We analyze last night’s Pence-Kaine VP debate and what it means for both campaigns; a new study links hormonal birth control to depression – we dive into the implications; gender discrimination on planes and how airlines should deal with passengers who want to switch seats; and Rolling Stone released their top 100 TV show picks – do you agree with their list?
Takeaway from last night’s VP debate
Last night's Vice-Presidential debate might have lacked the excitement of the three headliner debates between Trump and Clinton, but they still grabbed a sizable audience - more than 50 million Americans tuned in.
Republican Mike Pence's goal was clearly to reassure conservatives and people of faith that Trump was worthy of their trust. Democrat Tim Kaine's priority was pinning Pence down with Trump's extreme comments. That forced Pence to sidestep or claim Kaine's characterization of the comments was misleading.
Just as Clinton was generally crowned the winner of the first Presidential debate, Pence seemed the consensus winner last night.
Did Kaine's aggressive approach backfire? Did both men work to position themselves as much for future Presidential runs as doing heavy lifts for their teams? Will evangelicals and fiscal conservatives feel better about voting for Trump?
Guests:
Angela T. Rye, a democratic analyst and CEO of IMPACT Strategies, a DC-based political consulting and government relations firm; she tweets
Sean T. Walsh, Republican political analyst and partner at Wilson Walsh Consulting in San Francisco
Lori Cox Han, professor of political science at Chapman University
New data prompts caution for young women choosing hormonal birth control
A group of gynecology researchers are urging doctors (and pharmacists) to recognize the birth control pill's association with depression and antidepressants.
Their study, published in the Psychiatry edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, crunched health records of one million young Danish women over a 10-year period. It found that those on the combined pill were 23% more likely to be prescribed an antidepressant by their doctor, most commonly in the first six months after starting on the pill.
Women on the progestin-only pills were 34% more likely to take antidepressants or get a first diagnosis of depression than those not on hormonal contraception. [Similar findings were associated with hormonal implants, patches, and intrauterine devices (IUDs).]
Because the study cannot prove contraceptives caused depression, many doctors argue against drawing conclusions, and they still counsel that the risks of an unwanted pregnancy outweigh many other adverse effects.
On the other hand, this study is not the first to find a correlation between depression and contraceptives, so it is possible sexually active young women should be wary of choosing hormonal birth control instead of condoms.
Guests:
Holly Grigg-Spall, Author, "Sweetening the Pill: Or How We Got Hooked On Hormonal Birth Control" (Zero Books, 2013); Researcher focused on women’s health
Dr. Pratima Gupta, MD, Obstetrician and Gynecologist in the Bay Area; Gupta is on the board of Essential Access Health - which administers California's Title (ten) X federal family planning program
Checking in on California’s controversial bullet train proposals
California’s high speed rail plan has been the subject of much controversy.
The Palmdale to Burbank route has most recently been under scrutiny for its potential effect on horse country and the L.A. River. As reported in L.A. Daily News, Councilmember Paul Krekorian has joined residents from Lake View Terrace to Shadow Hills in opposition along the proposed bullet train route, Refined Alternative E-2, one of three potential routes to bring high desert commuters to Los Angeles.
Officials from California High Speed rail are reviewing the environmental impact of the route, which would give a 15 to 20 minute commute from the high desert to Los Angeles.
Larry hosts a discussion today on the concerns of the proposed bullet train route from Palmdale to Burbank and KPCC transportation reporter, Meghan McCarty stops by to give a roundup of the sometimes confusing world of L.A. high speed rail developments.
Guests:
Meghan McCarty, KPCC reporter covering commuting and mobility issues
Paul Dyson, President of Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada, an organization that supports the expansion of passenger rail projects
Karo Torossian, director of planning and the environment for Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Krekorian
What Yahoo’s email scan means for the future of email security
Incoming Yahoo emails last year were scanned by the company’s custom built software program designed to search for information for U.S. security officials, according to a story by Reuters.
While it is unclear whether the scan was ordered by the NSA or FBI, this could be the first case of a U.S. internet company complying with an intelligence agency’s request to search arriving messages.
Yahoo has responded to the story stating the company is law abiding “and complies with the laws of the United States.”
Questions remain about why Yahoo didn’t challenge the scan, and other tech companies are denying that they have taken the same actions. The scan comes on the heels of a the tech giant’s email hack last month.
Larry speaks to Reuters Technology Reporter Joseph Menn, who broke the story on the scan, to get a deeper look at the tech giant’s response, and his thoughts on what kind of precedence this sets for email security.
Guest:
Joseph Menn, technology projects reporter for Reuters; he broke the story, “Exclusive: Yahoo secretly scanned customer emails for U.S. intelligence - sources”
100 greatest TV shows of all time?
Rolling Stone splashed its latest cover with a list of “The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time,” but of course for TV-lovers and critics, highly debatable.
How’d the list come together and where does one even start to weed through, let alone rank, classic sitcoms from beloved soaps to family cartoons and more? In 2015 alone, there were 409 originally scripted television series.
So what makes a “Top 10” selection versus “Top 25,” and are your favorite shows on the list? What's your pick for the number one spot?
Guests:
Hank Steuver, TV Critic for the Washington Post; he wrote the piece “Rolling Stone has come up with the 100 greatest TV shows of all time. My list was a little different”; he tweets
Sonia Saraiya, TV critic for Variety; she tweets