How Can a Megastar like Taylor Swift Not Own the Recordings to Her Hits?

Guest: Erin Jacobson, The Music Industry Lawyer

Say what you will about Taylor Swift -she is one of the most powerful women in music. This is the hit single off her album Lover, which just came out last week but is already the biggest-seller of 2019 in the US. But Taylor Swift’s enormous power does not, it turns out, extend to ownership of the songs that made her famous. Swift owns none of the master recordings form her first six albums. Again, Taylor Swift –one of the biggest pop stars in the world does not own the master recordings for any of her hits. They belonged to her former music label, Big Machine Records, which just sold them to talent manager Scooter Braun for $300 million. And Taylor Swift is really not happy about that. Braun is her nemesis apparently? So last week she announced she’s going to rerecord all of her earlier music so she can have a copy that she owns. Which is all so confusing. How can she not own her music?

There’s No Need to Thank Your Digital Assistant, for Now

Guest: James Gaskin, PhD, Associate Professor of Information Systems, BYU Marriott School of Business

We’re awfully bossy with our digital assistants. Every once in a while I catch myself almost saying thanks. It feels a little wrong to just bark orders. Alexa doesn’t seem to mind either way. But there’s been some handwringing of late about how interacting with Alexa and Google and Siri is making us forget our manners. 

Back to School Tips for Parents

Guest: Denise Pope, Senior Lecturer in Education, Stanford University, Founder of Challenge Success, Co-author of “Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Healthy, Successful Kids”

A new school year can be a chance at a fresh start for your family. A chance to try some new strategies for managing the homework battles and helping your child cope better with the stress of school. 

Baking Your Own Happiness

Guests: Michael Platt, Head Baker and Spokesperson for Michaels Desserts; Danita Platt, Michael’s Mother

Michael Platt started his bakery “Michaels Desserts” when he was 11. That was two years ago. For every cupcake or cookie he sells, he donates one to someone in need. “A cupcake won’t end hunger,” Michael admits on his website. But “a tasty treat, when times are tough, can make life sweeter.” I couldn’t agree more.

In the Wake of Mass Shootings, How Should the Government Police Online Hate Speech?

Guest: David Kaye, Clinical Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine, UN Special Rapporteur, Author of “Speech Police”

At the G7 summit over the weekend, French president Emmanuel Macron tried to muster support for a pledge to fight online hate speech. He’d hoped to get all the G7 countries, plus Facebook, Snapchat and Google to sign on. But the US wouldn’t sign on for “legal reasons,” according to a report from Reuters. The pledge Macron hoped to have signed builds on something called the Christchurch Call –which is a commitment by governments and tech companies to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. It came about after the mass shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand earlier this year. The US is, also, not a signer of the Christchurch Call. 

Biomedical Engineers Pave Way for Prosthetic Arm that Can Move and Feel the Same as a Human Arm

Guests: Gregory Clark, Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor; Keven Walgamott, Participant of the Study and Real Estate Agent from West Valley City

If you want to change the radio station in your car, your hand will move somewhat unconsciously and change the channel. Your brain sends it a signal to move and it does—almost immediately. And the reality is, we usually take that for granted. But for amputees, it’s not something to take lightly. These signals are the difference between a human hand and a prosthetic hand. Until recently. University of Utah biomedical engineers have figured out how to make a computer relay those messages from your brain—to a prosthetic limb. The “LUKE” arm as its been nicknamed, due to its similarities to Luke Skywalker’s prosthetic limb in Star Wars, allows for amputees to have a prosthetic arm that feels touch and responds to brain signals just as a human hand would.