AirTalk's political roundup series continues with a look ahead to Indiana's primaries; weighing the effects of presidential election 2016 media coverage and the contest that will determine L.A.'s Pershing Square re-design.
AirTalk politics: Recapping the CA Republican Convention and looking ahead to the Indiana primaries
The Indiana primary should offer some political intrigue after GOP candidates John Kasich and Ted Cruz brokered a deal in which Kasich would stop campaigning in Indiana and in return Cruz would clear the path for him in Oregon and New Mexico.
All of this is part of an effort to stop frontrunner Donald Trump from getting the delegates he needs to secure the GOP nomination by the convention this summer.
Speaking of conventions, the California Republican Convention happened this weekend. We’ll take a look at some of the highlights.
Guests:
Reed Galen, Republican political strategist and owner of Jedburghs, LLC., a public affairs and campaign consultancy firm in Orange County; he tweets from
Ed Espinoza, director of Progress Texas, a political communications firm based in Austin, TX. Former Western States Director for the Democratic National Committee in California and a superdelegate in 2008; he tweets from
Auditing (read: Skewering) media coverage of the 2016 campaign season
In reviewing national media coverage of this frenetic campaign for president, many voters are mad as hell.
Indeed, as foreshadowed in the 1976 film "Network," television executives are wickedly gleeful over the high ratings driven more by personality and tropes than policy and civics. Referring to the Donald Trump phenomenon, CBS President and CEO Les Moonves admitted: "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS."
As former CNN anchor Campbell Brown reports in Politico magazine, "I know from personal experience that it is common practice for TV anchors to have substantial bonuses written into their contracts if they hit ratings marks. With this 2016 presidential soap opera, they are almost surely hitting those marks. So, we get all Trump, all the time."
In the eyes of many voters, the media is repeating memes on a loop: Hillary the Queen of the Establishment, Cruz the creepy Zodiac guy, Sanders the loveable loser, Trump the megalomaniac, and John "who?" Kasich.
What are your critiques of the coverage? How has the media covered your favored candidate?
Guests:
David Folkenflik, Media Correspondent, NPR (National Public Radio);
Hadas Gold, Media Reporter, Politico; she tweets from
Susan Orlean on the 30th anniversary of the LA Central Library fire
The Los Angeles Central Library fire of 1986 was declared one of the most challenging structure fires of its time.
The library, built in 1926, was set ablaze 30 years ago last Friday, April 29, wiping out 20 percent of the library’s holdings.
To save the building that day, the Los Angeles Fire Department worked for more than seven hours along with 60 firefighting companies to extinguish the flames. The fire was later found to be an act of arson.
On the heels of the fire’s 30th anniversary, Patt Morrison speaks with author Susan Orlean about a new book Orlean is writing on the incident, what the city nearly lost and the impact of rebuilding the historic structure.
Guest:
Susan Orlean, New Yorker writer who’s been working on a book on the Los Angeles Central Library fire
Parsing through the finalists for Pershing Square’s re-design
In an effort to freshen up Pershing Square Park in downtown Los Angeles, the city of Los Angeles commissioned a design contest and has whittled the finalists down to four.
The winning design will be chosen in May and the redesign project will be led by City Councilmember Jose Huizar.
Read more on the redesign, look at each finalist’s design, and vote in our poll here.
Guests:
Nate Berg, a journalist who’s covering the design competition process for the Pershing Square redesign for a forthcoming issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine
Christian Brown, KPCC reporter who’s been covering the story
Is monotasking the new multitasking?
Multitasking in the workplace is typically lauded as an ideal capability for workers. But, how much work do the multitaskers get done?
Is there a lack of focus, making people more susceptible to making errors? Is there value in concentrating on one task at a time? In today’s fast-paced, multi-gadget, omni-connected social world, maybe there is.
Research coming out of UC Irvine shows that humans have finite neural resources that are depleted every time they switch between tasks. This can lead to distraction and sluggish progress.
How comfortable are you making the choice to zero in on one project at a time? How much time can you let pass before you check your email or twitter feed? Can you ignore a text?
Guest:
Gloria Mark, Professor of Informatics at UC Irvine
Reality is nothing like what you think, says UCI neuroscientist
In the 1999 sci-fi dystopian film, “The Matrix,” the character played by Keanu Reeves is presented with two pills. The blue pill would keep things the way they are. The red pill would usher in an entirely different universe.
The idea that “reality” is actually nothing like what we perceive it to be is not new, particularly in the realm of film, literature, or conspiracy theory. Turns out that trippy notion might really be true.
Instead of some larger evil force trying to pull the wool over our eyes, though, a neuroscientist at UC Irvine who’s studied perception and artificial intelligence says that it is our senses – touch, smell, taste, etc – that are doing the cheating.
Guest host Patt Morrison speaks with Hoffman about his research.
Guest:
Donald Hoffman, Professor of Cognitive Science, University of California, Irvine