YouTube TV launched on Wednesday, hoping its brand will revive television audiences, and especially younger generations, to pay for its streaming services. At $35 per month, you can get a bundle of channels including news, sports and entertainment. Would you make the switch? We want to hear form AirTalk listeners. We also cover the latest on the Hill, a recent spike in LA hate crimes; and more.
Senate GOP goes for nuclear option on Gorsuch vote, plus the latest on Nunes, Bannon moves
Another big 24 hours of news out of D.C.
Senate Democrats have successfully filibustered the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the high court. Now Republicans have to decide whether to do away with the ability of Supreme Court nominations to be filibustered.
To the surprise of even his fellow House Intelligence Committee members, their chairman, Devin Nunes of CA, removed himself from the Russia investigation.
Yesterday, President Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, was removed from the National Security Council. Word is, he wasn't too happy about it. Where do we start? Larry speaks to two reporters covering the story in D.C.
Guests:
Lisa Mascaro, reporter covering Congress for the Los Angeles Times; she is on Capitol Hill following the story
Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for the New York Times; he’s been following the latest
Do or die: Brown’s big transportation bill faces major vote
Gov. Jerry Brown is getting down to brass tacks with his proposed gas tax bill, which faces a vote in the California Legislature today.
Brown's new bill, titled Senate Bill 1, would create $52 billion over the next 10 years to repair the state's roads, bridges, and traffic congestion.
But much of that money would come from an increase to California residents' gas tax, which is already one of the highest in the country. So while the state of the state's infrastructure has been a frequent topic in Sacramento, it's unclear whether or not Brown will be able to garner the necessary votes to approve a plan that would raise Californians' taxes.
Guests:
Roger Dickinson, executive director of Transportation California, a Sacramento-based construction industry organization and a supporter of SB1; he is a former Democratic California Assemblymember (2010-2014) serving the 7th district, which represents eastern Sacramento County
Joel Fox, head of the Small Business Action Committee, which represents small business in CA; he co-publishes the political commentary website FoxandHoundsDaily.com
A personal look at how the Vietnam War changed an entire generation
The United States emerged from World War II as one of the planet’s clear-cut superpowers, and many expected the country’s involvement in Vietnam to cement that global position.
But the trials of the Vietnam War left a fractured and complicated legacy that still informs American society to this day.
It’s that legacy that James Wright examines in his new book, “Enduring Vietnam: An American Generation and Its War.” In “Enduring Vietnam,” Wright looks not only at the political steps that led to America’s decades-long involvement in Vietnam, but also at the combat experiences and the effects of the war on the soldiers who returned from it.
Crafted from over a hundred interviews with veterans, their families, policy-makers, and historians, “Enduring Vietnam,” creates a vivid portrait of one of the most influential events in contemporary American history.
James Wright will be speaking about his book tonight at 7pm, at the Buena Vista Branch Library in Burbank. For more information, click here.
Guest:
James Wright, president emeritus and Professor of History Emeritus at Dartmouth College and author of “Enduring Vietnam: An American Generation and Its War” ( Thomas Dunne Books, 2017)
What the city of LA is taking away from new study showing multi-year highs in hate crimes
The number of hate crimes in the city of Los Angeles in 2016 jumped from 200 in 2015 to 230 in 2016, a 15 percent increase according to a new study out from Cal State San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.
It’s the most hate crimes reported in L.A. in nearly a decade and the third straight year where there has been an increase, but it’s also far below numbers that have been reported in past years. 2001, for example, had 559 reported hate crimes in L.A..
The study authors, Brian Levin and Kevin Grisham, say the increase is being driven by a 64 percent spike in violent aggravated assaults reported with lesser but still significant increases also reported in racially-motivated crimes and crimes against LGBTQ community.
Why do you think we are seeing a spike in hate crime numbers? In aggravated assaults? What strategies do you think can be employed at the city level to help stem this issue?
Guests:
Brian Levin, professor of criminal justice and director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino
Francisco Ortega, acting director for the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission
With the advent of YouTube TV, looking at the changing landscape of television streaming
YouTube TV went live on Wednesday. And the Google endeavor is making headlines as a possible way to entice younger generations to pay for television.
As reported by Wired, the new service may have a shot at what’s been an uphill battle for previously launched internet streaming television services such as Dish’s Sling TV and Sony Playstation Vue. But YouTube TV has huge name recognition which could be a catalyst for changing the landscape of paid television streaming. And at $35 a month, it’s uncertain how the chips may fall for the brand. YouTube isn’t the only one willing to give the market a try. Hulu is planning its own launch later this year.
Would you pay for YouTube TV? Can YouTube TV revive paying for television, or will younger generations of watchers say “no thanks”?
Guest:
Klint Finley, writer covering telecommunications and internet service providers for Wired Business; he’s been following the story
Answering everything you’ve ever wanted to know about twins
You’d be surprised how many people believe that twins can read each other’s minds, or that there’s always one good twin and one evil twin.
Those might be some of the more outlandish myths about twins, but there are plenty of widely-held beliefs about twins that aren’t entirely true. Those myths and misconceptions are examined and debunked in Dr. Nancy L. Segal’s new book, “Twin Mythconceptions: False Beliefs, Fables, and Facts About Twins.”
A twin herself, Segal covers a wide variety of twin-related myths — do identical twins have identical fingerprints? Can dogs tell identical twins apart based on their body odors? And are first-born twins naturally more responsible than their second-born counterparts?
Dr. Segal answers these twinteresting questions, and many more, as she explores our fascination with twins and the crazy stories people have told about twins throughout history.
Guest:
Dr. Nancy L. Segal, Professor of Psychology at Cal State Fullerton and Director of the Twin Studies Center. She is the author of the book, “Twin Mythconceptions: False Beliefs, Fables, and Facts About Twins” (Academic Press, 2017)