AirTalk Oct. 13, 2026

Today's show: Julia Paskin filling in for AirTalk host Larry Mantle, discusses the new Burbank airport terminal, Prop 4, acne dos and don'ts, American Dream economics, check-in on California's wine industry and a new book on the history of American bread. Paskin is also the host for LAist’s All Things Considered.

Burbank Airport unveils new terminal

Today’s the day — the Hollywood Burbank Airport officially unveils its new terminal. The $1.3 million project offers passengers a building that is 50% larger than the prior. With the prior terminal not being up to code, Burbank’s unveiling of a new one serves as a necessary step for those around the area looking to fly out of the area without going to LAX.

Guests:

• Cato Hernandez, L.A. Explained reporter for LAist
• Tyron Hampton, president of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority and Pasadena City Councilmember

Prop 4: public financing of election campaigns

Proposition 4 would repeal California's existing ban on the state and most local governments using tax dollars to fund political candidates' campaigns. This would allow those governments to create public campaign-financing programs. It also would triple the maximum fine for campaign contributions by foreign entities. We get into the pros and cons.

Guests:

• David Kline, vice president of communications & research for the California Taxpayers Association
• Jenny Farrell, executive director of the League of Women Voters of California

Acne dos and don’ts

Pimples and acne are an uncomfortable hallmark of teenage years, but adults can have breakouts too. Acne can also happen on other parts of the body like the chest and shoulders. And then there’s bacne, the internet’s term for back breakouts. How has what we know about the causes and treatments of acne changed over the years?

Guests:

• Reid OldenBurg, MD,  assistant professor of dermatology at UC San Diego and board-certified dermatologist
• Nada Elbuluk, MD, professor of clinical dermatology and director of the Skin of Color Center at USC

Is the American Dream still alive? The money is not adding up

A recent Investopedia analysis has determined that the cost of achieving the “American Dream” is 4% more expensive than it was just a year ago. Now, that dream hovers around $5.3 million. What does this mean for individuals trying to achieve this nebulous concept? And what does it mean for the concept itself if it’s so completely unattainable?

Guests:

• Caleb Silver, Investopedia’s editor in chief
• Erik Nelson, professor of economics at Bowdoin College in Maine

How California wineries are dealing with a high-end bottle surplus

With wine drinking down and macroeconomic factors at play, it’s a tough time to be a wine grape grower in California. Today on AirTalk, we look at how the industry is fairing and what wineries are doing about a high-end surplus.

Guests:

• Jess Lander, wine reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle
• Julie Berge, vice president of communications and member relations for the Wine Institute, the trade organization for wine growers

The long arc of bread in America

Since the dawn of the settled, agrarian society bread has been focal to human survival. But in our modern age of relative grain abundance it can be easy to take bread as a concept for granted. Now, a new book looks at how America has re-invented bread over the years, and how we ended up with the loaves we eat today.

Guest:

• Andrew Coe, food writer and author of American Bread: A History (University of California Press, 2026)