Rainy weather has sparked severe concern regarding mudslides in fire-affected areas. We update you on how Southern California is fairing through this wet bout and discuss how to stay safe when traveling the roads. We also debate Apple's responsibility regarding childhood phone addiction; whether or not you still pay your grown childrens' bills; and more.
After the fires comes the rain: How burnt areas are dealing with the storm
Santa Barbara County officials report two people in Montecito have been killed by mudslides. Rescues are underway.
The 101 is completely closed from just north of Ventura to the Santa Barbara city limits. There’ve been evacuations below the Creek Fire burn areas in the northeast San Fernando Valley and the Fish Fire in Duarte.
AirTalk checks in on how different areas ravished by the fires are dealing with the storm.
Guests:
Sharon McNary, KPCC reporter covering infrastructure; she’s reporting from Kagel Canyon
Amber Anderson, public information officer for the City of Santa Barbara
Capt. Stan Zeigler, public information officer for Ventura County
Lance Orozco, news director with KCLU, our sister NPR station covering Ventura County; he is in Carpentaria covering the storm’s impact
Chris Ipsen, public information officer for Emergency Management Department for the City of Los Angeles
Does Apple have a responsibility to curb mobile addiction in kids?
Two major Apple investors have urged the iPhone maker to take action to curb growing smartphone addiction among children, highlighting growing concern about the effects of gadgets and social media on youngsters.
New York-based Jana Partners LLC and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, or CalSTRS, said Monday in open letter to Apple that the company must offer more choices and tools to help children fight addiction to its devices.
In response to the letter, Apple has released a statement to the Wall Street Journal:
“We think deeply about how our products are used and the impact they have on users and the people around them,” the statement reads. “We take this responsibility very seriously and we are committed to meeting and exceeding our customers’ expectations, especially when it comes to protecting kids.”
Yesterday, former Apple executive and co-designer of the iPhone Tony Fadell wrote a series of tweets discussing the problem and proposing solutions, for both Apple and users. Here are three of his ten tweets:
7/10
— Tony Fadell (@tfadell) January 8, 2018
Apple Watches, Google Phones, Facebook, Twitter - they’ve gotten so good at getting us to go for another click, another dopamine hit. They now have a responsibility & need to start helping us track & manage our digital addictions across all usages - phone, laptop, TV etc. https://t.co/wWBQNMdsYK
9/10
— Tony Fadell (@tfadell) January 8, 2018
They need to give access to that information to 3rd-party apps, so that we can manage & limit our time on them, control notifications, etc. There will a lot of great startups that will create useful tools to help us become balanced - digital & analog - again… https://t.co/wWBQNMdsYK
10/10
— Tony Fadell (@tfadell) January 8, 2018
With (or without) these tools, it’s up to us to act:
Screen time rules, living in the moment, screen-free meals, relearning analog objects like books & writing & sketching, tech-free days for the family to be together. (And yes it’s ironic I’m tweeting this…) :) https://t.co/wWBQNMdsYK
Do you think the onus to curb iPhone addiction is on Apple or users? If you’re a parent, how do you limit your kids (or your own) phone use?
With files from Associated Press.
Guest:
Shira Ovide, technology columnist for Bloomberg Gadfly, Bloomberg’s opinion section; she tweets
AirTalk asks: When and how do you stop paying for your grown-up ‘kids’ bills?
It’s a new year, and one perennial resolution for many families is to save on cash.
As a parent, that cash could come from cutting off the financial umbilical cord for your mid-20-something kids.
But when is the right time to do it, and how? Is 25-years-old too old to still have parents pay for phone and car insurance bills? If your son or daughter asks for financial help and you say “No,” does that make you mean? What’s worked for you? What’s backfired?
We speak with a personal finance expert for tips and advice on how to help young adults transition into financial independence.
Call in with your stories and questions at 866-893-5722.
Guest:
Michelle Singletary, personal finance columnist for The Washington Post; her column, “The Color of Money,” is also nationally syndicated; she tweets
The flu is hitting CA hard this season. Here are things you need to know
Southern California emergency rooms are handling a deluge of flu patients.
Public health officials were optimistic this year’s vaccine would match up well with arriving strains. Regardless, a lot of folks are getting sick. The California Department of Health (CDPH) provided an update earlier today on the flu season this morning.
Larry speaks with Dr. James Watt, the chief at the Division of Communicable Disease Control at CDPH on what we know about this flu season.
Guest:
James Watt, MD, MPH, Chief, Division of Communicable Disease Control at the Center for Infectious Diseases with the California Department of Public Health
Put me in, job coach: advice for older workers looking for employment
December job numbers were released last week and the number of jobs added continued the trend of growth seen throughout 2017.
When we discuss employment numbers on AirTalk, we often get calls from older listeners who have been laid off and have difficulty finding work; listeners who don’t see employment number gains translating into their realities.
So we’ve brought on a career coach to discuss the specific barriers that face worker over the age of fifty, and what they can do to regain employment.
If you’re an older worker struggling to find work, call us with your questions. And if you were successful in re-entering the workforce, what did it take?
Call us at 866-893-5722.
Guest:
Marty Nemko, producer and host of “Work with Marty Nemko” on KALW, 91.7 FM, a public radio station in San Francisco; his upcoming book is “Careers for Dummies”
Fake news?! That’s old news. A look at the history of falsehoods and lies
Misinformation and deliberate deception have long been part of American culture, according to a new book.
“Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts and Fake News,” seeks to highlight cultural figures and events that date back more than three centuries to explain that the current “fake news” era isn’t a new phenomenon. Author Kevin Young takes readers on a historical journey from P.T. Barnum to Donald Trump to explain the nation’s long history of hoaxes.
Young furthers the conversation by incorporating racial anxieties and delusions which can sometime motivate these practices. Additionally, his book delves into why people want to believe in such fabrications.
Guest:
Kevin Young, author, “Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts and Fake News”; director, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library