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More than just a number: As LA city and county release new homeless figures, we hear stories from those living the epidemic

Makeshift tents house the homeless on a street, November 10, 2017 in Los Angeles, California, home to one of the nation's largest homeless populations, and where health officials are trying to ramp up efforts to stop the spread of Hepatitis A, as numbers are beginning to surge among gay and bisexual men, but not the homeless. The highly contagious liver disease can spread easily through homeless populations because of unsaintary conditions.
  / AFP PHOTO / FREDERIC J. BROWN        (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
Makeshift tents house the homeless on a street, November 10, 2017 in Los Angeles, California, home to one of the nation's largest homeless populations, and where health officials are trying to ramp up efforts to stop the spread of Hepatitis A, as numbers are beginning to surge among gay and bisexual men, but not the homeless. The highly contagious liver disease can spread easily through homeless populations because of unsaintary conditions. / AFP PHOTO / FREDERIC J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
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FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
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Listen 1:35:47
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released their 2018 report documenting LA County's homelessness numbers. We discuss the data, its implications, and take calls from the homeless population.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released their 2018 report documenting LA County's homelessness numbers. We discuss the data, its implications, and take calls from the homeless population.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released their 2018 report documenting LA County's homelessness numbers. We discuss the data and its implications. We also examine the aftermath of Samantha Bee's slur towards Ivanka Trump; review this weekends new film releases on FilmWeek; and more.

More than just a number: As LA city and county release new homeless figures, we hear stories from those living the epidemic

Listen 47:39
More than just a number: As LA city and county release new homeless figures, we hear stories from those living the epidemic

The numbers from the 2018 L.A. and countywide homeless count are in and are showing a small decline in overall homeless numbers: 53,195 in the county and 31,516 in the city.  

The number of people who are chronically homeless decreased by 16 percent. However, the number of people experience homelessness for the first-time went up.

People who are homeless for the first time, rather than chronically, are often homeless for a different set of reasons -- often having to do with economics and housing affordability, rather than mental or physical health issues.

So why are there more people experiencing homelessness for the first time? How have Measure H and HHH funds been used so far? What are the 2018 numbers and larger trends and what do they tell us about how services and resources should be focused going forward?

 

Resources: 

LAHSA Coordinated Entry System (CES) or Help for the Homeless

Mental Health Resources and Other Needs

Department of Health Services

Safe Parking L.A. 

LA Homeless Resources Wiki

Further housing resources: 

LA County Shelters

www.roommates.com

www.prideroommates.com

SHARE collaborative housing 

Guests:

Jonathan Hans, manager of community engagement for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), which conducted the count

Va Lecia Adams Kellum, president and CEO of St. Joseph Center which works with working poor families, and homeless men, women and children; they are based in Venice and service L.A. County

Gale Holland, reporter for the L.A. Times covering homelessness and poverty; she tweets

FilmWeek: ‘Adrift,’ ‘Upgrade,’ ‘American Animals’ and more

Listen 28:47
FilmWeek: ‘Adrift,’ ‘Upgrade,’ ‘American Animals’ and more

Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Amy Nicholson and Tim Cogshell review this weekend’s new movie releases. Critic Charles Solomon also joins to discuss a "The Puppet Master: Jiří Trnka," a touring retrospective of films from the acclaimed Czech animator.

CRITICS' HITS

Amy:  "Upgrade" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36PDeN9NRZ0&t=77s

Tim: "Rodin"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VTgTj4wiaY

MIXED FEELINGS

Amy: "Adrift" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdMP4sWc71M

Tim: "Discreet" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qwGXnnlwlk

MISSES

Amy: "Action Point" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri1Cc3Yz09U

Guests:

Amy Nicholson, film critic for KPCC, film writer for The Guardian and host The Canon podcast as well as a new podcast called Unspooled, where Amy and comedian Paul Scheer check off the AFI Top 100 movies of all time; she tweets

Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC, Alt-Film Guide and CineGods.com; he tweets

Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine

After ‘Solo’ opens to underwhelming numbers at the box office, film industry watchers debate whether ‘Star Wars fatigue’ has set in

Listen 18:48
After ‘Solo’ opens to underwhelming numbers at the box office, film industry watchers debate whether ‘Star Wars fatigue’ has set in

When T.S. Eliot wrote “this is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper,” he could have been predicting the disappointing debut of “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”

The film, which was released over Memorial Day weekend, fell short of its anticipated revenue and praise. It pulled in just $103 million domestically despite being slated to earn around $155 million, the figure the first Star Wars Story, “Rogue One” earned its first weekend. The movie was also poorly received overseas, earning only $68.2 million compared to the $1.056 billion gained by “Rogue One.”

The underwhelming box office opening could be a result of being released only five months after “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” causing an oversaturation of Star Wars films.  So is this flop a product of “Star Wars fatigue, ” a swing and a miss by Disney, or just a bad movie?

We discuss the film’s underperformance with KPCC film critics Tim Cogshell and Amy Nicholson alongside David Sims and Scott Mendelson.

Guests:

David Sims, staff writer covering culture at The Atlantic, where he wrote “With ‘Solo,’ Has ‘Star Wars’ Fatigue Set In?”; he is also the co-host of Blank Check Podcast, which reviews directors’ complete filmographies; he tweets

Scott Mendelson, contributor to Forbes, where he covers the film industry and wrote the piece “‘Star Wars Fatigue’ Not To Blame For ‘Solo’ Box Office Disaster”; he tweets

Amy Nicholson, film critic for KPCC, film writer for The Guardian and host The Canon podcast as well as a new podcast called Unspooled, where Amy and comedian Paul Scheer check off the AFI Top 100 movies of all time; she tweets

Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC, Alt-Film Guide and CineGods.com; he tweets