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AirTalk

Foreign Policy Outlook Amid Uncertainty In Afghanistan, Plus Local Reaction

Afghan passengers sit as they wait to leave the Kabul airport in Kabul on August 16, 2021.
(
WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images
/
AFP
)
Listen 1:43:28
Today on AirTalk, we give you the latest news going on in Afghanistan and hear from listeners. Also, we answer your COVID-19 questions; speak to tennis legend Billie Jean King about her book "All In;" and more.
Today on AirTalk, we give you the latest news going on in Afghanistan and hear from listeners. Also, we answer your COVID-19 questions; speak to tennis legend Billie Jean King about her book "All In;" and more.

COVID AMA: United States To Advise Booster Shots For Most Americans, A Surprising Disease Detection Tool And More

Listen 29:59
Covid Update (8/17/21)

In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, we speak with UCSF’s Dr. Peter Chin-Hong.

Today’s topics include:

  • U.S. to advise boosters for most Americans eight months after vaccination
  • Fast-spreading coronavirus, half-vaccinated public are a problem
  • San Diego County recommends employers require proof of vaccination or regular testing
  • Coronavirus cases among pregnant people triple, LA County reports
  • New Zealand enters nationwide lockdown over one COVID-19 case
  • Moderna's HIV vaccine to start human trials early as Wednesday, uses mRNA like COVID-19 shot
  • A surprising disease detection tool for COVID-19 and beyond
  • Raiders to require vaccines for fans at home games
  • California sees signs Delta surge is slowing, but a new challenge looms

“All In” With Tennis Legend Billie Jean King

Listen 22:43
Billie Jean King Book (8/17/21)

Tennis legend Billie Jean King’s new autobiography, All In, starts with a memory that stretches back to her elementary school in Long Beach: “I’d sit in my classroom… staring at the big pull-down map of the world, and daydream about the places I’d go.” And oh, the places she’s gone. In her new autobiography “All In,” King details her childhood in Long Beach, her groundbreaking career in tennis (including her win over Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes), and her work fighting for gender and racial equality, as well as LGBTQ rights. King writes, “Two of the unchanging, overarching lessons of my life are that people’s existence is rarely improved by sitting still in the face of injustice, and that the human spirit should never be underestimated.” Today on AirTalk, Larry interviews tennis champion and social activist Billie Jean King about her childhood, her career, her activism, and her new book.

Foreign Policy Outlook Amid Uncertainty In Afghanistan, Plus Local Reaction

Listen 40:41
Afghanistan Withdrawal (8/17/21)

President Joe Biden is acknowledging that the collapse of the Afghan government occurred much faster than his administration expected.

The president says in Monday’s remarks at the White House, “The truth is this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated.” Afghanistan erupted into disarray as the Taliban swept across the country in recent days, taking the capital of Kabul this weekend as the United States has been attempting to withdraw its forces, diplomats, allies and Afghans who worked with the coalition over the course of the 20 year war. Yet the president says that the rapid end of the Afghan government only vindicates his choice to end the war. Today, Larry talks with Seth G. Jones, senior vice president and director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a bipartisan, nonprofit think tank in Washington D.C. and Heather Kwak, office director of World Relief Southern California, which provides immigration legal services. Plus we hear from local Afghan residents about how they’re feeling and reacting. If you have thoughts to share, give us a call at 866-893-5722.

With files from the Associated Press

What The Colorado River Water Shortage Means For SoCal And The West

Listen 10:59
Colorado River Shortage (8/17/21)

Years of drought have led to the lowest water levels in Lake Mead since the 1930s. The levels are so terrifyingly low that the U.S. Bureau for Reclamation has announced the first shortage declaration in the history of the lower Colorado Basin, where Lake Mead sits. Meanwhile the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors which supervises most of Southern California’s supply of water is meeting today to decide whether to announce a Water Supply Alert. We discuss potential local impact.

We discuss with Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute and Conner Everts, facilitator for the Environmental Water Caucus, a caucus of more than 30 grassroots organizations with a common interest in California.