Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Transportation disruptors: Hyperloop and BIRD Scooter
How about going from LA to Vegas in 30 minutes? Reporters got a look at Virgin’s hyperloop at CES in Vegas. And in Santa Monica, there’s an electric scooter that’s delighting kids but worrying city officials.
By Madeleine Brand • • 49m ListenHow about going from LA to Vegas in 30 minutes? Reporters got a look at Virgin’s hyperloop at CES in Vegas. And in Santa Monica, there’s an electric scooter that’s delighting kids but worrying city officials.
In this episode
6 storiesThe rescue effort in Montecito
Rescue personnel are still looking for missing people. Residents are trying to take stock of the enormous damage - hundreds of homes and businesses. Parts of the 101 are looking like a mud choked river. We get the latest.
Read the story9 minCreating the list of 'Media Men' and bearing the consequences
We look at how the spreadsheet accusing men in media of sexual harassment took off, and why the woman who started it outed herself. She lost friends and was fired from The New Republic Magazine.
Read the story10 minChallenges in making the hyperloop a reality
Virgin’s version of the hyperloop is on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company is developing vacuum tubes to shuttle people at more than 200 mph. That means getting to L.A. from Vegas would take about 30 minutes.
Read the story10 minNew electric scooter delights teens, but city officials worry about safety
There’s a fleet of electric scooters taking over Santa Monica. Maybe you’ve seen them on sidewalks or rolling down the street. The company that operates them is called BIRD. It was started by former Uber employees.
Read the story9 minState Dept: Don’t travel to Michoacán, Sinaloa, and 3 other Mexican states
The U.S. State Department is telling Americans not to travel to five Mexican states. The states are in the same warning category as Syria, Somalia, and Yemen.
Read the story6 minWhat the yellow-bellied sea snake tells us about climate change
Photo of a yellow-bellied sea snake courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Read the story4 min
