The effects of isolation on the Chilean miners. Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman's final debate - "whore" vs. "housekeepergate." Orange County's enduring effect on California politics. The first book on the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Sunshine = power, LA's Solar power conference. Legendary actor Ed Asner stars in FDR at the grand reopening of the Pasadena Playhouse.
The effects of isolation on the Chilean miners
After a dramatic space age rescue, many of the miners trapped in Copiapó, Chile, have been rescued. Some were strong, but others were suffering great psychological stress during their 69 days underground. People who experience long period of isolation and confinement undergo psychological changes and symptoms include disturbed sleep, impaired cognitive ability, negative affect, and interpersonal tension and conflict, according to USC professor Larry Palinkas. As the Chilean miners continue emerging from their isolated 500 square foot room today, how will their experience in confined isolation affect them?
Guest:
Larry Palinkas, Albert G. and Frances Lomas Feldman Professor of Social Policy and Health at USC and expert on living in isolation.
Brown & Whitman spar in final debate
Gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman faced off Tuesday in their last debate. It was arguably the most substantive of the matches, but the water cooler talk today seems to be all about “whores” and “housekeepergate.” When pressed by moderator Tom Brokaw, Brown apologized for an aide’s suggestion caught on tape, that the Democratic candidate should call his opponent a (political) whore. But Brown dismissed Brokaw’s assertion that it’s equivalent to calling an African-American the ‘N’ word. Whitman scolded Brown, saying the term is “deeply offensive” to women. Meanwhile, Whitman had to answer yet again for her 9-year employment of an undocumented worker. She repeated that the housekeeper had used falsified documents and insisted that her immigration policy would involve a strong e-verify system for employers. Were you satisfied with their answers? Will either of these episodes seriously impact the race?
Politics in the OC and the county’s influence on the statewide election
Cal State Fullerton’s Center for Public Policy has just released an independent poll of Orange County residents. More than 600 respondents weighed in on the gubernatorial and Senate races, props on pot and global warming, as well as issues regarding crime, drugs and party identification. Turns out, there are some surprises behind that orange curtain. We’ll take a look at the results, which promise to give interesting insights into an important and changing county in the middle of a tightly contested statewide election. Is Orange County moving from red to blue? Or are the demographic changes more complex than that? AirTalk takes the OC’s political pulse.
Guest:
Raphe Sonenshein, Director, Cal State University Fullerton’s Center for Public Policy, Division of Politics, Administration, and Justice; and Professor of Political Science at CSU Fullerton.
In Deep Water
Deepwater Horizon was BP’s cutting edge energy explorer that drilled five thousand feet below that the surface of the Gulf of Mexico to extract millions of barrels of crude. On April 20, 2010, its Macondo well blew up resulting in a massive explosion that killed eleven men and spilled million of gallons of oil into the Gulf. Why did this happen and how can another deepwater drilling disaster be prevented? Yesterday, President Obama lifted the moratorium on deepwater oil exploration, a move criticized by environmentalists but welcomed by oil workers and the industry. Bob Deans is the co-author of In Deep Water, the first book to appear on the BP oil disaster. What harm has the blowout done to the Gulf, and how will residents be affected in the long term?
Guest:
Bob Deans, associate director of communications at Natural Resources Defense Council and co-author with Peter Lehner, the executive director of NRDC, of In Deep Water: The Anatomy of a Disaster, the Fate of the Gulf and How to End Our Oil Addiction. Deans is also the author of The River Where America Began: A Journey along the James and was the chief Asia correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other Cox newspapers. He spent eight years covering the White House. He is a former president of the White House Correspondents' Association.
Solar Power Conference comes to sunny California
This week marks the tenth international Solar Power International convention. The Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown is hosting some 1,100 exhibits and many workshops on getting solar energy into the home. What’s new in solar power technology? What’s the best way to heat your water using the sun? Can photovoltaics reduce electric bills? Will solar energy soon be a significant slice of the energy pie?
Guest:
Rhone Resch, President and CEO, Solar Energy Industries Association
Pasadena Playhouse grand reopening with Ed Asner
Having emerged from bankruptcy, the Pasadena Playhouse is back with FDR, a one-man show starring Ed Asner as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States. Based on Dore Schary's hit play "Sunrise at Campobello," the 80 year-old Asner takes the stage for four weeks portraying Roosevelt. Will the show - and the beleaguered Playhouse - hit home with audiences? The indefatigable Ed Asner joins real-life newsman Larry backstage.
Guest:
Ed Asner, actor of film, television and stage who has won seven Emmy Awards for his work on the series "Mary Tyler Moore," "Lou Grant," "Roots" among others. He recently loaned his voice to Pixar’s award-winning animated film "UP!."