AirTalk Oct. 12, 2026

Today's show: AirTalk host Larry Mantle discusses the latest on coastal flooding, Proposition 1 and Vroman's Bookstore and its new owner. He also interviews L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna about the upcoming election, previews the next L.A. mayoral debate and talks about commonly misused words.

Check back after the show ends at 11 a.m. to listen to the full show or individual segments.

The latest on coastal flooding

After a weekend of high tides on the coasts of Long Beach, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, forecasters and the National Weather Service downgraded Tropical Storm Rachel to a "post-tropical storm."

Guests:

• Lucas Brady Woods, LAist reporter covering the weather, disasters and other topics related to climate and science
• Georgia Rios, public information manager for the city of Newport Beach
• Mark Orgill, Mayor of Laguna Beach
• Patrick Barnard, research director of the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at UC Santa Cruz

Prop 1: Affordable housing bond

The first statewide measure on this year’s ballot asks voters to approve $11.25 billion in state bonds for various affordable housing strategies. The revenue would go toward the construction of new income-restricted apartments, supportive housing for tenants who have experienced homelessness, mortgage assistance for veterans and a number of other programs.

Guests:

• Christopher Cabaldon, California state senator representing the 3rd state district, which includes Napa County, Solano County and Yolo County
• John Seiler, opinion writer for the Southern California News Group, who’s written columns against the affordable housing bond

SoCal History: The oldest bookstore in SoCal, and its new owner

Founded in 1894, Vroman's is the oldest and largest bookstore in Southern California. The Pasadena bookstore, which hosts Book Soup in West Hollywood, has new owners after a nearly three-year-long search. We talk with the new owner and the former owner together.

Guests:

• Robert Hoffman, new owner of Vroman’s Bookstore
• Joel Sheldon, former longtime owner and chair of Vroman’s Bookstore

Robert Luna on why he should be reelected as LA County sheriff

Incumbent L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna faces off against Alex Villanueva, the man he ousted from the job in 2022 by a margin of 61% to 39%. The two men paint starkly different pictures of the current state of the Sheriff's Department. Villanueva says he wants to return to office to fix a department he alleges “has just fallen apart” since he was defeated. Luna says new policies since he took over have helped to drive violent crime down and cut homicides by 25% in areas patrolled by his deputies. The election is Nov. 3.

Guest:

• Robert Luna, Los Angeles County sheriff

Note: Villanueva previously appeared on AirTalk to make his case for why he should return to the office.

Karen Bass, Nithya Raman to meet for debate

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and her challenger, City Council Member Nithya Raman, will come together for a debate Tuesday night. The debate will be hosted by NBC4 and Telemundo 52. The debate is from 7 to 8 p.m. You can also listen to it live on LAist 89.3 and streaming at LAist.com.

Guest:

• Conan Nolan, NBC4 chief political reporter who’s one of the moderators for the debate

What’s a word you’ve unknowingly misused?

The English language over the years has seen words take on whole different meanings — take disappoint, for example. A word that used to mean removing someone from office, which is now a term folks use when they’re feeling let down. Today on AirTalk, we’ll dig into words that have become misused over time.

Guest:

• Kathy Petras, language expert and co-author of the book You’re Saying It Wrong: A Pronunciation Guide to the 150 Most Commonly Mispronounced Words–and Their Tangled Histories of Misuse (Ten Speed Press, 2016); she’s also a contributor to the KMUW podcast “You’re Saying It Wrong”