The New York Times interviewed UCLA’s Jim Newton and Zev Yaroslavsky about the political challenges facing Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass as she seeks reelection against City Council member Nithya Raman. Criticism of Bass’ response to the 2025 wildfires has complicated her bid for a second term, but a large number of undecided voters could determine the outcome. The article also cited a UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs survey on Angelenos’ declining satisfaction with their quality of life. Read more about UCLA in today’s Time, Forbes and other outlets.

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More highlights from UCLA in the News: October 23, 2026

Teens want relatable stories and new movie stars, study suggests | Forbes

But as with so many things regarding younger audiences, some nuance is in order in understanding the findings of this year’s study. “I don’t think they ever were not OK with the theaters,” said Yalda T. Uhls, a UCLA developmental psychology clinical professor and former filmmaker who is founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA, which conducted the study. “They love being in person. It’s something they can do with friends post-pandemic.” (Also: Deadline and Phys.org.)

Ahead of midterms, Elena Kagan says SCOTUS is undermining voting rights | Time

“It’s no exaggeration to say that the form of our elections and democracy owes a great deal to the decisions of the Supreme Court, sometimes overruling the will of Congress,” says Rick Hasen, a professor at the UCLA School of Law and the director of its Safeguarding Democracy Project. 

Experts alarmed by ‘less transparent’ CDC as U.S. measles deaths rise | The Guardian

The CDC is not governed by Hipaa as health providers are. The agency is instead guided by the Federal Privacy Act, which usually prohibits disclosing government records about specific individuals, said Lindsay Wiley, professor of law and faculty director of the Health Law and Policy program at UCLA School of Law.  

How a merged SpaceX-Tesla might navigate its China problem | Reuters

Keeping both Beijing and Washington happy about such a firewall, however, could be tricky, said Christopher Tang, a professor at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management who specializes in ​global supply chains. He said the Chinese government is likely to try to use any proposed merger to negotiate a range of items as a condition for approval.