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Week In Politics: Intimidation? Bribery? Recapping Impeachment And Looking Ahead

Former US Ambassador to the Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch is sworn in before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence as part of the impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill on November 15, 2019 in Washington DC. - Public impeachment hearings resume Friday with the testimony of former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who says she was ousted because the Trump administration believed she would not go along with plans to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democrat Joe Biden, a potential Trump White House rival in 2020. (Photo by Alex Wong / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALEX WONG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Former US Ambassador to the Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch is sworn in before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence as part of the impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill on November 15, 2019 in Washington DC.
(
ALEX WONG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
)
Listen 1:37:11
Today on AirTalk, our roundtable political commentators discuss the headlines you may have missed. Also on the show, we discuss the market for harassment training videos; new health care rules; and more.
Today on AirTalk, our roundtable political commentators discuss the headlines you may have missed. Also on the show, we discuss the market for harassment training videos; new health care rules; and more.

Today on AirTalk, our roundtable political commentators discuss the headlines you may have missed. Also on the show, we discuss the market for harassment training videos; new health care rules; and more.

Week In Politics: Intimidation? Bribery? Recapping Impeachment And Looking Ahead

Listen 29:37
Week In Politics: Intimidation? Bribery? Recapping Impeachment And Looking Ahead

AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable recaps the major headlines you might’ve missed in politics news over the weekend and looks ahead to the week to come. Here are the headlines what we’re following this week: 

  • Impeachment Watch:

    • What have we learned from the first week of hearings?

    • The House labels Trump’s actions as bribery

    • Trump releases rough transcript of his first call with Ukrainian President Zelensky

    • Who will be testifying this week?

  • 2020 Check-in:

  • Roger Stone found guilty of obstruction

  • Trump asks the Supreme Court to stop the release of his tax returns

  • Stephen Miller’s email leak reveal ties to white nationalism
     

Guests:

Jennifer Merolla, professor of political science at the University of California, Riverside

Jack Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College; he tweets

 

There’s An Increased Market For Sexual Harassment Training Videos, But Are They Effective?

Listen 18:25
There’s An Increased Market For Sexual Harassment Training Videos, But Are They Effective?

A number of women have shined a light on mistreatment and sexual harassment in the workplace in recent years.

According to a recent piece in the New York Times, it’s led to an increased market for sexual harassment training videos in the workplace. Actors are hired to fill certain rolls that can portray uncomfortable and dangerous situations that play out. The training videos aim to help employees better understand what’s acceptable behavior. But are the videos actually effective? Today on AirTalk, we take a look at the evolving industry.

Guest:

Sue Bendavid, lawyer at Encino-based lawfirm Lewitt Hackman, who represents companies and management in sexual harassment allegations; she also counsels private schools in best practices for handling allegations; she tweets

White House Proposes Rules For Transparency In Hospital Pricing

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White House Proposes Rules For Transparency In Hospital Pricing

New rules from the Trump administration on Friday would require insurers and hospitals to disclose upfront the actual prices for common tests and procedures to promote competition and push down costs.

But the sweeping changes face stiff pushback from the health care industry. A coalition of major hospital groups quickly announced that hospitals will sue to block key provisions, which in any case don’t take effect immediately.

Even in an ideal world where information flows freely, patients and their families would have to deal with a learning curve to get comfortable with the byzantine world of health care billing. What sounds like the same procedure can have different billing codes depending on factors that may not be apparent to an untrained person.

We dive into the proposed changes.

With files from the Associated Press.

Guests:

Shana Charles, assistant professor at the Department of Public Health at California State University Fullerton; former director of Health Insurance Studies at UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

Matt Fiedler, a fellow with the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy; his research examines a range of topics in health care economics and health care policy

Purple Project For Democracy: What The Heck Is Free Speech?

Listen 19:04
Purple Project For Democracy: What The Heck Is Free Speech?

Free speech means we can all say whatever we want, whenever we want. Free country, right? Not quite. The First Amendment:  



Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The tenet of freedom of speech is perhaps the most cited, misunderstood and debated part of the Bill of Rights.
What kind of speech is protected? What kind of speech is not? What’s the squishy grey area in between? We break it down with two legal scholars.

Guests:

Eugene Volokh, law professor at UCLA teaching free speech law; he tweets

Camille Gear Rich, professor of law and sociology at USC

The True Value of Humility in Our Lives

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The True Value of Humility in Our Lives

A recent review out of Hope College in Michigan looks at the value of humility through a variety of studies.

In everyday conversation we might recognize humility as the socially normalized tendency to play down one’s accomplishments or abilities, or in another sense, not take credit for what you do. The study from Hope College instead emphasizes humility as “an ability to accurately acknowledge one’s limitations and abilities and an interpersonal stance that is other-oriented rather than self-focused.” 

Joining us is Daryl Van Tongeren, associate professor of psychology at Hope College in and lead author of the review.

Guest:

Daryl Van Tongeren, associate professor of psychology at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.