China Censorship, Proving Einstein Right, Buying a Park

To Be Big in China Requires Playing by China’s Censorship Rules (0:32) Guest: Stanley Rosen, Professor of Political Science and International Relations, University of Southern California Fresh back from a couple of exhibition games in China this week, NBA star LeBron James set off a fire storm with his reaction to a tweet that had set off an earlier firestorm. “You know when you’re misinformed or you’re not educated about something –and I’m just talking about the tweet itself –you never know the ramifications that can happen. And you know we all seen what that did.” The tweet was fairly short and quickly deleted. It was posted by the general manager of the Houston Rockets and it read “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” China’s communist government immediately condemned the tweet –it sees the Hong Kong protests as a violent separatist movement. The timing was bad, because LeBron’s LA Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets were just about to head off to China for some pre-season games and a bunch of publicity to gin up support for the NBA in China–which is a really lucrative market for the league. Chinese companies pulled sponsorship from the NBA and team appearances were cancelled. Chinese TV networks refused to broadcast the games. The NBA apologized to China, but that’s tricky because here in America we believe in free speech and furthermore, what the Houston Rocket’s executive tweeted about supporting Hong Kong protesters is a pretty mainstream view in the West. And so, American media and entertainment companies are in a tough spot. The Chinese market is a gold mine, but reaping those profits means cooperating with China’s communist censors. Butchers Aim for More Sustainable Meat Eating (20:45) Guest: Kate Kavanaugh, Cofounder and CEO of Western Daughters Butcher Shoppe A former vegetarian is the last person I’d expect to see behind the counter at a butcher shop carving steaks off a carcass. But that’s Kate Kavanaugh’s story. She’s part of a movement the New York Times recently called “ethical butchering.” Ka