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SoCal fires, LA city street light funding, new exhibit on comic books, the immigrant gut, and more
Hotspots are seen on a hill in the morning while the Sandy fire burns close to a residential area in Simi Valley, California, on May 20, 2026.
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Apu Gomes / AFP
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Getty Images
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Jump to
- Checking in on fires burning in SoCal
- Would you pay more for street light repairs?
- New Skirball Cultural Center exhibit looks at the impact of comics on the national identity
- Gut Talk: the effects of the Western diet on immigrants’ health
- This meeting could have been an email — how to have better meetings
Today's show: AirTalk host Larry Mantle discusses SoCal fires, L.A. city street light funding, new exhibit on comic books, how immigration impacts gut health, and a new book on improving meetings.
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Checking in on fires burning in SoCal
The topic:
A fire in Simi Valley has destroyed one home and led to multiple evacuation alerts. Two fires are in Riverside County, a small fire is in the San Gabriel Mountains, and one is burning on Santa Rosa island. We’ll round up the latest on the fires, and what’s behind their growth.
The forecast: Warm weather and Santa Ana wind conditions have hampered firefighting efforts and are expected to continue through Wednesday this week.
Join the conversation: Are you affected by the fires? What questions do you have for our guests about conditions on the ground or this early start to fire season? Give us a call at (866) 893-5722 or you can email us at atcomments@laist.com.
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With files from LAist.
Guests:
- John Clingingsmith Jr., fire captain and public information officer for the CAL Fire Riverside Unit
- Char Miller, professor of environmental analysis and history at Pomona College
Would you pay more for street light repairs?
City property owners are able to vote on whether they’d be willing to help pay for an increased budget to fix these issues.
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Kavish Harjai
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LAist
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The topic:
Back in March, the Los Angeles City Council voted in favor of a solution to address street light repairs. What’s since occurred is a vote for city property owners to dictate whether they’d be willing to help pay for an increased budget to fix these issues.
The vote: Affected property owners have until June 2 to vote, although it’s completely separate from your primary election ballot.
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Proposition 218 explained: In 1996, this statewide ballot proposition made it a requirement for municipalities to seek voter approval for general taxes and fees, such as increasing street light funding.
Guest:
- Kavish Harjai, transportation correspondent for LAist
- Miguel Sangalang, executive director and general manager for the Bureau of Street Lighting
New Skirball Cultural Center exhibit looks at the impact of comics on the national identity
Action Comics #1 is on display at the Skirball Cultural Center.
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Skirball Cultural Center
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The topic:
The Skirball Cultural Center is opening a new exhibition titled Inventing America: The Comic Book Revolution that looks at the history of comic books in America and argues they are a lens to view the nation through at key national moments.
What’s on tap: Original artwork, rare artifacts, and of course rare comics including Action Comics #1 and Captain America Comics #1. The exhibition aims to make a connection between comic book storytelling and some of the biggest national experiences of the 1900s.
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How to view it: The exhibition opens today at the Skirball Cultural Center, and runs through February 27, 2027. Guided tours start June 4. You can find more information here.
Join the conversation: What comic book do you think had an outsized impact on American culture? Or, what comic do you think captured a particular moment in American history? Give us a call at (866) 893-5722 or you can email us at atcomments@laist.com.
Guests:
- Michele Urton, Skirball Museum deputy director and co-curator of Inventing America: The Comic Book Revolution
- Patrick A. Reed, pop culture historian, journalist and co-curator of Inventing America: The Comic Book Revolution
Gut Talk: the effects of the Western diet on immigrants’ health
Has your family's diet changed since migrating?
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Tirachard / Getty Images
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The topic:
Diets are dependent on region and environment. Thus, when immigrants come to the United States, they often must adapt to Western food that is, on average, higher in fat and sugar and is ultraprocessed.
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The effects: Studies show that rates of obesity and cardiovascular disease increase in immigrant populations the longer they have lived in the U.S. These effects do differ depending on where someone immigrates from and where in the U.S. they migrate to.
Join the conversation: If you immigrated to the U.S., what diet change did you see? How did the difference in food affect you? Give us a call at (866) 893-5722. You can also email us at atcomments@laist.com.
Guests:
- Rebecca Jones-Antwi, assistant professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Public Health at Baylor University
- Simin Liu, M.D., distinguished professor and chair of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at UC Irvine
This meeting could have been an email — how to have better meetings
Have you ever been to a meeting that was actually fun?
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Pressmaster / Getty Images
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iStockphoto
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The topic:
For many people, office life has become an array of in-person, online, and hybrid meetings spent wondering why this meeting wasn’t an email in the first place. A new book poses the question: could we make meetings better?
The book: Your Best Meeting Ever: 7 Principles for Designing Meetings That Get Things Done (Simon Element/Simon Acumen, 2026) looks at the history of the office meeting and how we can collaborate to make it work for us.
Join the conversation: Have you been stuck in an unproductive meeting? Have you ever been to a meeting that was actually fun? Give us a call at (866) 893-5722, or you can email us at atcomments@laist.com.
Guest:
- Rebecca Hinds, organizational behavior advisor, author of the book Your Best Meeting Ever: 7 Principles for Designing Meetings That Get Things Done; she holds a PhD in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford
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Today on AirTalk: local response to attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego, concerns about nicotine pouches, common gastro conditions, and why PCOS is being renamed. -
Today on AirTalk: Guest host Austin Cross discusses the Ebola global health emergency; AI in dating; connections between gut and brain; and the history of the Cinerama Dome. -
LAist sat down with the owner of Greyhound Bar and Grill in Highland Park to talk about their wings and the World Cup.
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Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
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