U.S. gets an 'F' on bioterror response. The future of American rail travel. How will independent voters influence the 2010 midterms? And writer T.C. Boyle discusses "Wild Child," his new collection of stories.
White House gets 'F' on bioterror response
A congressional panel gave the U.S. government an ‘F’ for its ability to prepare for and respond to a biological attack. The report pointed to the government’s delayed response to last year’s H1N1 influenza outbreak and early vaccine shortage, and expressed concern for the country’s ability to protect from the threat of biological weapons. President Obama is expected to announce a new bioterrorism-response plan in his State of the Union address tomorrow evening.
Guests:
Jim Talent, Vice-Chairman of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation. He is a Distinguished Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, and a former Senator representing Missouri
Peter Katona, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Member of the LA County Task Force on Health Services Preparedness for Bioterrorism. He co-founded Biological Threat Mitigation, a bioterror consulting firm.
Brian Michael Jenkins, Senior Advisor to the President of the Rand Corporation and one of the nation’s leading experts on terrorism and homeland security. He is the author of "Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?"
Passenger rail USA: an exercise in patience
Train service in Europe and Japan can be fast, reliable and frequent. But in the U.S., intercity rail travel is the step-child of transportation. In many places, scheduled travel times are actually slower than they were 50 years ago. And service is unreliable and infrequent. How did the U.S. passenger rail system get into such a sorry state? And what can be done to improve it? James McCommons set out to answer these questions in “Waiting on a Train,” a book about his journeys on Amtrak that includes interviews with rail planners, advocates and experts around the country.
Guests:
James McCommons, author of "Waiting on a Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service, a Year Spent Riding Across America" (Chelsea Green Publishing)
Ross Capon, Executive Director, National Association of Railroad Passengers
The evolution of independent voters
Barack Obama and the Democrats succeeded in the 2008 election in part by appealing to independent voters frustrated with the financial crisis and the leaders in office. But with continued anxiety over the economy and government, will independents turn on the current administration and shift their support for the 2010 midterms? Republican Scott Brown’s upset Senate victory last week put the Democratic Party’s majority in question. What defines independents, and how can Democrats and Republicans win their vote in November?
Guests:
Doyle McManus, Washington Columnist for the Los Angeles Times
Andrew Kohut, President of the Pew Research Center
LA City Council approves medical marijuana ordinance
The LA City Council voted today to restrict storefront pot shops in the City of Los Angeles. The ordinance caps the total number of medical marijuana dispensaries at 70, plus up to 140 collectives that will be grandfathered into the system. Larry gets the details from the City Attorney's office.
Guest:
Jane Usher, Special Assistant to LA City Attorney Carmen Trutanich; wrote the draft ordinance passed today.
T.C. Boyle's Wild Child
A feral boy, a Venezuelan major league ball player, a cloned dog, and rodents galore populate the pages of T.C. Boyle’s new collection of stories, Wild Child. The author of last year’s The Women explores the murky boundary between humans and animals, raising fundamental questions: Who masters whom? How civilized are we? Do our minds and souls make us human? Or are we merely animals who get caught in traffic jams? Larry Mantle confers with T.C. Boyle.
T.C. Boyle will be speaking and signing his new book tonight, January 26, at 7pm at ALOUD at the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles. More information here.
Guest:
T.C. Boyle, author, Wild Child: and Other Stories (Viking)