Good morning. President Trump had a rally last night to discuss the cost of living. He kept going off script. And in Australia, a social media ban for children under 16 has taken effect. Some teens aren’t happy. I’d like to start, though, with two very different pieces of business. One’s about the drama surrounding the purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, by Netflix or Paramount. The other’s about climate fixes that are actually working.
Paramount and Netflix are in a corporate knife fight, competing for the chance to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, including its TV and film studios, its HBO Max streaming service and (maybe, depending on how everything shakes out) its cable channels, including CNN. It could be the biggest media deal in a decade — shaping the news, shows and movies consumed by hundreds of millions of people around the world. What is happening? Last week, Netflix unveiled an $83 billion deal to take control of Warner Bros. On Monday, Paramount tried to snatch the deal away, going straight to Warner Bros. shareholders with what it called a superior offer, one that valued the company at approximately $108 billion. Aggressive! How is Trump responding? Either deal would need the government’s blessing. And President Trump has broken precedent by placing himself at the center of the regulatory process, our media reporter Michael Grynbaum explained. “I’ll be involved in that decision,” Trump vowed. Paramount and Netflix have both made nice with Trump. Ted Sarandos, a chief executive of Netflix, visited the Oval Office in November, while David Ellison, the Paramount chairman, was spotted with Trump on Sunday, just hours before his company made its offer. What could happen next? It’s possible a Paramount victory could bring the future company more in line with Trump’s views. Ellison and Trump are close, and a private equity firm founded by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, is part of the Paramount deal. The president says a Netflix win “could be a problem,” giving it too much market power. That’s Paramount’s argument, too. Still, Trump has praised Sarandos. And while Paramount, which owns CBS, paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit that Trump brought against “60 Minutes,” Trump has continued to criticize the show. He wrote that since CBS came under Ellison’s leadership, “60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE!” Warner Bros. Discovery said it would have more to say next week. Stay tuned. 50 states, 50 fixes
Solutions to big, seemingly intractable environmental problems are hard to come by. But people all over the country are coming up with local answers. The Times set out this year to document one of those solutions in every state. Let us take you to a few of them. South Dakota
For decades, Eastern red cedar trees have crept across South Dakota and the Plains States, earning them a regional nickname: the “green glacier.” The spread has overtaken native grasslands, which are one of the most endangered kinds of habitats in the world. They’ve also drastically reduced the amount of land available for grazing. Ranchers in the state have embraced an old method for getting that land back: They carefully burn specific parcels. As Native tribes in the region did for generations before settlers began suppressing fire in the late 19th century, they burn the land in order to preserve it. See what’s happening in South Dakota. Texas It’s not just oil under the ground in the Lone Star State. There’s also geothermal energy. It has made the state a hub of innovation in geothermal power. One of the new systems works by using electricity to pump water deep into underground cracks — similar to gas fracking. Once it’s there, the “well” holds the water under pressure. When electricity is needed on the grid, technicians release a valve, sending the water through a turbine, turning the water pressure back into electricity. Just don’t call it renewable energy. “We describe it as inexhaustible rather than renewable,” one leader in the field told The Times. Utah
Beavers are top-notch engineers, driven to slow flowing water and create ponds. They’re a nuisance for ranchers across the West, some of whom loathe the animals for their ability to wreak havoc on pastures, leaving them muddy and unpassable. But they can also be a force for good. Their dams reduce runoff, recharge groundwater, build habitat for fish and other wildlife, help streams recover sediment and create watering holes. In Utah, that led to an idea: Why not relocate the nuisance beavers to places where their dams would be helpful — improving the environment, rather than destroying it? Check out these beavers in Utah. Wyoming More than 620,000 miles of barbed-wire fences divide the American West. They keep cattle contained. They’re expensive to build and expensive to maintain. A single mile of new fence line can cost a rancher $25,000. And margins in that business are thin. Enter virtual fences and GPS collars, which some livestock managers are using on their cattle in Wyoming to manage their herds from afar, with much less need for fencing. The tech is reminiscent of the invisible fencing used by some suburban dog owners. As a cow approaches a boundary, the collar beeps. If she crosses, it delivers a mild electric shock. Ranchers use GPS coordinates to set precise boundaries on pastures to keep cows away from streams or sagebrush. They can move cows around to prevent overgrazing. They can also monitor cows’ exact locations, and, if they see the herd bunched up, they can ride out to see if the animals are under threat from a wolf or a grizzly bear. Another benefit: With fewer fences, elk, pronghorn and mule deer can migrate more easily. Read about the other 46 states and fixes here. They include the Library of Things in Maine and, in Florida, the rise of the “mangrove mamas.”
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Congress pours billions of dollars into the Pentagon, but much of it goes to waste. The safety of the country depends on getting serious about the military’s finances, the editorial board writes. Early-decision college applications are a racket. They should be shut down, Daniel Currell writes. Morning readers: Save on the complete Times experience. Experience all of The Times, all in one subscription — all with this introductory offer. You’ll gain unlimited access to news and analysis, plus games, recipes, product reviews and more.
Japanese toilets: In public restrooms in Tokyo, you may hear birdsong, ocean waves or a babbling river. It’s courtesy audio meant to mask bathroom noises — “an auditory simulacrum of nature, perfect for responding to its call,” as Tim Hornyak writes. Now, the sound machines are becoming more popular. A formative read: There’s an enduring appeal to James Marshall’s “George and Martha” series about hippos who are best friends, Hannah Kingsley-Ma writes. She grew up reading the children’s books “the same way an athlete runs drills — in an exhaustive repetitive cycle, as if they were preparing me for something.” Your pick: The most-clicked story in The Morning yesterday was about how to fall asleep with cognitive shuffling.
187,460— That is the estimated number of miles in the Roman Empire’s road system, according to a new study. One of the longest tracks stretched from Bordeaux, France, to Jerusalem.
N.F.L.: The Indianapolis Colts are poised to bring Philip Rivers, 44, out of retirement after losing almost every quarterback on their roster to injuries. Rivers hasn’t thrown an N.F.L. pass in five years. College football: In college sports’ biggest step yet into private equity, the University of Utah is forming a partnership with a private investment firm. |
