Las Vegas shuts down daily fantasy sites amid a federal probe, the cultural differences of the Koreas 70 years post-Communism, photo of Billy the Kid verified.
Two Koreas, two cultures: The ever-widening gap between North and South
This week, North Korea marked 70 years of communist rule.
The government was established with the help of the Soviet Union at the end of World War Two.
North Korea has been isolated ever since, sealed-off from the South by a heavily-guarded barrier known as the DMZ or Demilitarized Zone.
But for Koreans on both sides, the divide is not just physical. There's now a wide cultural gap as well.
, director of the USC Korean Studies Institute, joined the show to explain more.
Why do some women have such a hard time negotiating pay?
Jennifer Lawrence tops the Forbes list of highest paid actresses. But when she appeared in the film "American Hustle," she was paid less than her male co-stars, as revealed in last year's Sony hack.
This week, Lawrence posted an essay about it. She said she was angry, not so much at the studio, but at herself, for failing to be a good negotiator. The essay has struck a chord with women across the country in all sorts of professions.
Iris Bohnet is a professor of Public Policy and is the director of the Women and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School. She said that even though Lawrence didn't want to come off as being "difficult," she shouldn't be so hard on herself.
"This has more to do with the world that we live in, and the stereotypes and the gender norms that are in our heads, than women and men as negotiators — and that's someone actually saying this who teaches negotiation," said Bohnet.
Bohnet added that it may never be known for sure if this has to do with nature more than nurture. But some research from her colleagues has lead her to a possible explanation. The research involved experiments with the Maasai, a patrilineal society in Tanzania, and the Kasi, a matrilineal society in India.
"It turns out that in competitiveness, the Maasai behave just like Americans. Women compete less than men," she said. "In a matrilineal society in India, the Kasi women were much more competitive ... Surely some of this is nature, but a big part, clearly, is the environment in which we live."
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
Should Daily Fantasy Sports be considered gambling?
Fantasy Sports began way back in the 1980's as a fun way for sports fans to "manage" their own teams across a season and over time they became big business.
Now two web-based companies that organize daily fantasy sports leagues are being investigated by the FBI, and yesterday the Nevada Gaming Commission banned their sites in that state, ruling the games are gambling, not skill-based activities.
All this is happening amid a push in some states to legalize gambling on games, and as digital technology makes it possible to easily to organize wagering.
Devlin Barrett is a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and has been looking into the fantasy sports sites, and their businesses. He joins A Martinez for a discussion on the topic.
Rare junk shop Billy the Kid photo worth $5 million
An old tintype photograph of a log cabin, and people in 19th century clothing. It didn't seem like much when a collector purchased the photo for two dollars at a junk shop in Fresno.
But the photo contained one of the most-wanted man in America: The gun-toting outlaw: Billy the Kid. Now that photo is worth more than $5 million.
Featured in the photo is Billy and members of his Lincoln County Regulators with croquet mallets.
Take Two's A. Martinez spoke to Donald Kagin, Western Americana dealer who appraised the photo. He says -- until now -- there was only one other authenticated photograph of Billy the Kid.
"[Billy] is in our literature, in our history and our psyche," Kagin says. "It's probably the most sought after images in Western Americana."
The lengths it took to authenticate the photo involved more than a year of investigative work. Kagan says they even had an NSA expert use facial recognition to identify members of Billy and his gang.
Other clues included combing through diary entries, and contacting New Mexico forestry officials to verify the white oak in the background.
The whole process of verifying the picture with be shown in a National Geographic Channel Documentary airing Sunday, October 18.
Correction: There was a mention in the show that the photograph was for auction at $2 million. However, the the photograph is direct to sale for $5 million. We regret the error.
Amid drought, water fight spurs questions about California's water future
The threat of dwindling water supplies in California has put a lot of pressure on residents to cut back.
It's also exposed a little-known fact: In a number of communities, the water supply is provided and controlled by privately-owned, for-profit companies.
Reporter Dean Starkman wrote about this in the LA Times. He joins the show to explain why that is, and what that means for the future of water use looks like.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
Mudslides, flash floods close part of I-5, trap drivers
Crews are plowing away mud and debris up on Interstate 5 in the Tejon Pass on Friday after an afternoon storm sent a slick of gunk across the roadway.
Cassie Swain, one of the many drivers stuck in the mud on Thursday, and Bob Spencer, from the L.A. County Department of Public Works, joined the show to tell more.
Weekend on the cheap: Stray cat art, CicLAvia, mummies
Looking for something fun to do this weekend that doesn't require buckets of money? KPCC's social media producer Kristen Lepore has a few ideas:
- If you're a cat lover, Friday is National Feral Cat Day, and you can check out an art exhibit called "Stray Art: Faces of Feral" to celebrate.
- CicLAvia returns to downtown L.A. on Sunday.
- For a spooky event, Mummies: New Secrets from the Tombs, is an exhibit on display at the Natural History Museum of L.A. County.
These are just a few of the things to do around town this weekend. Click here to check out Kristen's full list.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.