California’s population has rebounded from 'it’s so over' territory to 'we’re so back'
Three years ago, the demographic message was clear: people were fleeing California for other states. The relatively high cost of living compared to other states and disagreements about the political landscape here were heavily cited as reasons for people to perform their own exodus. But new data shows that over the last two years, this population drain has been slowed down. That, plus a solid amount of babies being born and immigrants from overseas, has led to two solid years of population growth, suggesting that the West Coast is once again being understood to be the best coast. Today on AirTalk, Austin speaks with Eric McGhee, policy director and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, where he focuses on demography and Dowell Myers, professor of policy, planning, demography at USC and Director of the Population Dynamics Research Group, about the zig-zag that the state’s population is performing. We also want to hear from you! If you’ve thought about leaving the state, why didn’t you? Or maybe you did leave the state and still tune in to AirTalk, each weekday on LAist 89.3 FM — what made you decide to leave (and keep on listening)? Or hey, maybe you left and came back, tell us about it! Give us a call at 866-893-5722, or you can email us at atcomments@laist.com.
Can AI chatbots be therapists (and uh, should they be?)
In the last two decades, the percentage of Americans seeking behavioral health services has ballooned from around 13% in 2004 to 23% in 2022. But as nearly a quarter of the population now relies on some form of mental health services, the country is facing a severe shortage of behavioral health specialists with a current shortfall of 250,000 practitioners. Advancements in artificial intelligence chatbots in the last few years have spawned a potential solution: why not get your therapy fix from AI? There are many kinks still being worked out of these AI chatbot systems, but as their name implies, they’ve become fairly robust at a key part of therapy: the talking. And with these AI chatters no doubt training off of online data on therapy, psychiatry, and behavioral health, why not shift some of the patient load onto them? Today on AirTalk, Austin is joined by Dr. Michael Heinz, a psychiatrist at Dartmouth, to talk about the efficacy of these systems and if they can play a role in the future of behavioral health services.
We also want to hear from you (that is, you, the listeners, not the AI chatbots scraping the AirTalk webpage to create a robo-Larry and mecha-Austin). Have you turned to an AI chatbot for talk therapy? Or maybe you vented to a bot after a particularly tough day and found the exchange relieving. Let us know how the conversation went by joining our conversation: give us a call at 866-893-5722 or email us at atcomments@laist.com.
Food Friday BBQ Series: Ray's BBQ
April showers bring May barbecue? The days are getting longer and the weather is getting warmer, which means that enjoying a rack of ribs at a weekend family BBQ is a must. Of course when you think of BBQ the next thought is Texas or Louisiana or Tennessee. But LA has some notable smokes of their own. For the whole month of May, AirTalk's Food Friday is showcasing the best that SoCal has to offer. Today, we're joined by Ray's BBQ, a family-run joint in Huntington Park where brothers Sebastian and Raul Ramirez man the grill just as their father taught them.
FilmWeek: ‘Thunderbolts,’ ‘Bonjour Tristesse,’ ‘The Surfer’ And More
Larry Mantle and LAist film critics Manuel Betancourt and Lael Loewenstein review this weekend’s latest movie releases in theaters and on streaming platforms.
- Thunderbolts* Wide Release
- Rust Laemmle Town Center 5 [Encino] | Available On VOD
- Bonjour Tristesse In Select Theaters
- Havoc Streaming On Netflix
- Another Simple Favor Streaming On Amazon Prime
- The Surfer In Select Theaters
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail In Select Theaters Two-Days Only [May 4 & May 7]
- Free for All: The Public Library Streaming on PBS.org and PBS’s YouTube Channel
- Electra Laemmle Glendale
Feature: Celebrating movies that have anniversaries this year
The 2005 sci-fi blockbuster Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith celebrated its 20th Anniversary this year with a notable achievement, with its re-release earning $30 million at the domestic box office. Being the biggest money-making example of a re-release this year, it shows why anniversaries for beloved films mean so much to audiences. Although not as much of a moneymaker, the 20th Anniversary re-release of Pride and Prejudice was able to make $3 million close its opening and close to $6 million total. To widen the scope to other decades-old movies, other beloved films like Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Jaws are making their way back to theaters to honor their respective 50th anniversaries. Joining us to get into this wide scope of film anniversaries is our film critics Lael Loewenstein and Manuel Betancourt.
