Editor-in-chief, Neon Tommy
Journalism grad student and editor-in-chief of Neon Tommy, a digital news site at USC
PROFILE
Brianna Sacks
Guest
FROM Brianna Sacks
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The Dark Power of Fraternities The appeal of fraternity life to college students is no mystery. But there’s an obvious downside to a bunch of unsupervised, mostly underage college students binge drinking at a frat house. Deaths, serious injuries, and sexual assaults have led to countless lawsuits that at one time threatened to destroy Greek life on campuses across the country. Yet they’ve survived (and thrived) because colleges are reluctant to crack down, and fraternities have found a way to protect themselves.
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The Business
Industry insights and lessons learned from memorable guests We have interesting guests on The Business, and sometimes our conversations are too long to fit into one show. This week we give you stories that were too good to leave on the cutting room floor, including some sharp insights on making it in the industry from David Mandel, David Simon, Shawn Levy and Matt Reeves.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Why did Jared Kushner want a back channel with Russians? News broke Friday that President Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, tried setting up a back channel between the Trump transition team and the Russian government. What are the consequences for Kushner, President Trump, and the investigation into Russian meddling?
Design and Architecture
Securing Public Spaces, Super Wealthy Asians Vehicles are increasingly being used as weapons, as seen in the London Bridge attack over the weekend and in New York’s Times Square last month. The Compton-based company Calpipe is designing security bollards to help make public spaces safer. And novelist Kevin Kwan satirizes the “crazy rich” Asian jet set and their luxurious tastes in his latest book, “Rich People Problems.”
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Why is Trump so behind on filling staff jobs, establishing concrete policies? Yesterday Donald Trump signed a “decision memo” to revamp the air traffic control system. But there was little legislative detail in the plan. There’s not much to other splashy announcements from the White House, including tax cuts and the arms deal with Saudi Arabia. And hundreds of positions are unfilled in federal agencies.