Many homeowners are rushing to prepay their property taxes before the tax overhaul kicks in. But the Internal Revenue Service has just announced that only some prepayments could be deducted. We'll discuss. Plus, a look at the state of talk therapy, and an interview with local band Chicano Batman.
Should CA homeowners prepay property taxes to avoid the new deduction limit?
One of the controversial provisions of the newly passed tax bill that will affect many California homeowners is the $10,000 cap on local and state tax deductions.
The new limit has spurred people to pay their 2018 property taxes early, in the hopes that they can still use those federal deductions before the tax-overhaul. The Los Angeles County tax collector has seen a marked increase in both online and mail-in payments in the last few weeks – an increase of 300 percent.
The IRS said Wednesday that those who prepaid their taxes might still have to follow the new deduction limit, although there are exceptions.
Should homeowners pay their property taxes early? How is the L.A. County tax collector dealing with the confusion and influx of payments?
Guests:
Joseph Kelly, LA County Treasurer and Tax Collector
Michael Di Pietro, a certified public accountant based in Pasadena
‘How does that make you feel?’ One psychologist’s quest to save traditional talk therapy
In today’s world of same-day delivery, fast-casual dining, and a seemingly perpetual expectation of instant gratification, there are some things for which a quick fix may not be the most prudent way to go. Psychotherapist Enrico Gnaulati says therapy is one of them.
In his new book “Saving Talk Therapy,” Dr. Gnaulati breaks down what he says is a migration away from traditional talk therapy, thanks in large part to things like the prevalent use and availability of psychotropic drugs and the ever-shifting landscape of our current health insurance market have worked against traditional talk therapy -- sitting down with patients and talking about their emotions, feelings, and how they influence the way we perceive our world and the decisions we make every day.
AirTalk fill-in host Alex Cohen sits down with Dr. Gnaulati to talk about why psychotherapy has moved away from its traditional, emotionally-rooted beginnings and whether we can expect a return to those roots in the future.
Guest:
Dr. Enrico Gnaulati, clinical psychologist based in Pasadena and author of “Saving Talk Therapy: How Health Insurers, Big Pharma, and Slanted Science are Ruining Good Mental Health Care” (Beacon Press, 2018)
Why iPhone users are suing Apple over battery life, and their chances of success
Last week, Apple admitted to doing something that had long been considered a conspiracy theory: slowing down older model iPhones in their intermittent software updates to preserve battery life. Now, they’re facing backlash from consumers who are upset that the company wasn’t more transparent about its actions.
iPhone users in three states have filed at least nine class-action lawsuits against Apple over the slowdown. Some who upgraded their devices after updating to new versions of iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system, say they would’ve just replaced their phone’s battery if they had known it was to blame for the slowdown and that the company’s actions fraudulently pushed customers to buy the newer, more expensive iPhone. One of the suits argues that Apple broke an implied contract by slowing the phones down, arguing that when a consumer buys an iPhone, he or she is doing so with the assumption that Apple isn’t going to mess with the phone’s “usage or value.” The news broke last week after independent bloggers and Reddit users conducted their own speed tests of the iPhone and presented the findings to Apple.
If you’re an iPhone user or Apple customer, does this change your opinion of the company? Does replacing the battery actually solve the problem? And what will the plaintiffs have to prove in order to be successful? How will Apple argue against them?
Guest
Brian X. Chen, lead consumer technology writer and author of the ‘Tech Fix’ column for The New York Times; he tweets
That $500 million home for sale in LA
Housing prices keep going up in Southern California, making homeownership out-of-reach for many Angelenos.
As the city and state tackle the housing crunch and affordable housing issues, one of the most expensive homes in America is on the market right here in L.A.
It’s a behemoth in Bel-Air that features 20 bedrooms -- the largest one clocks in at 5,500 sq ft, four swimming pools, and a commercial-size beauty salon.
And the asking price? Just $500 million dollars.
Would a listing like this change the high-end real estate game in L.A.? Could this spur a nuclear arms race of over-the-top houses? Who might actually buy such an expensive building?
Guests
Candace Jackson, journalist and author of the NY Times piece looking at the $500-million Bel-Air house
Alice Kimm, architect and cofounder of LA-based architecture firm, JFAK
Brent Chang, co-founder and estate director of Compass Real Estate, Pasadena; they specialize in luxury properties in the eastside of Los Angeles
Chicano Batman: on their recent success, cleaning green rooms and breaking free of the ‘Latino time slot’
If you’re into soul, psychedelia, Latin rock or tropicalia, Chicano Batman has the 70's-inspired sound for you.
The Los Angeles-based band is coming up on its ten-year anniversary in 2018, and two of its four members – Eduardo Arenas and Bardo Martinez – joined us in-studio.
So who, exactly, is Chicano Batman? "It was pretty much Bardo's brainchild," said Arenas. "In the beginning he had a bunch of comics and sketches of what Chicano Batman looked like, and it was essentially a regular dude, a little mustache, muscle shirt, cut off Dickies and a mask. It was kind of provocative saying that Bruce Wayne was just could be our neighbor."
We talk to Arenas and Martinez about their influences, fighting the stereotypes that come with the territory of being a "Latino" band and what they're looking forward to next year.
Chicano Batman will be playing shows at the Ventura Theater on December 29, The Observatory North Park on December 30 and the Fox Theater on December 31. For more information on their tour, click here.
Guests:
Eduardo Arenas, bass guitar player and singer for Chicano Batman
Bardo Martinez, lead singer, organist and guitar player for Chicano Batman