Today on AirTalk, we break down the latest COVID-19 news. Also on the show, we analyze why the Los Angeles traffic death toll did not dip during the pandemic; remember the life of billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad; and more.
DOC AMA: LA County Latest, Breakthrough Cases, What’s Happening In India And More
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, we speak with UCSF’s Dr. Peter Chin-Hong.
Today’s topics include:
Do I have to get the COVID-19 vaccine in my
?
Next generation of COVID-19 vaccines could be pill or spray
Los Angeles County reports no new COVID-19 deaths
Nearly a third of Americans fully vaccinated
Scientists scramble to see why, in rare cases, even the vaccinated can get COVID-19
India vaccine shortage to stretch until July
Reaching ‘herd immunity’ is unlikely in the U.S., experts now believe
Guest:
Peter Chin-Hong, M.D., infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the UCSF Medical Center; he tweets
With Fewer Cars On The Road, Why Didn’t Traffic Death Toll In LA Go Down During The Pandemic?
The COVID-19 pandemic upended much of normal life in Los Angeles, but there’s one local norm that stayed the same: people continue to be injured and killed in collisions on city streets at a high rate.
Even with drastically fewer cars on the roads and fewer crashes overall, the number of people killed in traffic crashes in L.A. remained virtually unchanged in 2020.
Based on preliminary data reported by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, 238 people died in collisions last year, compared to 246 in 2019 — a decrease of about 3%.
That slight dip pales in comparison to how sharply car travel fell in greater L.A. and beyond in the early months of the pandemic. Schools closed, many workers stopped commuting to their offices, and local and state stay-at-home orders drastically limited the places and activities we could drive to in our cars.
Read more on LAist.
We dive into why traffic deaths didn’t dip when there was so much less traffic on the roads. Plus, what that means for Vision Zero, the L.A. initiative that aims to rid the city of traffic deaths by 2025.
Guests:
Ryan Fonseca, writer and editor for LAist where he reports on transportation and mobility; his recent piece is “Traffic Was Historically Low In 2020. The Death Toll On LA's Streets Was Not”; he tweets
Seleta Reynolds, general manager of L.A.'s Department of Transportation (LADOT); she tweets
Madeline Brozen, deputy director for the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, where she co-authored the 2020 policy brief The Need to Prioritize Black Lives in LA’s Traffic Safety Efforts
Remembering Los Angeles Philanthropist And Art Collector Eli Broad
Eli Broad, the billionaire philanthropist, contemporary art collector and entrepreneur who co-founded homebuilding pioneer Kaufman and Broad Inc. and launched financial services giant SunAmerica Inc., died Friday in Los Angeles. He was 87.
It was Broad who provided much of the money and willpower used to reshape Los Angeles’ once moribund downtown into a burgeoning area of expensive lofts, fancy dining establishments and civic structures like the landmark Walt Disney Concert Hall. He opened his own eponymous contemporary art museum and art lending library, the Broad, in 2015 in the city’s downtown next to Disney Hall.
“Eli Broad, simply put, was L.A.’s most influential private citizen of his generation,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Twitter. “He loved this city as deeply as anyone I have ever known.”
As a young accountant in the 1950s, Broad saw opportunity in the booming real estate market. He quit his job and partnered with developer Donald Kaufman and began building starter homes for first-time buyers eager to claim their slice of the American Dream. The company eventually became KB Home, one of the most successful home developers in the nation. Nearly 30 years later, Broad spotted opportunity once more and transformed the company’s insurance arm into a retirement savings conglomerate that catered to the financial needs of aging baby boomers. In the process, Broad became one of the nation’s wealthiest men, with a financial net worth estimated by Forbes magazine Friday at $6.9 billion. He also gained a reputation for being a driven, tenacious dealmaker. Today on AirTalk, we remember Broad. Do you have thoughts or memories to share? Leave them in the comments below or call 866-893-5722.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Zev Yaroslavsky, director of Los Angeles Initiative at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs; former L.A. County supervisor and city councilmember; he tweets
Fernando Guerra, professor of political science and Chicana/o Latina/o studies and director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University; emeritus member of the KPCC Board of Trustees
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, reporter at KPCC; he tweets
Earth’s Climate Is Changing, But Mainstream Climate Coverage Is Burdened By Knowledge Gaps And Popular Misconceptions
In a new book out this month, author Steve E. Koonin argues that Earth’s climate is changing, but the scientific findings are more opaque than popular media often suggests.
In his new book “Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters,” the science policy expert argues that although climate is warming and humans are influencing it, many findings are more ambiguous than black-and-white public conversations on climate typically suggest. But why is that? Koonin focuses on the disconnect between researchers and popular media, which can cause inaccurate or uneven information to get through. It is the job of scientists, he argues, to make sure that the public is armed with the best information possible to understand our changing climate.
Today on AirTalk, we’re talking with Steve Koonin about his new book “Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters.” Questions? Give us a call at 866-893-5722.
Guest:
Steve E. Koonin, professor at New York University and author of the new book, “Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters” (BenBella Books, May 2021)