Zac Estrada
@zacestrada.com
L.A. freelance writer/editor. Contributor, Gizmodo. Prev. The Verge, Jalopnik, others. Climate/energy, transportation, tech, TV. @zacestrada elsewhere. Signal: zacestrada.01 https://linktr.ee/zacestrada 🏳️🌈
If Tilda were trying to be made today, who would be the actress? lamaterial.com/p/nikki-fink...
Nikki Finke's Last TOLDJA
Nikki Finke, Hollywood’s most-feared journalist, wrote a book before she died. Her estate is now shopping the manuscript.
lamaterial.com
The brilliant voices behind RogerEbert.com asked me to expand my thread on Nolan’s THE ODYSSEY as a pointed assessment of America as “empire at dusk” into a full essay, which I was honored to do. Please read/share—and thanks to @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social @briantallerico.bsky.social for the invite!
RogerEbert.com@ebertvoices.bsky.social · yesterday"Nolan’s film is not a misbegotten attempt to modernize a classic—it is a deft and purposeful reflection of America in this moment, seen through the glass of mythological metaphor." Jeff Yang writes about THE ODYSSEY and the “people from the sea.”
"SoCal Edison has claimed in lawsuits earlier this year that Los Angeles County agencies failed to send timely evacuation warnings to residents in east and west Altadena. Eighteen of the 19 people who died in the fire lived in west Altadena"
The Associated Press@apnews.com · yesterdayBREAKING: Southern California Edison equipment caused the deadly 2025 Eaton blaze, county fire officials said.
"According to four executives at U.S. host city committees... FIFA management repeatedly assured the cities they would receive the same $1 million contribution towards legacy, despite no public statement ever being made by the organization"
U.S. cities chasing FIFA over millions of dollars after hosting World Cup games
nytimes.com
automatically running signal messages through a stranger's AI is, I think, the worst pitch and idea I've ever been cold pitched in my life and that is saying a lot
Can't decide whether he's watched too much of or not enough of Tony Dokoupil's CBS Evening News www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/o...
Opinion: Mamdani's idea may sound appealing, but it's NYC taxpayers who will take the hit, subsidizing discounts they may never even use.
Mamdani's city-owned grocery stores are a socialist trap | Opinion
No matter how good Zohran Mamdani makes grocery affordability sound, he's selling New Yorkers the same broken promise that has failed everywhere else.
bit.ly
But to get back to how badly the trains needed upgrades, let's compare like with like. Here's a sample trip from Downtown LA to Culver City. - LA Metro E line (2026): 30 minutes - Motor Transit Co. bus (1948): 39 minutes - Pacific Electric Railway (1948): 43 minutes 7/
Jake is right. I also wrote about this in my book, more from the political angle. I argue that the streetcar conspiracy was actually a convenient scapegoat for those who wanted to minimize government's role in transit's failure, and the racism of whites who abandoned integrated systems.
Jake Berman@lostsubways.com · 3d agothis is not true. there was no conspiracy. it didn't matter whether the streetcars were publicly owned (seattle, detroit) or private (los angeles, atlanta). a thread (because i wrote a whole-ass book on this): 1/?
What a batshit first sentence to an editorial excoriating the mayor of Seattle for removing a controversial police chief appointed by her predecessor, something our mayors have routinely done. The conspiracy brain at play: "How dare this scheming woman try to distract us from her incompetence!"
They will tell you in the very same interview that Fauci killed millions of people and also that he and other public health officials wildly exaggerated the danger of Covid to hurt Trump. Two egregious and completely contradictory lies.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3d agoRFK Jr: We had the highest death rate from covid of any nation on earth BASH: That's not accurate RFK Jr: What I said was accurate BASH: There are other countries that had higher RFK Jr: When Fauci was mismanaging the pandemic, he was doing it under the Biden administration
The New Mercedes-Benz GLA Electric Is a Small SUV With Big Range Expectations https://gizmodo.com/the-new-mercedes-benz-gla-electric-is-a-small-suv-with-big-range-expectations-2000792360
The New Mercedes-Benz GLA Electric Is a Small SUV With Big Range Expectations
And of course, the interior is dominated by screens.
gizmodo.com
The President of the United States says the US Attorney for DC lied in court papers.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4d agoTrump: “I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass, which had a big 86 47 emblazoned …There may have been some contractor difficulty, but major damage was caused by VANDALS!”
Two Los Angeles businessmen told Pacific Palisades residents this week that they’re planning a $250 million investment in rebuilding the community and that state Sen. @benallenca.bsky.social was on their board. But Allen said that’s not true. www.politico.com/news/2026/07...
Two LA businessmen say a California state senator is part of their nonprofit to help wildfire victims. He isn't.
Lee West and Steven Dietz plan to raise up to $250 million to buy lots and build homes in Pacific Palisades. They told residents that state Sen. Ben Allen was on their nonprofit board, but Allen told ...
politico.com
Another death in ICE custody: Prisciliano Trejo Ricano. He said this before he died:
INDY Week@indyweek.bsky.social · 6d agoPrisciliano Trejo Ricano began feeling ill while detained at a Georgia detention center, where he had been for three weeks. He reported that he had not received medical attention after experiencing severe symptoms. He died on Wednesday, July 22.
"The message it sends is that the government is always watching, and that if you report things the administration doesn't like, agents will come after you and your families."
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press@rcfp.org · last wk.The Trump administration is sending armed agents to journalists' doorsteps — an effort to intimidate the press that could ultimately leave the American public in the dark. Read @rcfp.org's Gabe Rottman in @latimes.com:
Anyone ever hear about Rebecca Schaeffer's murder and how California clamped down on releasing DMV data to the point that a license plate number doesn't reveal much to anyone but the police? That was the privacy and security goal www.cdcr.ca.gov/insidecdcr/2...
Flock CEO Claims Its Cameras Aren't a Constitutional Violation: 'Cut and Dry'
Flock CEO Garrett Langley told The Drive, "The courts have deemed this is not a warrantless search."
thedrive.com
Zac Estrada@zacestrada.com · last wk."We're in 7,000 cities today, and I'd like to get us to all 17,000 cities in America and create that future, because it's quite doable. Whatever technology we need to build to help get there while maintaining our local societal norms is what we’re planning to do" www.thedrive.com/podcast/floc...
"We're in 7,000 cities today, and I'd like to get us to all 17,000 cities in America and create that future, because it's quite doable. Whatever technology we need to build to help get there while maintaining our local societal norms is what we’re planning to do" www.thedrive.com/podcast/floc...
Flock’s CEO Faced Me After Its Cameras Led to My Wrongful Stop
Flock CEO Garrett Langley sat down to discuss the errors that led to police stopping me and the growing fight over Flock's network of AI-powered surveillance cameras.
thedrive.com
Lovely, the Trump administration has ordered National Park Service employees not to notify the public about deaths. Wouldn't want visitors knowing what dangerous circumstances to avoid! www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Internal memo orders staff not to reveal deaths in national parks
Guidance issued by the Interior Department instructs National Park Service staff not to confirm deaths, the severity of injuries or other details.
washingtonpost.com
The Mercedes-Benz GLA is still more hatchback than SUV to me but in the world of too-big, long-range EVs, its size could be more of an asset gizmodo.com/the-new-merc...
The New Mercedes-Benz GLA Electric Is a Small SUV With Big Range Expectations
And of course, the interior is dominated by screens.
gizmodo.com
so fucking tired of how socially acceptable it is, even encouraged, to film random people for no good reason at all other than clout and post it online. I cover surveillance all day every day and this shift sometimes scares me the most watch more/subscribe: www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0Sb...
"The message it sends is that the government is always watching, and that if you report things the administration doesn't like, agents will come after you and your families."
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press@rcfp.org · last wk.The Trump administration is sending armed agents to journalists' doorsteps — an effort to intimidate the press that could ultimately leave the American public in the dark. Read @rcfp.org's Gabe Rottman in @latimes.com:
Bernie Moreno was a car salesman with a record of wage theft and employment discrimination. Anthony Fauci was the director of NIAID from 1984 to 2022 and in 2008 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work fighting HIV/AIDS in that role.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last wk.Moreno to Fauci: "Who the fuck did you think you were?"
In what amounts to an early love letter for the Luce, this is still a bizarre statement: "On some classic Ferraris, you have to let the gearbox oil warm thoroughly before going anywhere. This is not an issue on the Luce, despite its complex electronic drive units." www.wired.com/story/first-...
Love It or Hate It, Ferrari’s First EV Is a Thrilling Drive
WIRED test-drove a preproduction version of the Luce, the storied Italian automaker’s controversial electric car, and it was remarkably surprising. Will it convert Ferrari fanatics?
wired.com
Doesn't matter if they're offered in actual colors if people still only buy gray
Felix Hamer • electricfelix@electricfelix.eurosky.social · last wk.Blobs of Amsterdam #amsterdamelektrisch ⚡️⚡️⚡️
"The mayor characterized the application as 'a slap in the face to the families that are forced to live with the consequences of an irresponsible corporation’s actions every single day.'" "The ferocity of Bass' words are striking given her close ties to those currently advising Lineage"
Zac Estrada@zacestrada.com · last wk."The permit was filed the same day Mayor Karen Bass shared a video to social media saying: 'Lineage shouldn't even think about coming back and rebuilding this warehouse.'" lamaterial.com/p/permit-lin...
"Strip away the restaurant and the hype, and Tesla Diner is an 80-plug fast-charging station plunked right in the middle of Hollywood. This had been a charging desert, a giant hole in the map of red dots around Greater L.A." So now get rid of the diner part heatmap.news/electric-veh...
The Tesla Diner Is a Runaway Success. But Not for the Reason You’d Think.
Strip away the restaurant and the hype, and Tesla Diner is an 80-plug fast-charging station plunked right in the middle of a former charging desert.
heatmap.news
