Today on the show, we discuss the new migrant facilities in Long Beach and San Diego. Also on the show, we go over the latest COVID-19 news; analyze how national and local media cover mass shootings; and more.
COVID-19: Anti-Parasite Drug Gaining Traction But There Are Skeptics, Plus Are Vaccines Working Against Variants?
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the UCSF Medical Center.
Today’s topics include:
COVID-19 vaccines working well against CA variant
WaPo: variants will define the next pandemic phase
Experts split on CA June 15 reopening
CA expecting significant decrease in vaccination supply
Cal State LA allows all adults to stand in line for vaccine
Anti-parasite drug gaining support as treatment for COVID-19. Should we be skeptical?
Report: coronavirus pandemic is largest global disruption since WWII
Brazil’s president won’t implement lockdowns. What are the implications?
Guest:
Peter Chin-Hong, M.D., infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the UCSF Medical Center; he tweets
The Media On Mass Shootings: What Gets Covered, What Gets Overlooked And the Gulf Between Public Perception And Reality
A recent spate of mass shootings that gained national media attention has also meant renewed critique of the way national and local media covers shootings - including reliance on police and perpetrator narratives and how and why some shootings get covered while others are deemed not of national interest.
So how do those behind-the-scenes editorial decisions get made? How does the media’s focus on certain types of shootings influence the public’s perceptions of violence in the U.S.? And what is the gulf between the reality of violence and the media narrative?
Guests:
Kelly McBride, media ethicist, senior vice president of the Poynter Institute and NPR's public editor; she tweets
Elinore Kaufman, M.D., assistant professor of trauma surgery and firearm injury researcher in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
San Diego And Long Beach Convention Centers Are Being Converted To House Unaccompanied Migrant Children
The Long Beach City Council unanimously approved a plan Tuesday night to convert the city's convention center into a temporary shelter for up to 1,000 unaccompanied migrant children.
The site will be run by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and FEMA. The agencies have already set up similar shelters at convention centers in San Diego and Dallas because of overcrowding at Border Patrol facilities.
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said the goal will be to reunite children with their family members or sponsors in the U.S. He also made a plea for compassion.
Read more on LAist.
Meanwhile, early data for March suggests that the U.S. is experiencing record high numbers of unaccompanied children and teenagers at the border. We discuss how the Biden administration is approaching the situation, and the planned conditions for the facility in Long Beach.
Guests:
Jordan Fabian, white house correspondent for Bloomberg News; he tweets
Cindy Allen, councilwoman representing District 2 in Long Beach, where the Long Beach Convention Center is located; she introduced the motion to convert the convention center into a temporary shelter
Lindsay Toczylowski, executive director of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center in Southern California, which represents people who would otherwise face immigration judges alone, including unaccompanied minors; she tweets
New Subatomic Particle Discoveries Could Change The Rules Physicists Use To Understand The Universe
New research from the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FermiLab) in Illinois has found that a tiny subatomic particle appears to be disobeying the laws of physics, which could open up a host of new questions about the nature of our universe.
The early findings suggest that “there are forms of matter and energy vital to the nature and evolution of the cosmos that are not yet known to science,” writes Dennis Overbye, in a recent piece in the New York Times. Hundreds of physicists have been operating an experiment out of FermiLab that centers on muons, particles that are similar to electrons, though heavier. When muons were shot through a magnetic field, scientists observed that they did not behave as expected— a mystery that raises the question of what muons were reacting to. Although the findings do not quite rise to the level of a discovery, they do have the attention of the physics community.
Today on AirTalk, we’re learning more about muons and what current research might reveal about the laws of physics. Questions? Give us a call at 866-893-5722.
Guests:
Dennis Overbye, science reporter for The New York Times and author of the recent piece “Finding From Particle Research Could Rewrite Known Laws of Physics”
Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist at Caltech; he tweets
After A Year Working From Home, How Californians Are Preparing (Or Trying To Reinvent) Their Long Commute
There are plenty of things we've been forced to go without during the last year -- seeing friends and family in-person, going out with friends and coworkers, live events like sports, music, theater and more. But for many Southern Californians who endured long daily commutes to and from work before the pandemic forced some professionals to work from home, they're welcoming having the time they might have otherwise spent sitting in traffic for other things. But as more shots go into arms and it becomes safe to return to the office environment, many of us will have to resume our daily commutes.
Today on AirTalk, we want to hear from you -- if you've been working from home since the start of the pandemic and you'll have to be commuting again soon, how are you approaching it? Are you looking at alternatives to resuming that commute? Join our live conversation by calling us at 866-893-5722.