Today on AirTalk, our weekly political roundtable recaps the major headlines you might’ve missed in politics news over the weekend and looks ahead to the week to come; and more.
Week in politics: Impact of Mueller report, expected to be public mid-April, continues to ripple in Washington
AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable recaps the major headlines you might’ve missed in politics news over the weekend and looks ahead to the week to come. Here are the headlines what we’re following this week:
DOJ says Mueller report will be public by mid-April
Trump’s response
Trump, Schiff war of words
Schiff asked to step down as House Intel Chair
How media covered Muller report collusion allegations
- 2020 Democratic candidates
Biden accused of inappropriate kiss
Beto officially kicks off 2020 campaign
Buttigeig says he raised $7 million in first quarter for 2020 bid
- Trump threatens to close U.S.-Mexico border
- Trump admin wants ACA repealed in full
- Latest on unrest in Venezuela, Russian involvement
Guests:
Lynn Vavreck, professor of political science at UCLA and author of several books, including “Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Election & the Battle for the Meaning of America” (Princeton University Press, October 2018) ; she tweets
Sean T. Walsh, Republican political analyst and partner at Wilson Walsh Consulting in San Francisco; he is a former adviser to California Governors Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger and a former White House staffer for Presidents Reagan and H.W. Bush
Can a robot judge make a fair verdict?
Artificial intelligence is surfacing in government roles.
In Estonia, a “robot judge” is being designed to settle small claims disputes of roughly $8,000 or less. The same team is hoping to use AI to work through a backlog of cases for court clerks and judges. Although the project is still in development, the goal is to allow both parties to provide documents and information and have AI make the final decision. A human judge will then have the ability to appeal the decision.
So does AI have a potential role in government? Would the U.S. consider implementing AI in judicial decisions? We discuss.
Guest:
Daniel Ho, professor of law at Stanford and faculty affiliate of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence; he is a co-instructor of Administering by Algorithm: Artificial Intelligence in the Regulatory State, a policy lab focusing on the role of AI in government
Joke’s on you, AI: A look into machines and humor
Humor and artificial intelligence is a growing field for academics.
When people try to teach machines what’s funny, the results are at times laughable but not in the way intended. And when it comes to humor, the people who study it — sometimes until all laughs are beaten out of it — say context is key.
“Creative language — and humor in particular — is one of the hardest areas for computational intelligence to grasp,” said Tristan Miller, who has analyzed more than 10,000 puns and called it torture. “It’s because it relies so much on real-world knowledge — background knowledge and commonsense knowledge. A computer doesn’t have these real-world experiences to draw on. It only knows what you tell it and what it draws from.”
Some computers can generate and understand puns — the most basic humor — without help from humans because puns are based on different meanings of similar-sounding words.
So can AI learn to tell jokes? Is humor innately human? And will artificial intelligence ever have a place in comedy?
With files from the Associated Press
Guest:
Allison Bishop, assistant professor of computer science at Columbia University and stand-up comedian
As new report highlights high cost of retrofitting hospitals in CA, we discuss the value of the seismic standards
After damage to 11 hospitals during the 1994 Northridge quake, California legislators passed SB 1953, which required hospital buildings to meet new safety standards.
According to the current deadlines, by 2020 hospitals must minimize the risk of collapse and by 2030 they should be able to maintain operations after a big earthquake.
A new report from the RAND Corporation is now estimating that this will cost California hospitals between $34 billion and $143 billion, questioning whether the standards can be met without significant financial burdens on hospitals. The report also recommends some alternatives to the current legislation. We discuss the projected financial estimates and how they might be negotiated with the need to provide care to people injured as a result of the ‘big one.’
We reached out to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. They did not get back to us in time for this interview.
Guests:
Benjamin Lee Preston, director of the community health and environmental policy program and senior policy researcher at RAND Corporation, where he was the lead on the report “Updating the Costs of Compliance for California's Hospital Seismic Safety Standards”
Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the California Hospital Association
Lucy Jones, seismologist and founder and chief scientist at the Lucy Jones Center for Science & Society, a natural disaster risk reduction research organization; she is a research associate at Caltech and author of the book, “The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (and What We Can Do About Them" (Doubleday, 2018)
We discuss the music and community impact of South LA’s own Nipsey Hussle
Rapper Nipsey Hussle was fatally shot last night in front of his clothing store in South LA’s Crenshaw neighborhood, the same neighborhood in which he was born. He was 33 years old.
Earlier this year, Hussle received a Grammy nomination for his album “Victory Lap.” Hussle, who had two children and was engaged to actress Lauren London, was an Eritrean-American whose real name was Ermias Asghedom. Los Angeles Police Commissioner Steve Soboroff tweeted that he and Police Chief Michel Moore were set to meet with Hustle today to “talk about ways he could help stop gang violence and help us help kids.”
We discuss Hussle’s music, as well as his work in South L.A.’s community. If you were affected by his music and work, give us a call at 866-893-5722.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Emily Elena Dugdale, reporter for KPCC; she has been reporting from outside Nipsey Hussle’s store, The Marathon Clothing, in the Crenshaw District in South L.A. talking to mourners
Ben Caldwell, community partner at Destination Crenshaw, an outdoor art and cultural event that celebrates Black Los Angeles co-organized by Nipsey Hussle, and filmmaker with L.A. Rebellion Filmmaking Group, a collective of African and African-American filmmakers who came out of UCLA’s film department from the 60s-80s
Mesfin Fekadu, music editor for The Associated Press; he tweets
What’s next after San Diego court struck down the state’s high-capacity gun magazine ban
A federal judge in San Diego struck down California’s ban on high-capacity gun magazines on Friday.
The ruling dealt a sizable blow to a law passed by the state legislature in 2016, which banned possession of gun magazines containing more than 10 bullets.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez ruled that the law violated the 2nd Amendment rights of gun owners and issued an injunction barring the state from enforcing it.
To discuss what comes next is San Diego Union Tribune reporter Greg Moran.
Guest:
Greg Moran, staff writer who covers legal affairs and criminal justice issues at San Diego Union Tribune; his recent piece looks at the court decision overturning the state’s ban on high-capacity gun magazines
‘Cat’astrophe on Capitol Hill: Former congressional reporter Kitty Felde welcomes readers to Washington, DC
A ghostly cat, a dog named Senator Something and 10-year old Fina Mendoza dive into the inner workings of Congress in Kitty Felde’s debut novel, “Welcome to Washington, Fina Mendoza.”
Inspired by half a dozen years of covering Congress, Felde decided to write a middle school mystery that offers insight to the behind-the-scenes happenings on Capitol Hill. The novel follows Fina Mendoza, who just moved to Washington, D.C., as she navigates the world of congressmembers and politicos. As the daughter of a congressman from California, Mendoza spends much of her time in the congressional offices of Capitol Hill. But upon encountering an eerie cat, bad luck ensues and consumes Mendoza’s life. With years of experience and insight from covering D.C., Felde brings readers into the world of party politics as Mendoza attempts to solve the curse of the Demon Cat.
Felde joins Larry to discuss her new book and the state of partisanship at the nation’s capital.
Kitty Felde will talk about her new book, “Welcome to Washington, Fina Mendoza” today [Monday, April 1] at 6pm at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena. For more info on the event, click here.
Guest:
Kitty Felde, author of “Welcome to Washington, Fina Mendoza” (Black Rose Writing, 2019) and host of the podcast “Book Club for Kids”; she was a former DC-based reporter for KPCC