With wall-to-wall cable news coverage and social media over-hyping the threat of ebola, how do public health workers weigh placing precautions while calming the public? Also, the rumor mill has been churning for weeks about whether LAUSD superintendent John Deasy might lose his job or possibly resign. Then, author Steve Wilson looks back at 75 years since the release of "Gone With The Wind."
With wall-to-wall Ebola coverage, how do public health workers balance vigilance with hysteria?
The disease is spreading at a rapid rate in West Africa, with public fears of health workers making treatment of the disease even more challenging than it would be otherwise. Public health officials here in the U.S. aren’t dealing with quite that level of suspicion, but there’s still plenty of second-guessing on social media and cable news.
Some have been critical of the Centers for Disease Control's decision to quarantine the family of Thomas Eric Duncan, the Dallas man infected with Ebola. They say it sends a message to the community that if you get in touch with the CDC, if you start to have symptoms, the police might come to your door and seal in you and your family. That perception, in turn, could cause problems for the CDC team trying to do ‘contact tracing.’ Yesterday, health officials from the CDC, the Texas Health Department and the City of Dallas refused to answer many reporters’ questions about their response to the first case of Ebola in the U.S. and there’s a growing sense that limiting disclosure of information undermines those agencies’ credibility.
But with wall-to-wall cable news coverage and social media over-hyping the threat of ebola, how do public health workers weigh the need to put precautions in place while calming the public? And how can the media better put the U.S. presence of Ebola in perspective, while west Africa deals with a true crisis of over 7,000 people in infected and more than 3,300 dead?
Guest:
Elise Viebeck, reporter with The Hill who’s been covering the CDC’s response to the ebola outbreak
Amesh Adalja, a Senior Associate at the Center for Health Security at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which works to protect people's health from the consequences of epidemics and disasters. He is also Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Critical Care Medicine at UPMC
As rumors swirl about John Deasy’s future, a look at his impact on the classroom
The rumor mill has been churning for weeks now about whether LAUSD superintendent John Deasy might lose his job or possibly resign. It’s all sprung from controversy over an unfair bidding process he oversaw for iPad software in the classroom.
Today on AirTalk, we’re putting conjecture aside for a moment to ask, are LAUSD’s classrooms better off now than they were four years ago, before John Deasy stepped in? In that time he’s established himself as a formidable reform figure, arguably best known for getting breakfast in the classroom, tying teacher reviews to student test scores, reducing class suspensions and introducing iPads into the classroom. We’ll hear from teachers, parents and members of the business community about what John Deasy has accomplished in his time as superintendent and whether he’s improved the second largest school district in the nation.
Guests:
Annie Gilbertson, KPCC’s Education Reporter
Cheryl Ortega, current substitute teacher in LAUSD and a retired LAUSD teacher who has taught in the district for over 38 years
Larry Sand, president, California Teachers Empowerment Network, a nonpartisan group with over 1,000 current and retired teachers as members. He retired as an LAUSD teacher in 2009.
Scott Folsom, parent leader in LAUSD and he blogs at 4LAKids, which focuses on education
How fair is the LA Fire Department’s current hiring practices?
The Los Angeles Fire Department’s hiring practices have been under scrutiny due to calls of mismanagement and possible nepotism. Responding to those accusations, Mayor Garcetti suspended hiring in March so that reforms could be implemented. Rand Corporation was hired to create a review, but it’s behind scheudule, and there’s a demand for fresh firefighters -- now.
In July, no longer willing to wait, city officials implemented the lottery system in order to narrow down the thousands of applicants that go to the next level of hiring. Robert Holmes, a white applicant, did not move forward. He filed a complaint saying that sampling an applicant’s ethnicity before they test, doesn’t sound right to him. The City of LA says the lottery was its best choice to reduce the pool of applicants. The state is investigating whether or not the use of the lottery system is legal. Does the proportional lottery violate state anti-discrimination laws? Is the lottery system the best choice?
Guests:
Joshua Thompson, Senior Staff Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation - described as a public interest legal organization that fights for limited government, property rights, individual rights and a balanced approach to environmental protection
Kim West-Faulcon, the James P. Bradley Chair in Constitutional Law at Loyola Law School
Filmweek: 'Gone Girl,' 'Men, Women and Children,' 'Annabelle' and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Wade Major, Lael Loewenstein, Charles Solomon and Tim Cogshell review this week’s releases, including “Gone Girl,” “Men, Women and Children,” “Annabelle” and more. TGI-Filmweek!
Gone Girl:
Men, Women and Children:
Annabelle:
Guests:
Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and host for IGN’s DigiGods.com
Lael Loewenstein, film critic for KPCC and Variety
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC and Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine
Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Alt Film Guide
The making of a classic: ‘Gone With the Wind' at 75
The 1939 film swept the Oscars, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Cinematography. Plus, it arguably has one of American cinema’s best movie lines. Impressive results aside, the making of “Gone With the Wind” was met with difficulty from the start. First, filming was delayed for two years in order to secure Clark Gable for the lead. It took 1,400 screen tests and interviews before the part of Scarlett O’Hara was given to Vivien Leigh. Of course, there were also concerns about how the film, based on the Margaret Mitchell book, on how it would depict racial tension in the South during the Civil War and Reconstruction.
“The Making of Gone With the Wind” presents more than 600 items and rarely seen materials tied to the production of the classic film.
Guest:
Steve Wilson, author of “The Making of Gone With the Wind” (University of Texas Press, 2014), and curator at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin