AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable recaps the headlines you might have missed over the long weekend. We also discuss digital license plates; examine the effectiveness of implicit bias training; and more.
Week in politics: The on-again, off-again NK summit, Chinese tariffs, lookahead to the CA primary election and more
AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable tackles the headlines you might’ve missed over the long weekend and previews what’s to come this week in national and state politics. Here's what's on the agenda today:
Latest on the North Korea summit latest
Trump admin said Monday it would move ahead with China tariffs, on Friday cuts deal with ZTE
Mueller probe latest (Trump claimed Tuesday that the investigation would interfere w/ midterm elections to help Dems)
Trump signed orders Friday to make it easier to fire federal workers
Group of Republicans are starting a push to re-ignite the discussion on repealing the Affordable Care Act
June 5 primary preview – (new poll for 2nd place in gov’s race, plus a look at whether Travis Allen should step aside to allow consolidation of GOP support behind John Cox and what impact that’d have)
New USC poll on support for bullet train
Guests:
Bill Burton, Democratic political strategist with the firm SKD Knickerbocker and former deputy White House press secretary for Barack Obama; he tweets
Pete Peterson, dean of the School of Public Policy and senior fellow at The Davenport Institute at Pepperdine University; he tweets
Sacramento is first US city to try out digital license plates
California cars will soon be spotted with digital license plates as part of a pilot project.
The Sacramento Bee reports that the state Department of Motor Vehicles is teaming up with the digital plates' maker, Reviver Auto, to begin marketing them for sale at auto dealerships. Sacramento last week became the first city to agree to test the plates, taking a shipment of 24 plates for its in-house vehicle fleet.
Dealerships are expected to sell the plates for $699, not including installation costs. Users also must pay a monthly fee of about $7. The plates are not available through the Department of Motor Vehicles.
California, which has been quietly prepping its roll-out this year, is the first state to try out the new plates.
We reached out to the California Department of Motor Vehicles and they declined to join us.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guests:
Mark Stevens, fleet manager for the city of Sacramento, which is conducting the pilot program
Alex Roy, editor-at-large of The Drive, an automotive publication; he’s the founder of the Human Driving Association, a safety lobby organization
Neville Boston, CEO of Reviver Auto, which is providing the license plates used in the city of Sacramento’s pilot program
ABC cancels hit TV show after racist tweet from Roseanne Barr
ABC has cancelled its hit reboot of "Roseanne" following her racist tweet about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett.
In her tweet, Barr suggested that former White House adviser Valerie Jarrett is a product of the Muslim Brotherhood and the "Planet of the Apes."
The TV star deleted the tweet subsequently and tweeted to Jarrett that she was sorry "for making a bad joke" about her politics and her looks. Jarrett, who is African-American, advised Barack and Michelle Obama.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guest:
Dominic Patten, senior editor at the film and TV industry news site, Deadline
As Starbucks closes stores for implicit bias training today, experts differ on its utility and effectiveness
Starbucks is set to close 8,000 of its stores nationwide on Tuesday for employee “racial-bias education.”
The company said up to 180,000 employees will receive training from a "tool kit" that will "focus on understanding prejudice and the history of public accommodations in the United States."
The move came in response to an arrest of two African American men at a Philadelphia Starbucks last month. The men, who said they were waiting for a friend, were arrested for trespassing and taken away in handcuffs.
Is the anti-bias training the answer to such incidents of racial discrimination? While Starbucks thinks so, some critics question the very idea of implicit bias -- and whether this kind of training is effective.
For a preview of the curriculum Starbucks is planning to share with its employees on Tuesday, click here.
Guests:
Erin Thomas, partner at the Chicago office of Paradigm, a diversity and inclusion strategy firm that advises companies on cultivating inclusive cultures; she tweets
Hal Arkes, professor emeritus of psychology at Ohio State University who has done research on the topic of implicit bias
All things dairy: the surprising history and brouhaha over milk
From the award-winning author of single topic books on salt, cod, paper and more, is now a new publication on everything you’ve always wanted to know about...milk!
Milk isn’t just mundane and ubiquitous. It’s embedded with controversy and shapes significant debates on issues ranging from breastfeeding to agriculture to becoming the world’s most regulated food. It’s also plain fun, thanks to author Mark Kurlansky’s fascination with the subject. His dedicated research dives into questions such as: How did humans start consuming the milk of other mammals? Who invented powdered milk? Where did the French get their béchamel sauce? And was Thomas Jefferson’s favorite dessert really Baked Alaska?
Kurlansky joins host Larry Mantle to share all about the entertaining history and quarrels of milk in, “Milk! A 10,000-Year Food Fracas.” The book also includes special recipes – like 18th century macaroni and cheese!
Guest:
Mark Kurlansky, James Beard Award-winning author of many books including his latest, “Milk!: A 10,000-Year Food Fracas” (Bloomsbury Publishing 2018); he tweets