Two more Cabinet members have been appointed by President-elect Donald Trump: retired Marine General James Mattis as Secretary of Defense, and former GOP presidential rival Dr. Ben Carson as Secretary of Housing; we take a closer look at the Oakland fire and its implications for a larger housing problem in California; plus, why conspiracy theories have continued to feed into the 2016 political climate?
AirTalk politics: What Trump’s new cabinet appointees bring to the White House
It’s been a busy week for President-elect Trump and his transition team as the days tick down until his inauguration as President of the United States.
Last Thursday, Trump announced during a post-election rally that he’d be naming retired Marine General James Mattis as his Secretary of Defense. Then, on Monday, Trump named his former GOP presidential rival Dr. Ben Carson as Secretary of Housing. We’ll look at the qualifications of each and what policies might change in their respective departments.
As President-elect Trump continues to fill his cabinet with millionaires and billionaires, we’ll take a look at what it could mean to have a cabinet full of very rich people with little to no government experience.
Plus, the effect Mr. Trump’s Friday call to the president of Taiwan may have on U.S.-China relations and why some are concerned about other calls he’s made to controversial world leaders, including Kazakhstan and Pakistan.
Guests:
Pete Peterson, dean of the School of Public Policy and executive director of The Davenport Institute at Pepperdine University
Bill Burton, Democratic political strategist with SKD Knickerbocker and former deputy White House press secretary in the Obama Administration; he tweets
How Ben Carson at HUD could impact Los Angeles housing
In his latest cabinet member choice, President-elect Trump surprised many when he tapped former GOP presidential rival Dr. Ben Carson for Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The announcement, which came Monday morning, is a continuation of Trump’s theme of appointing cabinet members who have little to no government or policy-making experience. Dr. Carson, a noted neurosurgeon who surged early on in the 2016 election polls before suspending his campaign in March. The appointment comes about a week after one of Carson’s top advisers was quoted as saying that Dr. Carson himself was tentative about accepting a cabinet position because of his lack of government experience.
On AirTalk, we'll discuss and debate how a new administration could impact housing policy in Southern California. For more on this story from the Associated Press, click here.
Correction: During the on-air interview, it was said at least once that Dr. Carson spent time living in public housing during his childhood. Information that has come to light since this interview aired shows that Dr. Carson did not live in public housing.
Guests:
Edward J. Pinto, Resident Fellow and Codirector of AEI's International Center on Housing Risk; the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) is a D.C. think tank focused on free enterprise
Raphael Bostic, Judith and John Bedrosian Chair in Governance and the Public Enterprise at USC’s Price School of Public Policy; he spent three years in the Obama Administration as the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Oakland fire could be a symptom of larger housing problem in California
As the death toll continues to climb, now at 36, in the tragic Oakland fire on Friday night, fire officials have temporarily halted search effort because the building has been deemed too unsafe and unstable for emergency workers.
The 10,000-square-foot warehouse, locally known as “the Ghost Ship,” was filled with artist collectives. Besides serving as a party and concert venue, the space also housed multiple residents. Cramped in a small, crowded area, tenants of this building reflect a larger problem of urbanization in California - a lack of affordable housing.
Guest host Patt Morrison checks in with Ben Metcalf, director of California Department of Housing and Community Development and Maria Poblet, Executive Director at Causa Justa:: Just Cause, on the coding, zoning and affordability issues in our state.
Guests:
Ben Metcalf, Director of California Department of Housing and Community Development
María Poblet, Executive Director at Causa Justa:: Just Cause, organization that focuses on assisting low-income Bay area residents
From Echo to Siri, why AI-based voice recognition is the new big thing in tech
Voice-recognition based AI is proving to be the next frontier for big tech development.
It's part of a growing field called conversational computing. The goal? To design voices in our devices that have the ability to act as the perfect personal secretaries, companions and assistants.
Since phone hardware isn't changing drastically, developers are putting their energy into this new field of tech. This might sound familiar to the automated voice in the iPhone; Apple's Siri has actually fallen behind competitors like Amazon, Google and Facebook; Amazon's "Echo" is extremely popular; and Google is focusing a lot of energy on the AI in its first smartphone, Pixel - which has an assistant built in.
But what, exactly, are designers doing behind the scenes? And how are they creating versions of Siri that are more intuitive, intelligent, and personalized?
Guests:
David Pierce, senior writer at WIRED, who has written about voice recognition tech and AI
Stacey Gray, Policy Counsel at Future of Privacy Forum, a non-profit organization that focuses on emerging tech and privacy. She has written extensively about voice activation tech and privacy concerns
How 2016's anti-establishment fervor is feeding conspiracy theories
On Sunday, a man entered a Washington pizza shop to “self investigate” a false conspiracy theory that the restaurant was a front for a child abuse ring led by Hillary Clinton, as reported by the Washington Post.
From claims that election polls oversampled Democrats in order to favor Hillary Clinton to arguments that Standing Rock isn’t being covered because the oil industry controls the media, conspiracy theories abound in 2016, stoked, perhaps, by anti-establishment sentiment, over-exposure and the insulated bubbles of the world wide web.
AirTalk talks with Joseph Uscinski and Michael Shermer about the psychology behind conspiracy theories and why people buy them.
What do you think makes conspiracy theories attractive in the current political climate? Which theories have you heard?
Guests:
Joseph Uscinski, a professor in Political Science at the University of Miami, and co-author of the book, “American Conspiracy Theories” (Oxford University Press, 2014)
Michael Shermer, author of “The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies – How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths” (Henry Holt/Times Books/Macmillan); founding publisher of Skeptic magazine