The LA Times has been making headlines of its own recently, with the development of a new union and lots of shuffling around in its top positions – AirTalk walks you through the latest. We also give you the week’s news in politics ahead of Trump’s State of the Union address tomorrow; what’s a supertaster and how can you tell if you’re one of them?; and more.
Week in politics: Previewing Trump’s first State of the Union, how Congress might respond to POTUS’ reported attempt to fire Mueller, and more
AirTalk political analysts Caroline Heldman and Pete Peterson tackle the week ahead in politics, including:
FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe reportedly stepping down
State of the Union preview
The NYT report that Trump tried to have Mueller fired (and what Congress may do about it)
Deadline today for Trump to sign off on Russia sanctions
Devin Nunes’ classified memo and how the House could vote as early as today on whether to release it
Public appearance of the First Couple in the wake of the Stormy Daniels saga, and why it's newsworthy
Trump planning to sign doc to keep GITMO open
Davos recap
Guests:
Caroline Heldman, associate professor of politics at Occidental College and author of "Protest Politics in the Marketplace: Consumer Activism in the Corporate Age" (Cornell University Press, 2017); she tweets
Pete Peterson, dean of the School of Public Policy and senior fellow at The Davenport Institute at Pepperdine University; he tweets
Whether during the homeless count or in your daily work, how has working with the homeless changed your perceptions of homelessness?
The annual three-day Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count concluded last week, with a turnout of 8,608 volunteers who documented how many people they saw living in the streets.
The results of the count won’t be known until Spring, but today we’re asking listeners who participated in the count to share their experiences. In an interview with the New York Times, volunteer Margaret Ecker described the process of imagining where she might rest in the dark if she were homeless, saying it was “a surprising experience of intimacy...Exercising imagination to do that brought the whole thing much closer than walking past it, or signing a petition, or serving at a soup kitchen.”
If you participated in the homeless count this year, whether for umpteenth time or the first, what was your experience? If you work with the homeless, how have your interactions and perceptions about homelessness changed over time?
Call us at 866-893-5722.
Guest:
Keith Hendriksen, program manager at Union Station Homeless Services in Pasadena; he coordinated the professional teams for Pasadena’s Homeless Count last Wednesday
New editor, allegations of ‘union-busting’ and rumors of a ‘shadow newsroom’: what’s going on at the LA Times?
Chicago journalist Jim Kirk has been named editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times.
Kirk will replace Lewis D’Vorkin, former Forbes chief product officer who had only manned the Times since October. The change comes on the heels of a newsroom unionization vote and reported tension between D’Vorkin and staff members, and years of management shifts and staff cutbacks. D’Vorkian is moving on to become the chief content officer of Tronc, the Times’ parent company. But Kirk’s new appointment isn’t being met with open arms. He’s a former publisher and editor at the Chicago Sun-Times and was briefly named the L.A. Times editor in late August.
In related news, there are a few pieces out over the weekend alleging that Tronc is looking for ways to marginalize the newly unionized newsroom at the Times, including reportedly building a “shadow” newsroom filled with non-unionized writers.
We reached out to the LA Times management for comments, but they did not respond to our request for comment before our on-air deadline. Here is a statement released from Tronc, Inc., the Times’ parent company:
Tronc Names Editor-In-Chief in Los Angeles Times and New York Daily News by Southern California Public Radio on Scribd
Guests:
Bettina Boxall, water issue and environmental reporter for the Los Angeles Times; she is a member of the L.A. Times Guild organizing committee; she tweets
Jim Newton, public policy lecturer at UCLA and former Los Angeles Times reporter, editor, columnist and bureau chief; he was with the Times for 25 years; he tweets
Under CA proposal, farm, service workers without legal US residency could get work permits
State lawmakers have introduced a bill aiming to help create a work permit program for farmworkers and service industry employees who are not legal U.S. residents.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the bipartisan Assembly Bill 1885 was announced in Sacramento press conference on Wednesday by Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), Assemblywoman Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) and Assemblyman Devon Mathis (R-Visalia). Garcia said the proposal would bring more agriculture workers amid a labor shortage due to heightened federal immigration enforcement.
The assembly members would create a group to develop the program model, which would have to be submitted to the governor. The model would then be sent as a formal request to the federal government, or return to the state Legislature to be applied.
Larry speaks to a supporter and critic for a debate on the proposal.
Guests:
Devon Mathis, Republican Assemblymember representing California’s 26th District, which encompasses the southeastern parts of the Central Valley; he is one of the co-authors of AB 1885
Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies
What’s a supertaster and how can you tell if you’re one of them?
It’s not quite a superpower, but about a quarter of humans experience taste more intensely – and they’re known as supertasters.
Whether you’re a supertaster is directly related to how many papillae are on your tongue. Papillae are those little bumps on your tongue that are home to the bundles of cells that are your taste buds.
There are a few ways to determine whether you fall into this supercategory. One of them include wine and a piece of paper. Another indicator is the kinds of foods you do and don’t enjoy. Contrary to what it may sound like, a supertaster might find eating less enjoyable because their taste is so amplified, meaning they don’t enjoy strong flavors such as IPA beers and spicy foods.
Are you a supertaster? How does that affect what you choose to eat? How do you negotiate the social aspects of eating as or with a supertaster?
Guests:
Rob DeSalle, author of the piece on supertasters in the science publication, Nautilus; he is a curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and author of the new book, “Our Senses: An Immersive Experience” (Yale University Press, 2018)
Mike Steinberger, author of “The Wine Savant” (W. W. Norton & Company, 2014); former wine columnist for Slate.com