those days are over." He said penalties on Cuba would remain in place until its government releases political prisoners, stops abusing dissidents and respects freedom of expression.
"America has rejected the Cuban people's oppressors," Trump said in a crowded, sweltering auditorium. "They are rejected officially today — rejected."
Though Trump's announcement stops short of a full reversal of the Cuba rapprochement, it targets the travel and economic engagement between the countries that has blossomed in the short time since relations were restored. The goal is to halt the flow of U.S. cash to the country's military and security services in a bid to increase pressure on Cuba's government.
Embassies in Havana and Washington will remain open. U.S. airlines and cruise ships will still be allowed to serve the island 90 miles south of Florida. The "wet foot, dry foot" policy, which once let most Cuban migrants stay if they made it to U.S. soil but was terminated under Obama, will remain terminated. Remittances to Cuba won't be cut off.
But individual "people-to-people" trips by Americans to Cuba, allowed by Obama for the first time in decades, will again be prohibited. And the U.S. government will police other such trips to ensure there's a tour group representative along making sure travelers are pursuing a "full-time schedule of educational exchange activities."
Trump described his move as an effort to ramp up pressure to create a "free Cuba" after more than half a century of communism.
"I do believe that end is in the very near future," he said.
The new moves are only a partial reversal of Obama's policies, however, but they will burden the U.S. government with the complicated task of policing U.S. travel to Cuba to make sure there are no transactions with the military-linked conglomerate that runs much of the Cuban economy.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guest:
Mike Gonzalez, senior fellow for international studies at the Heritage Foundation; he is a former journalist and served as a speechwriter in the second Bush administration
William LeoGrande, professor of government at American University and co-author of “Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana” (UNC Press, 2016)
This story has been updated.
FilmWeek: ‘Cars 3,’ ‘Rough Night,’ ‘Stefan Zweig’ and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Claudia Puig, Peter Rainer and Charles Solomon review this weekend’s new movie releases including:
- "Cars 3" in wide release
- "Rough Night" in wide release
- "Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe" at Laemmle's Royal Theatre and Laemmle's Town Center
- "Dawson City: Frozen Time" at the Nuart Theatre
- "47 Meters Down" in select theaters
- "Maudie" at ArcLight Hollywood and The Landmark
- "The Book of Henry" in select theaters
- "Once Upon at Time in Venice" at Laemmle's Monica Film Center
Critics' Hits
- Claudia: "Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbvjnieZ32k
- Peter & Charles: "Dawson City: Frozen Time"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEbHM8Vsvlo
Mixed Feelings
- Claudia: "Rough Night"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyIlMQvv-qk
- Peter: "Maudie"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmUDQ7yfQ8c
- Charles: "Cars 3"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LeOH9AGJQM
Misses!
- Charles: "Hearing is Believing"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCCtz-QmooQ
- Peter: "Once Upon a Time in Venice"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWV4rxyA-70
- Claudia: "Cars 3"
Guests:
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association; she tweets
Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and the Christian Science Monitor
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine
How does watching a movie with someone else change the experience?
Popcorn? Check. Comfy seats? Check. Movie-buddy? Depends who...
There’s a lot more to movie magic than just the picture on screen. Sometimes the best theater experiences (or binge nights at home) really depend on who’s sitting right next to you. Enduring 90 minutes of terrible acting, corny plots and cringing CG can be completely worth it if you’re having a blast with the people by your side.
Maybe you’re a parent who loves watching your child squeal with delight during a tasteless kiddy film, or maybe you’ve survived - and actually enjoyed - a marathon of cheesy rom-coms with heartbroken friends. AirTalk wants to hear from you about which movies were made better by the osmosis-enjoyment of a film-watching buddy, and conversely, were there films that made you particularly uncomfortable because of who you watched them with?
Call us at 866-893-9722.