LA City Council Approves New Plan For More Hollywood And DTLA Housing – How Will It Impact The Areas?

The Los Angeles City Council voted 13-0 Wednesday to approve new development plans allowing up to 135,000 new homes in Hollywood and Downtown L.A. over the next two decades.

Lawmakers cheered the passage of the two community plan updates, which were decades in the making (Hollywood’s hasn’t been successfully updated since 1988). The Hollywood and Downtown L.A. community plans provide ground rules for future development. These new rules could transform two of the city’s densest urban areas by allowing housing where it was previously prohibited, and by incentivizing developers to build affordable homes in exchange for permission to construct larger buildings. Joining to discuss the plans and what you should know is David Wagner, housing reporter for LAist. 

With files from LAist. Read the full story here 

The U.S. Surgeon General Warns That The U.S. is Facing An Epidemic of Loneliness

Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday in declaring the latest public health epidemic. About half of U.S. adults say they’ve experienced loneliness, Dr. Vivek Murthy said in an 81-page report from his office. The declaration is intended to raise awareness around loneliness but won’t unlock federal funding or programming devoted to combating the issue. Research shows that Americans, who have become less engaged with worship houses, community organizations and even their own family members in recent decades, have steadily reported an increase in feelings of loneliness. The number of single households has also doubled over the last 60 years. But the crisis deepened when COVID-19 spread, prompting schools and workplaces to shut their doors and sending millions of Americans to isolate at home away from relatives or friends. Joining to discuss is Julianne Holt-Lunstad, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University and lead science editor of the surgeon general’s report, and Benjamin Karney, professor of social psychology at UCLA and an adjunct behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. We also hear from listeners about how they have dealt with loneliness post-pandemic.

With files from the Associated Press

It’s Called ‘Tip Creep’ And It’s Making Checkout Awkward

Across the country, there’s a silent frustration brewing about an age-old practice that many say is getting out of hand: tipping. Some fed-up consumers are posting rants on social media complaining about tip requests at drive-thrus, while others say they’re tired of being asked to leave a gratuity for a muffin or a simple cup of coffee at their neighborhood bakery. As more businesses adopt digital payment methods, customers are automatically being prompted to leave a gratuity — many times as high as 30% — at places they normally wouldn’t. What’s next, they wonder -- are we going to be tipping our doctors and dentists, too? Joining us today on AirTalk is Mike Lynn, professor of services marketing at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, and Diane Gottsman, owner of the Protocol School of Texas and etiquette expert. And listeners give their suggestions on the right way to tip.

With files from the Associated Press

Newly-Minted ‘Fresh Air’ Co-Host Tonya Mosley On Bringing Her Own Breath Of Fresh Air To A Beloved Program

Longtime NPR staple “Fresh Air” is welcoming a new co-host to its ranks this week -- award-winning public radio veteran and former “Here & Now” host Tonya Mosley. Fear not, Fresh Air stalwarts -- Terry Gross will remain the show’s host and executive producer, but NPR and member station WHYY, which produces “Fresh Air,” say Mosley will bring a new perspective and new experiences to the hosting chair to complement Terry’s beloved style.

Today on AirTalk, Tonya is with us to talk about what it means to be picked to co-host one of NPR’s flagship syndicated programs, the kinds of stories she hopes to tell in her interviews and what listeners can expect when she’s hosting.

There’s Been A Huge Rise In Young People Visiting ERs In Mental Distress – What’s Behind It And How Are ERs Coping?

Mental health-related emergency room visits by young people ages 6-24 saw a sharp rise in the last decade. This is according to a new study from the Journal of the American Medical Association, which looked at data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Especially troubling, visits related to suicide increased by five times, comprising 4.2 percent of all pediatric emergency room visits in 2020. The authors of the study conclude that “these findings suggest an urgent need to expand emergency and crisis services to address pediatric mental health concerns, especially for suicidal symptoms.” How are emergency rooms handling this rise? And what are pediatric psychiatrists seeing in these patients? Joining us to answer these questions and more are Dr. Tanner Bommersbach, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic and one of the authors of the study and Dr. Sam Torbati, co-chair of the department of emergency medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

If you or someone you know are in mental distress, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988

TV-Talk: ‘The Diplomat,’ ‘Queen Charlotte,’ ‘Bupkis’ & More

Have you felt completely overwhelmed when deciding what new show to watch these days? Us too. There’s just so much content out there between network tv and numerous streaming platforms. Each week, we’re going to try to break through the noise with TV watchers who can point us to the must-sees and steer us clear of the shows that maybe don’t live up to the hype. This week, guest host Austin Cross talks to Salon television critic Melanie McFarland and Kristen Baldwin, television critic for Entertainment Weekly.

This week’s reviews include:

• The Diplomat (Netflix)
• Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Netflix)
• Bupkis (Peacock)
• Jury Duty (FreeVee)
• Silo (Apple TV+)
• A Small Light (National Geographic & Disney+)