The Koch bros just took a $650m stake in Time

 Where are the Pepshi brothers when you need ‘em? [The Hustle]( Tues, Nov 28 Brought to you by [Hotjar]( the “all-you-need” web tool. Time, Inc. bought for $2.8B… with a little help from the Koch brothers On Sunday, Midwest-based publisher Meredith inked a deal to buy out Time, Inc. -- the company behind mags like Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune, and People -- for [$2.8B in cash](. But the deal came with a twist that has alarm bells ringing across the media world: about ¼ of the funds ($650m) came from Charles and David Koch, billionaire brothers who’ve used their clout to support and promote conservative causes. A tale of two publishers Launched in 1930 with the vision of capturing the hectic nature of the urbanized world, Time, Inc. now owns more than 100 magazines brands and 60 digital properties. But, in recent years they, like other old-school publishers, [have fallen on hard times](. Meredith comes from a different world: best-known for publications like Better Homes and Gardens and Midwest Living, the company has able maintained a more niche, but loyal readership. They’ve tried to buy out Time, Inc. twice before (once in 2013, and again earlier this year) but were unable to secure enough funding… Until the Koch brothers came along Meredith maintains that the $650m investment from Koch Industries will not give the brothers seats on the board, or any power to influence editorial content. (A [spokesman]( for the Koch bros called it a “passive investment” that is strictly a “moneymaking opportunity.”) But on paper, Time doesn’t seem like a killer investment -- and some believe the move is more of a power play to gain political influence through Time’s millions of readers and robust consumer data. Per [Axios]( there is nothing in the companies’ [84-page merger agreement]( that explicitly relegates the Koch brothers to “passivity.” In the short term, this does bode well for Time, though: when the news broke, their stock hit a 6-month high. The party line of Koch  Cities are pulling out some pretty uncool stops to host Amazon’s new HQ2 The desperate courting efforts made by cities across the US and Canada to land Amazon’s new headquarters have gone from charming, to weird, to straight-up bribery.   There have been [238 proposals]( since the announcement was made in early September, and with Amazon’s promise to create 50k high-paying jobs wherever it lands next, some cities are taking things wayyy too far… Take Chicago for instance The windy city is so set on getting the new HQ2 that they have proposed a major tax break to the company, essentially allowing Amazon to keep [$1.32B]( of personal income taxes paid by their employees. That’s money that should be funding public schools and fixing potholes. Worse, according to the Chicago Reader’s Ben Joravsky, this Amazon tax break could spell a tax hike for the people of Chicago if they win the bid. And they’re not the only ones checking their dignity at the door Here are some other hail marys to get into Amazon’s pants: - Newark, NJ offered a tax break of [$7B]( - Chula Vista, CA offered an [85-acre]( plot of land valued at $100m and a $300m tax break - Stonecrest, GA offered [345 acres]( of land renamed, ‘the city of Amazon’ It’s like the movie Rat Race. Only in this version, Mr. Bean dangling from a hot air balloon in hopes of winning his fortune is a lot less funny. [It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World](  Kid-related content on the internet has gotten weird, and YouTube plans to clean it up With the Internet being the Wild West that it is, it’s no surprise YouTubers have found another way to game the system. Unfortunately, they’ve found that the most gameable target is kids. Because, as any babysitter knows, kids mean views -- multiple views of the same video. Over and over again as long as it takes to stop the crying. This has lead to a new ‘tube trend of highly optimizable videos aimed at tricking kids into thinking it is something that it’s definitely not. Kid vids have done gone surreal Some of these vids (which have millions of views, mind you) consist of weird Sims-like animation, oozing with a distant, goofy morbidity. Things like an animated bucktoothed teen learning how to survive [being buried alive]( or a live-action Spider-man toy cleaning poop off a baby doll titled, [“Bad Baby Doll & Spiderman Learn Colors]( Not gonna lie, sounds pretty frigging awesome…  BUT NOT FOR KIDS! Or at least that’s the debate. And since some experts believe a video of a mob of Disney’s Sofias shoving a [toy pig in an oven]( to make a ham sandwich may have [lasting]( effects on children, YouTube isn’t taking any chances. They’re [tightening the leash on content]( controls and making it harder for these “offenders” to monetize their highly-viewed, thinly-veiled, play for ad dollars. [Bring back Muppet Babies](  COMING IN HOT: New sauna research New studies show that at least some of the wild health claims of Sauna “bathing” [have substance to them](. Here’s the good and bad science-backed news about your favorite Finnish heat therapy: What they do do: lower risk of stroke, heart disease, and dementia A [Finnish study]( that followed the sauna habits and health of 2.5k men for 20 years found that regular sauna-goers are far less likely to die of heart disease and stroke or to [develop dementia](. And research from this year shows that getting sauna’d 4-7 times a week (AKA, saunaholics) [can reduce high blood pressure]( by nearly 50%, and improve chronic pain symptoms in diseases like arthritis. Scientists attribute these benefits to increased heart rate and widening blood vessels, which increases circulation, similar to the effects of regular exercise. What they won’t do? “Detox” your bod Even new-fangled “infrared saunas” (which supposedly enable a greater purging of “toxins”) have absolutely [no scientific evidence]( to back up their claims. FACT OF THE DAY: “For most people, sweating a lot does not detoxify them at all. Because the kidneys are doing it. Sweat’s main job is to keep us cool.” -- Dee Anna Glaser, dermatology professor and president of the International Hyperhidrosis (excessive sweaters) Society That’s right people; you’re not gonna go “sweat out” your alcohol, flu, lactic acid -- or whatever Fern Gully “black goo” you imagine is floating around in your bods -- via sauna. But we’ll take healthier [tickers]( any day. [Get sauna-wasted for your health](   a few good reads  Turtles survive hibernation by breathing through their butts ([Business Insider]( You’re welcome. “If you buy my lamp, you won’t need drugs.” ([Priceonomics]( Or so Edward Craven Walker, creator of the lava lamp, promised his psychedelic-loving fanbase. A rollercoaster story of the rise and fall (and rise again) of the lava lamp, and the eccentric fighter-pilot-turned-nudist who invented it. Why the heck are we getting spam calls again? ([The Outline]( In 2004, Bill Gates announced at the World Economic Forum, “two years from now, spam will be solved.” Well, it’s 2017 and robocalling is back with a vengeance. What happened to the “Do Not Call” list, and are we doomed to a future of spambots? How the sandwich consumed Britain ([The Guardian]( Walk around in the UK for a while, and you’ll see them: cold, packaged sandwiches -- hundreds of them -- lining the perishables section at grocery stores in saran-wrapped orbs. Here’s how this unassuming meal became an £8bn-a-year business. Where unsellable wine goes to die ([Quartz]( Ever wonder what wineries do with all their unsold, already-corked bottles? They take them to Parallel Products, an industrial wasteland that smells like "wet garbage mixed with an electrical fire."  This edition of The Hustle was brought to you by Hotjar wants to make your website better But first: take your current suite of website tools, and throw them out an internet window. Before founding [Hotjar]( David was a conversion guru. Organizations hired him to up-level their web and mobile experiences, and uplevel he did. But after awhile, David became frustrated with the countless tools his clients used to monitor their sites. Between user feedback, visitor recordings, and analytics, their list of providers looked like a Nascar hood. So, David hung up his consulting khakis and [founded Hotjar]( to bring every tool and source of knowledge into one central place. Like the “Swiss Army Knife” of optimization Hotjar is an [all-in-one analytics and feedback]( solution for web and mobile. With Hotjar, you see exactly how your users interact with your site through heatmaps, recordings, and even polls. And the best part: it’s [just one, single provider](. That means no more bouncing from tab to tab collecting data, and no more monthly subscription fees to dozens of rarely-used vendors. Oh, and did we mention readers of The Hustle can [try Hotjar]( for absolutely FREE? Now, go make a better website.  0 [SHARE THE HUSTLE]( REFERRALS Lindsey Quinn MANAGING EDITOR Zack Crockett WRITER Wes Schlagenhauf WRITER Sam "Best I can do is tree fiddy" Parr EDITORIAL EAVESDROPPER Art Majors DIRECTOR OF UNDEREMPLOYMENT [SUBSCRIBE]( [JOBS]( [ADVERTISE]( [EVENTS]( You opted in by signing up, attending an event, or through divine intervention. [771 CLEMENTINA STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103, UNITED STATES]( • [415.506.7210](tel:+1-415-506-7210) Never wanna hear from us again? Break our hearts and [unsubscribe](