AirTalk's political experts forecast the next 100 days of the presidential election; you share your most outlandish, absurd, and unforgettable summer job stories & we look ahead to the deluge of bills to be expected in Sacramento before California lawmakers head out on vacation.
AirTalk election 2016: What to watch for with 100 days left until the election
With the political conventions in the books and the nominees official, it’s all eyes on the prize in the race for the White House.
With 100 days left until voters cast their ballots, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will make their final push in battleground states that could be the key to winning in November.
Coming off the Democratic National Convention last week, Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers got a jolt. A CBS News poll taken after the DNC shows 46 percent of voters nationwide say they would vote for Hillary Clinton while 39 percent say they’d vote for Donald Trump. In a poll taken after the Republican National Convention ended, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump had 42 percent support among voters nationwide.
Meanwhile, Arizona Senator John McCain has joined the chorus of voices chiding Donald Trump for his comments about the family of a Muslim-American Army captain who was killed in Iraq. After Khizr Khan gave a speech last week at the DNC which lambasted Trump on immigration and accused him of having “sacrificed nothing and no one,” Trump responded by criticizing the Khan’s in TV interviews and on Twitter, asking why Mrs. Khan didn’t say anything and suggesting that she wasn’t allowed to (she has said in an interview that it’s too difficult for her to speak about her dead son in public).
Guests:
John Iadarola, co-creator and co-host of the daily infotainment talk show ‘ThinkTank,’ which is part of The Young Turks Network; he’s also the main political fill in host for online news show The Young Turks
Bill Whalen, research fellow with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University
AirTalk asks: What was your first summer job?
With more and more teens turning to the on-demand economy for summer work, plus the increasing inviablilty of paying your way through school, the summer job’s changed a lot in the past few years.
As many students struggle to land their dream internship, Generation Z is under heightened pressure to spend time off from school building that perfect resume.
Still, summer jobs remain the source of some of the most outlandish, absurd, and unforgettable workplace stories. Airtalk wants to hear yours.
What was your first summer job? What was the most memorable moment, and what did you learn?
Guest:
Lori Shreve Blake, Senior Director of Alumni and Student Career Services at USC
Issues to watch as California’s legislative session comes to a close
The window is closing on California’s two-year legislative session this month, and that will have lawmakers bombarded with bills to push through to the finish line.
But with what could be 1,500 bills on the table, which ones will make the final cut? According to a recent Los Angeles Times piece, issues such as climate change, affordable housing and marijuana legalization may be the most consequential for the state.
In addition, the Stanford rape case has also incited bills such as AB 701, which would make it mandatory for courts treat more sex crimes as rape.
Patt Morrison speaks to LA Times Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers on what bills are likely to come through at the end of this session.
Guest:
John Myers, L.A. Times Sacramento Bureau Chief; he tweets
Tips on getting along with hospital staff
When your loved ones end up in the hospital, it can be easy to expect the worst.
What if they get the wrong paperwork, medication, surgery -- the list goes on. And the “what ifs” can lead friends and family members to overstep their bounds with hospital staff.
Conversely, nurses may be more concerned with providing medical care than communicating with patients, a skill they may not have learned in nursing school.
But according to a Wall Street Journal article, that may be changing. Programs and workshops are cropping up to help nurses communicate with patients and their loved ones, and hospital staff have some recommendations on how to get the best care.
Guest host Patt Morrison spoke to Annette Sy about the ways you can get the best care from hospital staff without driving them (or yourself) crazy.
Interview highlights
What’s some basic advice for what people should do when dealing with nursing and hospital staff?
Annette Sy: We have many families that join patients at the Keck Medical Center, and they’re large families, all with good intentions. Many of those family members are calling and asking for updates for the patients. That could take the nurse away from focusing on other patients. So one suggestion I have, is always appoint one family member as your spokesperson. Then that family member communicates back to the rest of the family. I also see family members researching the internet a lot, then they get concerned and ask a lot of questions. Ask your questions early on in your loved one’s care. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Doctors and nurses are there to explain those answers.
What are some examples of patient or visitor behavior that’s too overbearing?
Challenging the medication or constantly asking questions about what the med is for, and then referring back to what they’ve researched on the internet [using “research”]. Patients spend five or 10 minutes Googling a certain medication and there’s a physician or pharmacist that’s spent years studying pharmacology. So just take that research in stride.
Patt also asked listeners to give tips or ask questions about their experiences staying with loved ones in the hospital.
Melinda in Brentwood had a tip about journal-keeping. She said a communal journal helped her family members keep track of questions and answers.
Melinda: With both my parents’ serious hospitalizations, we kept a notebook so that each of their children could write about what was going on, because you’re so overwhelmed and in shock, things can be said to you, but you don’t hear or remember it properly.
Linda in AirTalk's comments online asked about how to deal with rude nurses. She said her family wanted to complain about her father’s nurse when he was a patient, but they were concerned that saying something may make his father’s care worse, and wanted to know how she could have handled the situation better.
Sy: A family member should never fear retaliation for bringing up a concern. If you’re not feeling comfortable with a particular nurse, there’s always a charge nurse on duty that you can bring your concern to. Many times the charge nurse can simply change the assignment. If you feel that a charge nurse is not able to make that change on your request, a nurse manager is somebody else that’s a central party to take your concern to. Many hospitals also have a patient experience office that can also intervene.
A listener in Calabasas urged listeners to check the medical history of their loved ones as soon as they’re admitted:
The most important thing when entering the hospital, particularly if it’s through the emergency room, is to obtain medical records as quickly as possible. Either the patient, his next of kin or designated family member, should get a comprehensive medical history [and] review it right away. I was admitted to a hospital wrongly as a cardiac patient because a doctor had wrote that my nephew had died at a young age from a cardiac episode. ... I told him I have a family history of diabetes, not cardiac [problems]. $69,000 later, I can only say that patient history should be provided because your care is based upon the symptoms you present, your test results and family and personal medical history.
Guest:
Annette Sy, DNP, RN, Chief Nursing Officer, Keck Medical Center of USC
This story has been updated.
How ice cream truck jingles and their sometimes dark history have evolved
Even years into adulthood, the signature ice cream truck jingle can rekindle pleasant childhood memories.
"It’s all a matter of nostalgia, recognizing the tune, having the right tempo and having the right symmetry in the songs themselves. That is what’s familiar to us and that is what gets us running out into the streets to buy an ice cream cone," S.J. Velasquez, BBC.com producer, told Airtalk's Patt Morrison.
One of the most recognizable ice cream truck tunes, "Turkey in the Straw," dates back to the 19th century and has become synonymous with buying frozen treats from neighborhood vendors.
Velasquez said the timeless tunes have evolved over time to lure customers to these moving dessert dispensaries.
"It happened over time, it was a bit of an evolution," Velasquez said. "The first person to have been documented to have used any kind of a jingle is the Good Humor ice cream truck. They used sleigh bells, traditional sleigh bells right from the sled, and then that evolved. Eventually, a Good Humor salesman started using jingles, and over time, he started using different songs. The first jingle that we’re aware of, an actual tune that was cranked out in chimes, is an Eastern European song called “Stodola Pumpa.”
"Turkey in the Straw," "Pop Goes the Weasel" and "The Entertainer" are a few of the commonly recycled ice cream truck theme songs. Aside from their frequent usage, she said they do tend to share a universal formula that makes them ideal for ice cream vendors.
"I spoke to a man by the name of Dan Neely, he is the go-to guy when it comes to learning about anything ice cream truck-jingle related, and he said yes, there are key elements to the songs. They’re generally older songs, kiddie tunes that you might remember from kindergarten, they’re usually upbeat, have a repetitive symmetry and can be chopped down to a very short jingle and can be recognized within a few seconds," Velasquez said.
Sometimes these infantile and simple harmonies sometimes have a darker past. Very few people might be aware that the familiar "Turkey in the Straw's" has some association to minstrel songs.
"Yes, it does have some dark history to it. I asked a few of my sources for the story about the history of this particular tune, and they did defend the song — not the racist song that is referred to, but the older song. “Turkey in the Straw,” much like a lot of other minstrel songs, were not actually minstrel songs when they were first written. “Turkey in the Straw” is actually an updated version of an old Irish or English tune called, “The Old Rose Tree.” That was a very beautiful dance song that was co-opted," she said.
Whether you have a favorite ice cream truck tune that wasn't mentioned, or a memorable exchange with your childhood neighborhood vendor, share your comments with us in the discussion thread below.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
This story has been updated.
Guest:
S.J. Velasquez, Homepage and Features Producer, BBC.com; she tweets from