iHeartMedia just laid off hundreds of on air staff this week, wiping out local radio in markets like Springfield, Erie, and Spokane. Tyler traces how the 1996 Telecommunications Act opened the door for private equity to buy up stations, load them with debt, and strip out the people who actually made radio local. It's a case study in regulatory capture and what happens when infrastructure gets consolidated into a handful of hands, a warning for anyone who cares about digital ownership and consumer rights.