Gulf Coast oil spill: what environmental, economic and political damages will we incur? Grammy-winning jazz pianist Bill Cunliffe. Happy Meals ditch the toy. Achieving self-actualization through relentless data collection? Later, KPCC goes to the LA free clinic.
Gulf oil spill: environmental disaster
An oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is five times larger than previously thought, and threatens to reach the Louisiana coast by Friday. An estimated 5,000 barrels a day is pouring into the Gulf near the site of a British Petroleum rig that exploded last week, leaving 11 workers missing and presumed dead. As cleanup crews work to contain and burn off the oil that covers an area 600 miles wide, how will the spill affect the environment and fishing industry? And what will be the political impact on offshore drilling?
Guests:
Chris Kirkham, reporter with the Times-Picayune, New Orleans
Ralph Portier, Professor of Environmental Sciences and Toxicology, The School of the Coast & Environment at Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Donald M. Baltz, Professor and Chair of Oceonography and Coastal Sciences, The School of the Coast & Environment at Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Peter Lehner, Executive Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council
Kenneth Green, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute
Playboy Jazz Festival presents Bill Cunliffe
Larry talks with Grammy winning composer, arranger and jazz pianist, Bill Cunliffe about his career and his upcoming gig at the Playboy Jazz Festival in Beverly Hills on May 2nd.
Bill Cunliffe will be playing a free Playboy Jazz Festival event, this Sunday, May 2nd, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at the Beverly Hills Civic Center Plaza, 444 N. Rexford Drive.
Guest:
Bill Cunliffe, jazz pianist
UN-Happy Meals?
If you have kids, you know the deal. They want a McDonald’s Happy Meal and they want that toy inside. But what about the fat? And what about the salt? And what about the sugar in those desserts? Putting toys into food boxes is a long-held marketing tool of food retailers. But now Santa Clara County is banning the practice as a way to fight childhood obesity. Still, isn’t it the responsibility of parents to watch what their kids eat? And why shouldn’t children enjoy the occasional fast-food with a toy surprise inside? Where do you stand?
Wired to the max
With smart phones and tiny self-trackers like FitBit and DirectLife you can measure every movement and moment consumed – from time spent in REM sleep and calories ingested to mundane tasks like waiting in line and washing dishes – and learn how this knowledge affects your moods. Do we really need this much information about ourselves? How useful is it? And are the odd habits of self-tracking ultra-geeks the new normal? Wired magazine’s Gary Wolf tells us why numerical navel-gazing may soon displace linguistic forms of self-exploration.
Guests:
Gary Wolf, author of the upcoming New York Times Magazine cover story The Data-Driven Life; contributing editor for Wired, covering science and social issues
Margaret Morris, Clinical Psychologist and Senior Researcher, Digital Health Group, Intel Corporation
KPCC goes to the LA Free Clinic
Following a heavily-attended event last August, a massive mobile free clinic returned to Los Angeles on Tuesday for a weeklong operation at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Organized by Tennessee-based nonprofit Remote Area Medical, volunteer doctors, dentists, and health professionals are expected to treat 1,200 patients each day. Larry Mantle checks up with Alex Cohen on the attendance and care offered at the clinic.
Follow KPCC's coverage of Remote Area Medical's free clinic here
Guest:
Alex Cohen, KPCC host of All Things Considered, live at Remote Area Medical's LA Free Clinic