Jonathan Grotenstein and Storms Reback’s new book, “Ship It Holla Ballas!” looks at how online gambling changed the poker industry.

Professional poker players Jonathan Grotenstein and Storms Reback could not believe their eyes at the 2006 World Series of Poker – Players barely legal to play the game were holding their own against veteran poker players. How did they play (and win) millions of hands before they were of legal gambling age?

The internet. Grotenstein and Reback’s new book, “Ship It Holla Ballas!” looks at the legacy of the Holla Ballas, a crew of young college dropouts that collectively won $40 million in poker before they were 30 years old.

Andrew Robl, or known online as Good2cu, was an avid video gamer and working as a janitor for some cash when he was in high school. When he got introduced and addicted to the world of online gambling, he formed the Holla Ballas. Members of group would play as many as 12 online games at a time, travel the world in hotel rooms, and drop tens of thousands on drinks and strippers. They spent big and lived fast. As Robl documented their life online, they became internet and poker celebrities. In “Ship It Holla Ballas,” Grotenstein and Reback write about how they trashed hotel rooms, crashed a BMW, and made $5,000 by jumping into shark-infested waters.

How did the internet change poker? What happens to young players? Do they have the maturity to handle the fast gains and losses of the game? Or do they have an advantage because they have nothing to lose? What happened to the Holla Ballas crew?

Guest:
Jonathan Grotenstein, author of “Ship It Holla Ballas”

A 33-week pregnant woman is seen by a midwife in a routine checkup.; Credit: AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Reports about mothers giving birth well into menopause and celebrities who are having babies into their 50s have been making headlines for the past few years. Improved fertility treatments and hormones that can stave off menopause are making it possible for women to become pregnant much later in life but it’s also raising the question about what age is too old to have a baby.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine recently updated their recommendation to physicians, now saying that women ages 50 – 54 shouldn’t be discouraged from pursuing pregnancy using donor eggs.

Should physicians encourage postmenopausal women to have children? What are the health risks to pregnancy after 50? What are the ethical concerns of later motherhood? Why do older mothers receive more scrutiny than older fathers?

Guests:
Sharon Steinberg, mental health clinical nurse and lecturer at the Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates

Dr. Richard Paulson, Director of USC Fertility; he is also a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the the school

Christopher Reeve as Superman.

Before he was Clark Kent, the adopted son of Kansas farmers,  he was Kal-El, born on the doomed planet of Krypton. And before they were the creators of the iconic character Superman, Jason Siegel and Joe Shuster were a couple of awkward teens from Cleveland looking for a hero to revere or even to become.

Larry Tye explores the life of Superman and those who helped create him in Tye’s book “Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero.”

"It was a hard enough sell that it took them five years to finally find a publisher," said Tye on AirTalk. "When they did, they sold the rights to Superman for a grand total to be divided between the two of them of $130, which is a sign of just how desperate they were."

The book takes a look at the cultural history of Superman over the decades—from battling Adolf Hitler and the Nazis to his encounters with the Ku Klux Klan—and simultaneously chronicles the struggles that the superhero’s creators endured. 

Siegel had endured abuse at the hands of bullies throughout his childhood in Cleveland, Ohio, and he initially imagined his Superman character (first known as The Super-Man) to be a mean-spirited fighter of bullies. After all, there's nothing a kid wants more than to be able to fly away in those moments of bullying. 

"Jerry couldn't fly away, but what he could do is go to bed every night with a pencil and paper and dream up what in his mind was the perfect hero to fight back against these bullies on the playground," said Tye.  The character that he came up with initially … was not a very nice guy, it was just the kind of person that a teenager looking to fight back against bullies would dream up."

That all changed after a tragic incident that happened just after his 17th birthday. Siegel's father, Michael, owned a haberdashery, and one day a group of men came in, try on suits and walk out without paying. The elder Siegel goes to chase after the thieves and just as he comes to the threshold of the outside, he collapses dead of a massive heart attack. 

"Not long after that, Jerry, who was the youngest of 6 kids, went to bed with his pencil and paper and he redesigned his Superman hero," said Tye. "The first scene of Superman that was ever drawn was Superman winging in to rescue a guy, who looked a whole lot like Michael Siegel, who was being robbed."

Though the first Superman comic came out nearly 75 years ago, Tye’s book attempts to illustrate how the Man of Steel became a timeless American icon.

Is there any American superhero that compares to Superman? What are your memories of Superman throughout the years? How did the comics or books influence you?

Guest:
Larry Tye, author of “Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero”

Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero

George Duke is a featured artist for the annual Playboy Jazz Festival.

The weekend of June 15-16, the annual Playboy Jazz Festival will take over the Hollywood Bowl for two full days of jazz greats, both young and old. Now in it’s 35th year, the festival has become a fixture on the jazz scene, and this year’s lineup, including Sheila E. and Herbie Hancock, is as eclectic as the modern scene itself.

Gregory Porter is a great example of the new generation of jazz. The smooth-crooning vocalist has been a sensation since the release of his 2010 album “Water,” which won a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal album in 2011. On the other end of that spectrum is living legend, George Duke. A keyboardist by trade, in his 40-plus-year career, Duke has worked in just about facet of music, from soloist to music director. He’s played with Zappa and been sampled by Kanye, and his view of the genre of jazz is as open as his music. Porter and Duke are featured artists in this year’s Playboy Jazz Festival.

Guests:

George Duke, jazz musician

Gregory Porter, jazz musician

A police officer hands out a warning to motorist who was talking on his cell phone.

The number of drivers using cell phones on California roads has been dropping, according to new statistics from the California Office of Traffic. In 2012, they estimated 10.8 percent of drivers actively using cell phones at any one time. For 2013, that number went down to 7.4 percent. The news comes after April's big crackdown on distracted driving by CHP and over 250 local law enforcement agencies across the state. More than 57,000 drivers were ticketed for talking or texting.

Since the awareness and enforcement seems to be working, what other dangerous driving habits should be policed vigorously? Is it the use of indicators when changing lanes? Cutting across multiple lanes of traffic? Driving a car desperately in need of repair?

Guest:
Officer Saul Gomez, California Highway Patrol Officer in the Southern Division (Glendale offices)

A view of the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The California Assembly Appropriations Committee shelved 144 bills on Friday with an eye on the state's fiscal constraints. The bills not making it to the Assembly floor would have cost the state $2.8 billion, and included measures to require adult film stars to wear condoms and a measure to put a 10% tax on bullet sales.

Some of the bills moving forward include AB 48, a bill that requires ammunition dealers to report sales of more than 3000 rounds to the Department of Justice, AB 47, which would increase penalties for swatting (prank 911 calls), and AB 999, which would require prisons to provide inmates with access to condoms when they are available. Last weeks the Senate Appropriations Committee also shelved a slew of its own bills that would have cost $3.2 billion, including separate tax measures on cigarettes, sodas, and oil extraction.

The Senate will, however, push forward on a number of gun related measures, including SB 47, which would expand current bans on assault weapons to include certain semi-automatic rifles and pistols, and SB 53, which would increase regulation on all ammunition purchases and ban all internet and mail order sales of ammunition.

Guests:

Julie Small, KPCC State Capitol Reporter

Dan Walters, Political Columnist, The Sacramento Bee

The California Senate approved of adding electronic cigarettes to the state's smoke-free laws Friday.

On Friday, the California State Senate approved a plan to add e-cigarettes to the state’s smoke-free laws, banning them from the workplace, schools, public buildings, day care centers, and restaurants. Backers of the bill argue that, though they don’t burn and produce smoke like tobacco, e-cigarettes may have a second-hand smoke risk, and they should, therefore, be treated like real cigarettes.

Opponents of the bill argue that there is no proof of a health risk to bystanders, and that e-cigarettes have, in fact, helped countless people to stop smoking tobacco cigarettes. You already can’t “light up” an e-cigarette on a trains and submarines (they’re banned by Amtrak and the US Navy), but if the bill becomes a law, they, like tobacco cigarettes, would be banned from most public places.

If they don’t actually cause smoke, is it fair to ban e-cigarettes from public places? Or should government be erring on the side of caution until studies can prove that they’re safe? And what about the idea that nicotine is a recreational drug? Should that disqualify it from our workplaces? What about our cars? Should we be treating this technology as helpful or harmful?

Guests:
Margo Sidener, President and CEO of Breathe California of the Bay Area

Michael Siegel, Professor of Community Health Sciences at the School of Public Health at Boston University

Former Lakers coach Phil Jackson at the KPCC studios.; Credit: Mae Ryan/KPCC

This weekend, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich caught up to one of former Lakers coach Phil Jackson's incredible records. Popovich tied Jackson for the most best-of-7 series sweeps in NBA history.

Does Jackson ever feel tempted to return to the sidelines to keep his stats up? He says he has no plans to return, but rumors continue to fly about various cities trying to tempt him, especially because of how close he came to returning to the Lakers at the start of the season. 

Jackson served as head coach of the L.A. Lakers from 2000 to 2010, winning five NBA titles for the franchise.  He was head coach of the Chicago Bills from 1989 to 1998, winning six NBA titles. Jackson also played professional basketball for the NBA championship-winning New York Knicks. 

In his new memoir, "Eleven Rings," the former Lakers coach talks about the love and spirituality that won all those games, swept all those series and scored all those rings.

Interview Highlights:

On how Bill Fitch's coaching style informed his own:
"Bill was a task master, that seemed to be the way college coaches were at the time. Militaristic, a lot of that hierarchy that was in the ranks of the military. Coming home during a Christmas holiday, having a bad game against the Univ. of Iowa, getting off the plane at 10:00 and going to right to practice through midnight. A three-hour practice to emphasize how badly we played and the discipline that would come after it. Bill was a young man at that time, 32, 33, so that was the style that he chose. He was a terrific NBA coach...but this is a style that I felt was not going to mesh with NBA players."

On how he gained the respect of his players:
"I think there's a deep respect for coaches that players have. Its ingrained. Some players have always rebelled, or maybe they started out in high school rebelling, but for the most part you're taught that your coach is your leader. He's going to direct the play and do what you have to get done. If you appeal to that part of them, you can win them over.

"There's a little exercise that was something my assistant coach John Bach got from Vince Lombardi, who coached his freshman Fordham basketball team. He had them all line up on the baseline and make a declaration. I would do that before the season started to let them physically know that they were buying into what we were going to do here. I would started out with God has ordained me and the owner to teach you and coach you about the system of basketball."

On how using rituals help solidify a team:
"Having grown up in a church, there's a certain thing that you fall into. One of the things that you find when you're in a religious service is the ability to relax when a ritual comes into play. It gives a person that's used to a ritual or format a comfort zone to feel like this is a place I belong. When you do that everybody seems to find a bond together. I use rituals and routines that I thought weren't too mundane, but brought some of the espirit d'corps into the group."

Excerpt from Eleven Rings by Phil Jackson

Guilherme Dias of Brazil (red) competes against Sean Odea of Australia during the Freestyle 85 kg Wrestling event in the Sports Halls at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre on January 20, 2013 in Sydney, Australia.; Credit: Craig Golding/Getty Images

In February the International Olympic Committee made headlines when they recommended that wrestling be dropped from the 26 core sports of the Olympics for the 2020 games. The committee determined that the rules needed to be easier to understand and that the sport needed to hire more women in management, stipulations aimed at broadening the sport’s appeal.

Since then FILA, the wrestling’s international governing body, has worked to reform the sport and will be presenting its new look to the IOC executive board this week. IOC President Jacques Rogge told the AP in an interview that FILA has made productive changes to give it a chance to remain in the Olympics, but as of now it is still competing with 7 other sports - karate, sport climbing, squash, roller sports, wakeboarding, Wushu (Chinese martial art) and baseball/softball - for just one spot to remain a part of the Games.

The IOC’s recommendation to put wrestling on the chopping block offended many people, not just wrestling fans, because the sport was part of the ancient games and feels essential to the spirit of the Olympics. But the IOC has made an effort in recent to modernize the Games, and if no one is watching wrestling, then shouldn’t the committee make room for a new sport?

Guest:
Elliott Almond, Sports Writer for the San Jose Mercury News

Members of the US Supreme Court pose for a group photograph at the Supreme Court building on September 29, 2009 in Washington, DC. Front row (L-R): Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, and Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. Back Row (L-R), Associate Justice Samuel Alito Jr., Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.; Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

From gay marriage to DNA patents to racism-related laws, the Supreme Court will rule on a number of landmark cases in the coming weeks.

Movie star Angelina Jolie’s recent revelation about her breast and ovarian cancer predisposition has highlighted a genetics case. The court has to decide whether human genes are patentable, specifically whether a Utah company can patent BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 genes, of which Jolie, like thousands of women, is a carrier. From California, the Proposition 8 case will address the constitutionality of a ban on same-sex marriage. In conjuction with that case, a decision is slated on the Defense of Marriage Act -- and whether the federal government can deny benefits to gay couples in state were they are legally married.

In Shelby v. Holder, the justices are asked to weigh whether the 1965 Voting Rights Act is still necessary to prevent racial discrimination in elections and polling. The other race-related case stems from Texas. A young white woman claims she was discriminated against by the University of Texas when they admitted minority students over her.

These highly politicized cases come at a time when the Justices have repeatedly split 5-4 along conservative-liberal lines.

We’ll speak with Marcia Coyle about her new book, “The Roberts Court.” Coyle examines major cases on health care, money in elections, guns, and race -- and the significant role of conservative judicial activists in shaping and arguing them.

Guests:
Lisa McElroy, Associate Professor of Law, Earle Mack School of Law, Drexel University; Supreme Court scholar

Marcia Coyle, author, “The Roberts Court: The Struggle for the Constitution;” Chief Washington Correspondent for The National Law Journal; as a lawyer and journalist, Coyle has covered the Supreme Court for 25 years

A vintage California license plate

The California Department of Motor Vehicles has been taking pre-orders for the so-called “legacy license plates” – the yellow, blue and black plates that were originally released between the 1950s and 1970s. If 7,500 people put in their orders before January 2015, the plates will go into production.

The program was established by a bill authored by Assemblyman Mike Gatto, who represents parts of the San Fernando Valley as well as Atwater Village, Los Angeles and Silver Lake. The DMV wants the new plates to resemble the look and feel of the originals as much as possible, despite certain standards these replicas would have to follow (for instance, license plates in CA have to be reflective).

But the re-releases could be used on any cars, even though California laws only allow classic plates to be used on classic cars. Some vintage car enthusiasts are less than thrilled about the reissue, saying that it cheapens the value of the originals they’ve worked so hard and spent so much money to acquire.

Guests:
Rex Roden, President and Director of the Association of California Car Clubs; the ACCC consists of thousands of automobile hobbyists throughout the state who are interested in California laws and policies regarding collector automobiles.

Jeff Forton, owner of Fortech Automotive and Restoration in Tustin, CA; the shop restores and sells vintage license plates, among other things

Writer Garrison Keillor pauses during an interview outside his St. Paul, Minn., home on August 5, 2003.; Credit: ANN HEISENFELT

Garrison Keillor, the veritable soul of A Prairie Home Companion, is a public radio institution. He got into radio in the 1970s, after clocking in a bit of time at the New Yorker as a staff writer.  A Prairie Home Companion debuted live in 1974 at the Janet Wallace Auditorium at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minn., with 12 people in the audience who shelled out $1 each for admission. Today, the weekly variety show, which documents the fun and frolics of the fictional Lake Wobegon, is heard by 4 million listeners on some 600 public radio stations.

Guest:
Garrison Keillor, host of A Prairie Home Companion

Times have changed since 1960 and more women are working. A recent Pew study shows that women are the main breadwinners for 40% of American homes.; Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A Pew study found that the percentage of American homes in which women bring home the lion’s share or all of the income has more than tripled in the last half century. According to analysis of the study, in 1960, just 11% of U.S. families with children were supported by mom, but a spike in the number of single mothers raising kids contributed to 40% of families in which mom is bringing in most or all of the money in 2011. Also contributing to the change is the success of women in the workplace, boosting their salaries so now 1 in 4 women out earns her husband.

Has the swing toward women supporting the family been good or bad for America’s children? What about for marriages? Is it better to have the kids at home with mom every day or dad? Pew also found that two thirds of Americans see the rise of single motherhood as a “big problem,” but as roles are redefined and a new generation of Americans embraces the changing landscape of home life, is it a problem or a reality?

Guest:
Stephanie Coontz, Professor of History and Family Studies in The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington; Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families; Author of "A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s" (Basic Books, 2011), and "Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage" (Viking Press, 2005)

Psychiatrist and marriage expert Dr. Scott Haltzman's new book, “The Secrets of Surviving Infidelity”; Credit: Infidelity bookcover

Is cheating more common that we would like to admit? Is it becoming more prevalent in our society because of technology and social media?

Psychiatrist and marriage expert Dr. Scott Haltzman calculates that about 40 percent of marriages have suffered from infidelity. Although this is a rough number, Haltzman’s new book, “The Secrets of Surviving Infidelity” examines why so many people have had affairs and if a marriage can survive after infidelity.

Haltzman believes the formula for infidelity is a combination of need, opportunity, and the inability to control impulses. However, certain personality types and medical conditions, as well as those with high profiles, can also increase the potential of committing extramarital affairs.

How can a marriage survive after infidelity? When should a couple try to work it out and when should they call it quits? Can trust ever be regained?

Guest:
Dr. Scott Haltzman, M.D., psychiatrist and marriage expert, author of “The Secrets of Surviving Infidelity” and “The Secrets of Happily Married Men: Eight Ways to Win Your Wife's Heart Forever” (Jossey-Bass, 2007)

Farmland's hickory smoked bacon is on sale at a supermarket on May 29, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. Farmland is a brand owned by Smithfield Foods Inc, which is the biggest pork producer in the world.; Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Smithfield Foods Inc., one of the biggest pork producers in the U.S., has agreed to be bought by Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd., the majority shareholder in China's largest meat processor, for about $4.72 billion.

The deal is the largest takeover of a U.S. company by a Chinese firm. The deal needs the approval of federal regulators and Smithfield shareholders. The acquisition points to China's growing appetite for meat and other foods, driven by the expansion of the country’s middle class and the changing eating habits that go along with it.

But in light of the myriad food contamination scandals coming out of China in recent years, many in the U.S. are concerned that the purchase would impact the stateside food supply chain negatively. Larry Pope, the CEO of Smithfield, has said that the deal is meant to boost pork export to China and not the other way around.

Guests:
Peter Navarro, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of California, Irvine; director of the documentary, "Death By China"

Bill Marler, food safety lawyer in Seattle.

Disney's Toontown; Credit: Flickr/P M M

Our Orange County journalists tells us about recent tragedies and controversies, including the five students who died in a car crash in Newport Beach, Disney’s dry ice explosion, the layoffs at the Honda Center, and Senator Barbara Boxer’s continuing examination into the San Onofre nuclear plant. Also, should fire pits be removed to improve air quality, and should taxpayers or individuals be billed for expensive rescue operations?

The University High school student that died in a high speed car crash was driving without a driver’s license or learner’s permit. Although the student, Abdulrahman M. Alyahyan, tried to obtain a license, he was from Saudi Arabia and was unable to prove his legal residency to the DMV. While driving his Infiniti G35 with four teenage friends from Irvine High School on Monday, the car hit a tree in the median, split in two and lit up in flames. Four of the students died at the scene and the fifth died at the hospital.

Also, Christian Barnes, an outdoor vendor for Disneyland resort, is in prison for possibly being connected to an explosion at Disneyland. A dry-ice bomb went off in Toontown, but there were no injuries. And also in Anaheim, the Honda Center is hiring. After laying off 400 food service employees, they replacing them with 500 new ones. Honda said this decision is to improve food services, but did it have anything to do with a California Enterprise Zone tax credit?

Senator Barbara Boxer is calling for an investigation and a public hearing before the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is opened. The plant has been shut down for over a year because of a radiation leak, and Boxer recently released a 2004 letter from Southern California Edison that showed concerns about the longevity of the plant’s generators.

Many Southern California residents are ready to hit the beach this summer, but are evenings spent with friends and family around the fire pits numbered? Air quality regulators believe fire pits pose a health risk to local residents and are trying to remove more than 800 fire pits on Southern California beaches. And for those who skip the beach and go hiking instead, should they be billed if they need to be rescued or should the taxpayers cover the costs?

Guests:
Ben Bergman, KPCC’s Orange County reporter

Teri Sforza, OC Register reporter

Nick Gerda, reporter, Voice of OC, an investigative news non-profit

A Great White Shark is attracted by a lure on the 'Shark Lady Adventure Tour' on October 19, 2009 in Gansbaai, South Africa. The lure, usually a tuna head, is attached to a buoy and thrown into the water in front of the cage with the divers. The waters off Gansbaai are the best place in the world to see Great White Sharks, due to the abundance of prey such as seals and penguins which live and breed on Dyer Island, which lies 8km from the mainland.; Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Great white sharks are the kings of the ocean. They are what is known as “apex predators,” which means they are the hunters and rarely the hunted. And for good reasons: great whites could stretch over 20 feet,  weigh up to 3 ½ tons and chow down some 11 tons of food each year.

Despite all that we know about the great white shark, one thing has been difficult to figure out—exactly how many of them are out there. But whether they will be designated permanently as an endangered species hinges precisely on that question.

The sharks have been closed to commercial and sport fishing in the state since 1994. Since March, the fish have been protected under the California Endangered Species Act, which lasts for a year. The Fish and Wildlife Commission is set to discuss making that classification stick in early 2014.

Three environmental groups—Oceana, Shark Stewards and the Center for Biological Diversity—are the main forces behind the push to get the fish listed. Their rationale is based on a single census done between 2006 and 2008, which estimated the population to be around 200. But other scientists say that the population is actually much larger and resources should be devoted to protecting other species instead.

Guests:
Geoff Shester, California Program director of Oceana, the world’s largest advocacy group working solely to protect the world’s oceans

Michael L. Domeier, President of the Marine Conservation Science Institute, a nonprofit organization that focuses on issues in marine biology and fisheries

US President Barack Obama delivers the commencement address during a ceremony at Morehouse College on May 19, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia.; Credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

Last month protests at the University of Massachusetts broke out during Republican strategist Karl Rove’s keynote address, and banker Bob Zoellick withdrew from speaking at Swarthmore College.

It didn’t surprise American Enterprise Institute’s Director of Economic Policy Kevin Hassett, who’d been putting together a survey of commencement speakers across the country and found that they were overwhelmingly liberal in the politics. Surveying the top 100 universities and top 50 liberal arts colleges in the US, and gleaning information about speakers’ party affiliations and public contributions to political parties, Hassett found that of 84 speakers in 2012 with identifiable party affiliations, only 4 Republicans were invited to speak at the top 150 schools, compared with 69 identifiable liberal speakers.

According to Hassett, “There is no question that a primary objective of today’s institutions, which allow conservatives to be shouted down if they are invited at all, is not to educate students but rather to educate reliable Democratic votes.” Is he right?

Guests:
Kevin Hassett, Director of Economic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute; he wrote the LA Times op-ed that says higher education has gone too far vilifying conservative voices

Jon Wiener, Professor of History at UC Irvine and an editor and blogger for The Nation

A screenshot of the Facebook homepage.; Credit: Facebook screenshot

Bowing to pressure from activists and advertisers, Facebook says it will try to police misogynistic content posted by users. What's still unclear is how the social media company will define offensive content and what steps will follow.

A recent campaign by women's rights groups drew widespread attention to Facebook pages promoting violence against women. They include graphic photos of abused women, right alongside clickable ads. Too close for comfort for advertisers, including Nissan, which pulled their ads from the site.

Now Facebook says it will treat anti-women sites the same way it treats racist content and other postings defined as hate speech. Critics of the move are concerned about a private company policing speech and defining "hate speech." Facebook has received flak for removing sites that promote atheism in the Middle East and for taking down images of breastfeeding mothers. As private entities, social media companies are not obliged to protect free speech, just their own bottom line.

What's more valuable for Facebook - providing a free-for-all venue for user-generated content or one with a low tolerance for distressing or controversial subjects?

Guests:
Jaclyn Friedman, Executive Director, Women, Action and the Media (WAM!); WAM is an advocacy group that helped spearhead a campaign asking Facebook to treat misogynistic content as they treat hate speech

Jillian York, Director for International Freedom of Expression, Electronic Frontier Foundation - an advocacy groups that specializes in speech and privacy issues on digital platforms

Michael Feinstein performs onstage at the Oscars Governors Ball at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 24, 2013 in Hollywood, California.; Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

When the Pasadena Pops open their season on Saturday, the group will have a new face. That of their new conductor, Emmy-nominated multi-platinum singer and entertainer Michael Feinstein. He joins the Pops after the sudden death of his longtime friends and Pops leader Marvin Hamlisch. Feinstein hopes to bring his passion for forgotten scores and all things Gershwin to his conductorial debut.

Guest:
Michael Feinstein, the new conductor of the Pasadena Pops orchestra