Discussing the anti-trust concerns with the Tribune's buy of the OC Register; former NYC Transportation Commissioner wants to make L.A. streets work for everyone; and analyzing a condition where people can't enjoy songs.
Antitrust concerns threaten Tribune’s winning bid of OC Register
The parent company of the Los Angeles Times said Thursday it had won a public bankruptcy auction to buy Freedom Communications, the owner of several Southern California newspapers, including the Orange County Register.
Tribune Publishing Co. has agreed to pay $56 million in cash for the business and its real estate in Santa Ana and Riverside. Freedom also owns the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
Freedom declared bankruptcy in November.
Read full story here.
Guests:
Ken Doctor, media analyst for newsonomics.com, contributor for POLITICO, and the author of “Newsonomics: Twelve New Trends That Will Shape the News You Get”
Ben Bergman, senior reporter at KPCC who’s been following the story. He tweets from
CBS’s legendary radio division goes for sale
Last Tuesday, CBS Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves announced that the company is exploring options to sell its legacy brand, CBS Radio.
Launched in 1928, the division is one of the largest radio station groups in the country. With 117 stations including KNX-AM 1070 and KCBS-FM 93.1 here in Los Angeles, CBS radio has an estimated 70 million listeners that tune in every week across the country.
As more advertisements move to digital platforms, the decision to sell the division is seen as an acknowledgment that the terrestrial radio industry is shrinking. According to CBS, the radio group was down 5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015.
No timeline was given for when the assets would be sold.
Guest:
Michael Harrison, Editor and Publisher of Talkers, a trade publication magazine on the talk media industry
Former NYC Transportation Commissioner on how to make LA streets work for all
Angelenos are no strangers to transportation planning concepts like road diets, parklets, and protected bike lanes. They’re meant to make the streets friendlier for pedestrians and cyclists, but frequently leave drivers feeling like they are getting the short end of the deal.
Janette Sadik-Khan has seen it all, heard it all and was instrumental in transforming the streets of New York for today’s urban citizens. As former Transportation Commission for New York City, she closed Broadway to cars in Times Square, built nearly 400 miles of bike lanes, and installed over 50 plazas in the city. And she’s co-written the new book, “Street Fight,” as a primer of sorts for other cities to follow suit.
Larry speaks with Sadik-Khan to see what suggestions she has for Los Angeles.
Janette Sadik-Khan will be at the architectural firm Gensler in Downtown L.A. tonight at 6:30 p.m. to talk about her new book and other infrastructural and public works issues. Click here for more info.
Guest:
Janette Sadik-Khan, former Transportation Commissioner for New York City (2007 to 2013) and co-author with Seth Solomonow of the new book, “Streetfight: Handbook For an Urban Revolution” (Viking, 2016)
Why most new cars will have automatic braking systems by 2022
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety announced Thursday a commitment by 20 automakers including Ford, Toyota and General Motors to install automatic emergency brakes in all new cars within six years.
These new brake systems will use sensors to detect an imminent crash and help prevent them by applying brakes for the driver. Regulators have been putting pressure on automakers to offer safety systems on a standard basis to prevent traffic fatalities.
In 2012, nearly 2,000 Americans were killed in rear-end crashes. The move toward standardizing emergency brake systems represents a necessary addition as the industry moves toward self-driving cars.
The government's information page on Automatic Emergency Braking systems. says that they can let drivers either avoid or reduce the severity of some of those rear-end crashes.
In a statement about the plan, NHTSA says the "unprecedented commitment" from the automakers will bring the safety technology to "more consumers more quickly than would be possible through the regulatory process."
The agreement, which the IIHS says could prevent as many as 20 percent of crashes, is voluntary.
The full list of car manufacturers who have committed to automatic brakes by 2022:
- Audi
- BMW
- FCA US LLC
- Ford
- General Motors
- Honda
- Hyundai
- Jaguar Land Rover
- Kia
- Maserati
- Mazda
- Mercedes-Benz
- Mitsubishi Motors
- Nissan
- Porsche
- Subaru
- Tesla Motors Inc.
- Toyota
- Volkswagen
- Volvo
Guests:
Russ Rader, Senior Vice president, Communications at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
Gabe Nelson, reporter for Automotive News
This story has been updated.
Why Jewish advocacy groups are at odds over UC proposal on intolerance
In response to several on-campus incidents aimed at Jewish students, University of California officials have released a proposal on intolerance that identify several forms of discrimination that are unacceptable on campus.
While the aim of the statement is an attempt to differentiate between instances of free speech and discrimination, some say the UC missed the mark in tying anti-Zionism to anti-Semitism.
“In particular,” the statement says in part, “opposition to Zionism often is expressed in ways that are not simply statements of disagreement over politics and policy, but also assertions of prejudice and intolerance toward Jewish people and culture. Anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and other forms of discrimination have no place at the University of California.”
Critics say the statement misses the point in tying anti-Zionism to anti-Semitism because anti-Semitism is a form of bigotry while anti-Zionism is simply a political belief, and that to suppress those beliefs would be a violation of free speech. There’s also concern that conflating the two terms dilutes the meaning of anti-Semitism.
Guests:
Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, co-founder and director of the AMCHA Initiative, an organization that works to combat anti-Semitism on college campuses
Tallie Ben Daniel, academic council coordinator at Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization that advocates for security and self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians
Understanding music anhedonia, or why some people can’t enjoy songs
Recent neuroscience research suggests about 5 percent of the population experiences music anhedonia - meaning they do not derive pleasure from listening to any type of tunes - not pop, classical, jazz, rap, nothing.
Until recently, it was assumed that listening to music for pleasure was a universal, because the art form has been present in all human cultures since prehistory. In 2014, a group of scientists finally empirically tested the idea and found a group of healthy individuals with no autonomic responses to pleasurable music, despite having normal musical perception capacities.
(The research benefits our understanding of the brain's "reward centers" that govern so much of everyday behaviors.)
Researchers say it's possible that healthy people - as opposed to those who have suffered brain damage - with music anhedonia inherit the phenomenon from their parents.
As for medical patients who suddenly develop music anhedonia - due to brain damage after accidents, strokes, cancer - the change affects patients emotionally, as music is not just an everyday pleasure and escape, but has therapeutic potential for neurological patients.
If you have music anhedonia, what does it feel like? What is the emotional impact of music anhedonia?
Guest:
Amy Belfi, Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Psychology, New York University; Research focus: Neuroaesthetics of music, art, and poetry; she tweets from