CBS announced this morning that Stephen Colbert will replace David Letterman on "The Late Show." How will audiences react to Colbert's new gig? According to new analysis by the Pew Research Center, more women are becoming "stay at home moms." What is causing this increase? Is reading online impacting our ability to learn?
Nation! Stephen Colbert named the new host of 'The Late Show'
CBS announced that Stephen Colbert will become the new host of "Late Show," replacing David Letterman upon his retirement. The announcement created quite a buzz across social networks and media outlets, with both fans and critics chiming in.
CBS has not given any details on the creative direction of "Late Show" when Colbert takes over in 2015, but Colbert’s satirical conservative persona on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report has sparked controversy in the past.
Will Colbert appeal to viewers on both sides of the political fence? Will his past caricature of conservative political pundits alienate right-leaning viewers?
Guests:
Dominic Patten, Legal Editor and writer at Deadline, a news site covering Hollywood and the entertainment industry
Will Rahn, senior editor for The Daily Caller
OC Journalists Roundtable: San Onofre settlement called ‘theft’, Edison execs legally sell millions in stock days after proposed deal, and more
Reporters covering the OC beat join Larry to discuss the latest news concerning Orange County residents, including the proposed settlement for Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric customers. The deal would leave utility customers on the hook for over $3 billion in costs for replacement power caused by the San Onofre nuclear power plant shutdown. Ratepayer group calls the proposed deal “theft.”
We’ll also discuss the legal Edison stock sale initiated by two Edison executives just four days after the company announced the proposed agreement.
Plus, the Orange County district attorney’s office is in the hot seat for allegedly improperly disclosing evidence to five men convicted of murder and other serious offenses. The allegations raise the possibility of new trials for the inmates, and have already led to a second trial phase for accused murderer Scott Dekraai, who is accused of killing eight people at the Salon Meritage in Seal Beach in 2011.
Guests:
Ed Joyce, KPCC Orange County Reporter
Norberto Santana, Editor-in-Chief of the Voice of OC, a non-profit investigative news agency that covers Orange County government and politics
Teri Sforza, Columnist for the Orange County Register’s OC Watchdog blog
More women are becoming 'stay at home moms', but is it by choice?
For decades, the number of women who don’t work outside the home after having kids was on the decline and reached a modern-era low of 23 percent in 1999. But according to an analysis of government data by the Pew Research Center, that trend is starting to reverse itself. The number of "stay at home moms" reached 29 percent in 2012.
The data behind the increase paints a diverse picture of the women who are staying out of the workforce. Despite the attention brought by the so-called 'opt out' moms who chose not to work - the majority of women who stay at home with their kids are there because of a mix of societal and economic factors.
Among all mothers, the share who are the prototypical married mother with a working husband fell to 20% in 2012 from 40% in 1970. 'Opt out' moms make up an even smaller bunch - only 370,000 out of 316 million Americans are married women with a graduate degree and a household income above $75,000.
Today, stay at home moms are generally less educated and less well off than working mothers. A full third (34%) of stay at home moms are living in poverty, compared to 12% of working mothers.
Are more women choosing to stay at home with their kids or are they being priced out of the workforce by the high cost of childcare? Data from the U.S. Census shows that the average cost of childcare for working women with children under 15 went from $84 a week to $143 a week at the same time that wages for women have stagnated or plummeted.
How many moms are staying at home because they can not find a job? How is immigration impacting the trend of more moms staying at home?
Guest:
D’Vera Cohn, senior writer in social and demographic trends at the Pew Research Center
Is reading online affecting our ability to learn?
Digital devices have exploded onto the market in the past decade and they're already having a major impact on how humans read and absorb information.
Reading books and articles online or a tablet takes very different brain skills than reading an actual book on paper. It's a constant struggle to keep our eye focused as we're being bombarded by links, ads, short paragraphs and pop-ups.
So is it possible that the constant distractions are retraining our brains to absorb information differently?
Some reading experts say yes and are now concerned that our brains are being rewired to read differently. Our 'digital brains' are no longer primed to sit down with a thick classic novel and read with no distractions.
Americans spend more time online on desktop and mobile devices than ever. It's been estimated that US adults spent up to 5 hours a day online in 2013 -- up from three hours in 2010.
Do you find that increased time online is having an impact on your ability to read and absorb information? What impact is this type of reading having on our brains? Does our reading comprehension level change when reading on paper versus a digital device?
Guest:
Andrew Dillon, dean of the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin
Family rescued at sea arrives in San Diego greeted by criticism
A family who required a rescue at sea after their one year old daughter became seriously ill is being criticized for taking her and her three-year-old sister out on a long sailing expedition.
Eric and Charlotte Kaufman’s smallest child, Lyra, had been treated for salmonella just weeks before the family set sail around the round-the-world. Just two weeks into the trip, she began suffering from a rash and high temperature.
Worried about her symptoms, nine hundred miles off the coast of Mexico and unable to steer their ship, the Kaufmans decided to call for emergency help. After a complicated and expensive rescue operation, the Kaufman’s returned to San Diego safely on Wednesday, greeted by harsh criticism and questions about whether their decision to take their small children on the voyage was unwise.
Were the Kaufmans negligent when they set sail with a sick young daughter? Are lifestyle choices such as this beneficial for child development? Or are long sailing trips just too dangerous for young children?
Guest
Jennifer Medina, Reporter for The New York Times
Does online shopping spell an end of an era for traditional American malls?
American malls are palaces of consumerism, but those of us who have visited the Americana or the Grove know them as a bit more than just that.
Sure, they are a one-stop destination where you can get the latest in fashion and whatever else your heart desires, but they are also social spaces where people can gather and hang out without having to necessarily open their wallets. Take for instance, the legion of septuagenarians that use the Glendale Galleria on Sunday mornings as the location for their leisurely strolls.
This very American invention is under threat. Rick Caruso, the California mall magnate behind the Grove and the Americana, sounded the alarm in January at the national Retail Federation’s annual convention in New York.
“Within ten to fifteen years, the typical U.S. mall, unless it is completely reinvented, will be a historical anachronism—a sixty-year aberration that no longer meets the public’s needs, the retailers’ needs, or the community’s needs,” he said.
Online shopping is largely to blame. Online sales hit 6 percent of total retail spending in the fourth quarter of 2013, nearly double since 2006.
Are malls really going the way of dinosaurs? When was the last time you shopped at a mall? For avowed online shoppers, is there anything a mall can do to bring you back?
Guest:
Lisa Cavanaugh, Assistant Professor of Marketing at the USC Marshall School of Business