Michael Hiltzik

Newton N. Minow, FCC chairman, testifies May 23, 1961, before a Senate Communications subcommittee in Washington.

Column: 60 years later, the ‘vast wasteland’ of TV is even vaster

May 7, 2021 at 9:02 p.m.

It may be the most famous broadside launched by a government official in American history: Sixty years ago Sunday, Newton N. Minow invited the television executives gathered in Washington for...

How the rise of streaming might turn Hollywood musicians into an endangered species

September 30, 2019 at 3:44 p.m.

Hollywood musicians, those foot soldiers who bring the work of celebrated composers such as John Williams ("Star Wars"), James Horner ("Titanic") and Hans Zimmer ("Dunkirk") to life, have faced a...

Elon Musk speaks at the unveiling of an underground test tunnel in Hawthorne on Tuesday. But when will he focus on building cars?

Tesla has gas with lastest update, the fart noise feature

June 1, 2019 at 7:12 a.m.

For those of you consumed with curiosity about how Elon Musk spends his spare time — and isn’t that everybody? — here’s a clue. He just rolled out an update...

"Nice healthcare law you got here. Be a shame if something happened to it..." President Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and other GOP lawmakers grin over an Obamacare repeal law in May 2017. The repeal failed, but a Texas judge ruled Obamacare unconstitutional on Friday.

Column: Texas judge’s ‘insane’ ruling that Obamacare is unconstitutional could leave it fatally wounded — or even stronger

May 23, 2019 at 8:41 p.m.

More than 130 million Americans are waking up this Saturday morning to the news that their health coverage has been thrown into doubt. That’s because, late Friday night, a federal...

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, who is overseeing approval of work requirements for the program, listens to President Trump during a White House meeting in 2017.

Column: Trump storms ahead with Medicaid work rules, even though they’re disastrous for enrollees

December 12, 2018 at 6:49 a.m.

Ignoring empirical evidence that it’s fomenting a healthcare catastrophe, and a federal judge’s warning that it’s legally out of line, the Trump administration has quietly reapproved a punitive work requirement...

What, another distraction? Elon Musk says he's considering taking Tesla private, while it's still struggling to produce its all-important Model 3 sedan.

Why would anyone think Tesla would be better off if Elon Musk takes it private?

May 23, 2019 at 8:40 p.m.

Followers of Elon Musk must have known that the Tesla chairman and chief executive’s controlled performance during the company’s Aug. 1 earnings conference call — in which he apologized for...

Homelessness, as seen in this 2016 photo from Division Street in San Francisco, is one manifestation of increasing economic inequality. But will the city's voters approve a business tax in November to help address it?

The truth about income inequality, in six amazing charts

August 22, 2019 at 9:52 a.m.

It has become fashionable in recent years to downplay the growth of income and wealth inequality in the developed world, especially in the United States — and also its consequences....

The usual suspect: Trump's Obamacare administrator, Seema Verma, has been overseeing the administration's campaign of sabotaging the healthcare law.

In another act of sabotage, Trump slashes Obamacare outreach funding to the bone

May 23, 2019 at 8:40 p.m.

President Trump’s devoted Affordable Care Act saboteurs took another swipe at the program late Tuesday, slashing funds for outreach programs to a bare $10 million for 2019. Just two years...

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, left, leaves a White House press briefing under the eye of Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders after defending the family separation policy at the border. Both later had unhappy dining-out experiences.

The Red Hen Affair: Demands for ‘civility’ are almost always aimed at shutting down free speech

May 23, 2019 at 8:40 p.m.

Here we go again: As Trump administration policies become ever more intemperate and inhumane, critics of those policies are being counseled to become more “civil” in their criticisms. This is...

Andrew Emery's lemonade stand was decorated with a sign reading, "We Love Dylan," his 6-month-old brother suffering from a rare disease.

That heartwarming story about a kid crowdfunding for his infant brother’s healthcare should shame every American

May 23, 2019 at 8:40 p.m.

Last week, MSNBC picked up a local medical story out of South Carolina and helped turn it into a nationwide sensation. “We want to send you off with a smile,”...

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