Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; The New Video iPod; Youth Sentenced to Life Without Parole; Young and Female in the U.S. Army; The War in El Salvador Revisited
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recently announced a new set of proposals for improving the city’s public schools. In addition to suggesting specific measures, the mayor reiterated his intention to increase the role of the mayor’s office in governing the LAUSD. Larry speaks with the Mayor about his education reform plans.
The New Video iPod
On Wednesday, Apple Computer and its head honcho Steve Jobs introduced the new Apple video iPod. That fulfills expectations many industry insiders had that Jobs would unleash yet another one of the popular iPod players to the market. The new iPod has a two-point-five inch color screen and is capable of playing everything from T-V shows to music videos. Jobs says the online i-Tunes store will now sell music videos and episodes of hit shows ``Desperate Housewives'' and ``Lost'' for a buck-99 apiece. Analysts consider Apple's much-anticipated introduction a test of whether consumers will embrace video on such a small screen. Larry Mantle talks with digital audio expert James Kim from cnet.com about the new video iPod technology and how it might change our viewing and listening habits.
Youth Sentenced to Life Without Parole
At least 2,225 child offenders are serving life without parole (LWOP) sentences in U.S. prisons for crimes committed before they were age 18, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International announced in a new joint report published today. In California, the state with the largest disparity between the number of black youth and white youth sentenced to life without parole for the same crime, 180 youth offenders are currently serving life sentences. Larry Mantle talks with representatives from Amnesty International and law enforcement about the study and California’s experience with youth offender receiving LWOP.
Young and Female in the U.S. Army
Kayla Williams joined the Army Reserves in 2000 to train as an interpreter. When war broke out in Iraq she was deployed with the 101st Airborne Division, becoming part of the 15 percent of the U.S. military that is female. Larry talks with Williams about her new book, LOVE MY RIFLE MORE THAN YOU: Young and Female in the U.S. Army. Williams describes military life for women as a constant balancing act and says she was judged in a way that male soldiers never were.
The War in El Salvador Revisited
"Innocent Voices" is a new film based on real-life events that occurred in El Salvador in the 1980s when the lives of ordinary people were caught in the crossfire between the army of a corrupt national government and the guerilla movement known as the FMLN, The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front. The story is based on the actual experiences of Oscar Torres, who escaped conscription in his village in El Salvador to flee to the US in 1986. Larry Mantle speaks with director Luis Mandoki and co-writer Oscar Torres.