Press Play with Madeleine Brand
LA Times CEO Fired, Inventing the Cheeseburger, and 'Can I Go Now?'
CEO and Publisher of the Los Angeles Times, Austin Beutner, has been fired by his bosses at the Tribune Company. “I am not departing by choice, nor is this some ‘mutual agreement,’” he said on Facebook. And while Hollywood superagent Sue Mengers represented a rolodex of the biggest stars of the 1970s, she was also famous in her own right.
By Madeleine Brand • • 51m ListenAustin Beutner, CEO and Publisher of the Los Angeles Times, is out of a job. “I am not departing by choice, nor is this some ‘mutual agreement,’” he said on Facebook. Tim Ryan, the publisher of the Baltimore Sun, will take over.
Then, a comedian who sometimes performs in blackface could become the next president of Guatemala. Jimmy Morales received the largest share of the vote yesterday, and a runoff is scheduled for October. This comes as the country is mired in a corruption scandal—the president resigned last week.
And Serena Williams is chasing her first Grand Slam: winning all four major tennis tournaments in the same year. Her latest obstacle? Her older sister, Venus Williams. The two women have played each other since they were little girls growing up in Compton, where their father and coach fought off gang members just to use the courts.
Next, Hollywood superagent Sue Mengers represented a rolodex of the biggest stars of the 1970s, and every studio head took her call.
Finally, what comes to mind when you think, quintessential L.A. food: Kale smoothies? Egg-white omelettes? How about the cheeseburger? Yes, the meaty, greasy cheeseburger is said to have been invented in Pasadena nearly 90 years ago. But there’s been some fighting lately over who really was first to put cheese on a beef patty.
Banner Image: The Los Angeles Times building in downtown Los Angeles; Credit: The Angels 2010
