A lot happened over the long weekend. From DACA to California's gubernatorial race, we discuss the political highlights for the week. We also analyze recent allegations against Aziz Ansari; delve into Hawaii's false nuclear threat alert; and more.
Week in politics: How lawmakers will pass a deal to fund the government, what DACA has to do with it, and more
AirTalk’s political experts Matt Rodriguez and Sean T. Walsh preview the week to come in politics, including:
Continuing fallout from president's “sh*thole countries” comment
Senate Democrats pushing net neutrality resolution
House to debate bringing back earmarks
KPCC’s gubernatorial town hall from this weekend
Political fallout from House decision on FISA Section 702 last week (Senate expected to vote this week)
News that Bannon will have to testify before a grand jury on the Mueller investigation
Stormy Daniels saga
Guests:
Matt Rodriguez, Democratic strategist and founder and chief executive officer of Rodriguez Strategies; he is also a former senior Obama advisor in 2008; he tweets
Sean T. Walsh, Republican political analyst and partner at Wilson Walsh Consulting in San Francisco; he is a former adviser to California Governors Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger and a former White House staffer for Presidents Reagan and H.W. Bush
Mary Plummer, senior politics reporter at KPCC, who co-moderated the gubernatorial town hall with ABC7’s Marc Brown on Saturday
Hawaii missile alert fail: What went wrong and how to respond to future alerts?
On Saturday, Hawaii residents woke up to a frightening but false alert to seek immediate shelter from an inbound ballistic missile.
It took 38-minutes of pandemonium until an official correction report was issued.
Hawaii officials apologized to an enraged state that had to abandon cars on the highway and rush to call and find their loved ones. Many residents weren’t even sure of how to prepare for a missile attack, with some desperately huddling with their families in bathtubs and garages. In an original timeline, officials said that an emergency management employee hit a “wrong button,” but subsequent reports show the protocol for issuing emergency alerts in Hawaii is much more complicated.
The FCC has launched an investigation into the incident, with Chairman Ajit Pai stating that the mishap was “absolutely unacceptable” and undermines “public confidence in the alerting system and thus reduce their effectiveness during real emergencies.”
This morning, Japan also experienced a similar scare after broadcasting a false North Korea missile threat alert.
We get the latest on the story and also parse through how to respond to future alerts.
Guest:
Todd Frankel, reporter for the Washington Post who has been following the story; he tweets
What does the Aziz Ansari story tell us about modern sexual culture?
On Saturday, Babe.net published the account of a woman monikered as Grace who went on a date with comedian and actor Aziz Ansari. The story has sparked controversy about sexual ethics, the nature of consent and whether the outing of this incident is a continuation or a derailing of the #MeToo movement.
Some writers have come to the defense of Ansari, saying he wasn’t at fault for not understanding the nonverbal cues of his date and that she had the responsibility of clearly vocalizing her discomfort. Others have called the story indicative of a toxic sexual culture in which men are taught to pursue women, even if they resist, and women are taught to be polite and privilege the desires of men above their own.
We want to hear from you. What did you think of this incident? How does it sit in the #MeToo movement? What does it say about our sexual mores, and does it point to generational differences in approaching sex and consent?
Call us at 866-893-5722.
Guest:
Anna North, senior reporter at Vox covering gender; her recent piece is "The Aziz Ansari story is ordinary. That’s why we have to talk about it."
Future of food? There’s an app for that. How algorithms and the Internet of things might change cooking
Using recipes to cook is an idea that’s so 2000, at least according to some futurists that have turned their attention on how to life-hack cooking to make it a better, easier experience.
A recent piece published in the Washington Post takes a look at how some in the cooking business are creating mobile apps to help folks come up with what to eat for dinner, all customized to a given consumer’s taste and needs.
One app, from a startup called Innit, takes your dietary restrictions (Paleo or gluten-free, say) and takes a list of ingredients you have selected and will spit out all kinds of different recipes. What’s more, the app can also preheat your oven since it is (of course) connected to your smart appliances.
Larry talks with food futurist Sarah Smith about the innovations made possible by new technology in the world of cooking.
Guest:
Sarah Smith, research director at the Food Futures Lab at the Institute for the Future, a non-profit research group that helps organizations plan for the long-term future