We look at what happened over the weekend and what's likely to come in the near future; the Journal of the American Medical Association says our location could affect our life expectancy more than our income; and the host of KPCC's Morning Edition and his wife Felicia Friesema have found strength and support in online communities.
AirTalk election 2016: Candidates gin up support in New York with primary a week out
It was a weekend for the underdogs as Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz both bolstered their delegate counts with victories out west.
Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton in Wyoming, splitting the delegates for that state. Meanwhile, Donald Trump came up short in Colorado’s Republican primary convention as Ted Cruz scooped up all 21 delegates in that race.
With the New York primary coming up next Tuesday and big implications for the frontrunners, both of whom call the Empire State home, we check in with a couple of political analysts for what to expect this week in politics.
Guests:
Paris Dennard, Republican political analyst and former staffer for President George W. Bush and the Republican National Committee; currently serving as the legislative director of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund; he tweets from
Angela T. Rye, a democratic analysis and CEO of IMPACT Strategies, a DC-based political consulting and government relations firm
Amped up importance of pledged delegates in California Primary
The continued competitiveness between Democratic presidential hopefuls Sen. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton has inspired more participation among California Democrats vying to be pledged delegates.
Each congressional district needs a number of delegates chosen to represent their candidate - depending on the results of the June 7 primary - at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this July.
The deadline to apply to be a Democratic delegate is coming up on Wednesday, April 13, then on May 1 are caucuses in each district to elect the delegates. (The deadline for Republican delegates is May 31.)
What are pledged delegates anticipating for the coming convention process?
For a visual breakdown of California’s delegate counts, visit this KQED story.
Guests:
Jessica Levinson, Professor of Law, at Loyola Law School. Her areas of specialty are election law and governance issues; she tweets from
Ulisses Sanchez, Candidate to be a Pledged Delegate for the 34th Congressional District for Hillary Clinton; the 34th includes Boyle Heights, Downtown Los Angeles, Monterey Hills, and more (Representative Xavier Becerra - D)
Nathan Fisher, Candidate to be a Pledged Delegate for the 28th Congressional District for Bernie Sanders; the 28th includes Burbank, West Hollywood, Silver Lake, and more (Representative Adam Schiff - D)
California Primary Delegates
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Want to live longer? It's not just how much you make, it's where you live
A new study from the Journal of the American Medical Association confirms what a lot of analyses have already shown: The wealthy live longer lives.
But the report also offers this twist: The life expectancy of the poor varies wildly depending on where they live.
Researchers at Harvard, MIT and other institutions pored over 1.4 billion records from the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service for the study. They found that low-income people in certain parts of Nevada or Oklahoma live shorter lives than low-income people in wealthier states like California or New York.
The authors haven't come up with reasons to explain the link.
Guests:
Michael Stepner, co-author of the study published in JAMA, titled “The Association Between Income and Life Expectancy in the United States, 2001-2014”. He is a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Michael Cannon, director of healthcare policy studies at CATO Institute
LA City Council to vote on controversial environmental pilot program for Boyle Heights, Pacoima, Wilmington
After years in the development, a new pilot program hopes to address the cumulative health impacts created by a community’s total exposure to industrial sources, but business feels it could place undue burdens on small business owners in the area.
Clean Up Green Up, an initiative recently approved by the Los Angeles City Council Planning and Land Use Management Committee, has chosen for this pilot the low-income neighborhoods of Boyle Heights, Pacoima and Wilmington, where residents suffer adverse health effects related to concentrations of industrial uses and freight traffic.
The model establishes improved development standards for new and expanding industrial operations that have the potential to increase pollution in local neighborhoods and includes a carrot-and-stick approach, offering support for local business owners who work hard to keep their businesses clean and green.
Policymakers believe Clean Up Green Up could work in other heavily-polluted Los Angeles communities. However the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce opposes the measure along with the Los Angeles County Business Federation and others. We talk with both sides about what the gains and unintended consequences of the program could be for these communities.
The City Council votes Wednesday.
Guests:
Ruben Gonzales, Senior Advisor. Strategic Affairs, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Mercedes Ortiz, Lead Community Organizer for Pacoima Beautiful, a local environmental organization that’s been instrumental in advocating for Clean Up Green Up
How ‘helicopter parenting’ impacts college students entering the workforce
Parents who become too involved in their kids’ transition from college-to-career could be doing more harm than good.
“Helicopter parenting” has become a new way to describe well-meaning parents who interfere with many aspects of their children’s lives. It can mean anything from breaking up little ones’ disagreements during playdates to doing their homework for them well into high school and college. This type of parenting has become so popular, companies have even tried to accommodate their millennial employees, the generation this term was coined for, by hosting “Bring In Your Parents Day.”
“Helicopter parents” are usually described as those with the time and money to spend problem-solving for their kids. But raising children this way can hinder them from gaining skills to cope with life on their own, such as fighting their own battles or taking constructive criticism at school or work. For sheltered college students, it also means experiencing overwhelming anxiety over making a career choice.
While there are a number of reasons why college students have trouble deciding on a career, those that have been protected from the learning experiences of making their own mistakes have added pressure to succeed, fueling a fear of failure in the workplace that’s surpassed previous generations.
To squash the angst their kids may have over not getting the job, many of parents are turning to private career coaching companies with a hefty price tag. This will hopefully give their children an edge over the competition and a return on the investment in a university.
So when is it best to give kids guidance and when should parents let go? Does the best parenting happen from a distance?
Guests:
Lori Shreve Blake, Senior Director of Alumni and Student Career Services at USC
Laura Pappano, writer in residence at the Wellesley College Centers for Women and author of the New York Times article, “Career Coaching for the Playdate Generation.”