LPGA and USGA to require players to be assigned female at birth or transition before male puberty
Players must be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to compete in LPGA tournaments or the eight USGA championships for females under new gender policies published Wednesday. The policies, which begin in 2025, follow more than a year of study involving medicine, science, sport physiology and gender policy law. The LPGA and USGA say their policies were geared toward being inclusive of gender identities and expression while striving for equity in competition. The LPGA said its working group of experts advised that the effects of male puberty allowed for competitive advantages in golf compared with players who had not gone through puberty.
With files from the Associated Press
Have food recalls increased? Or are we just more aware of contaminants?
It seems like almost every week there is another food recall or bacteria contamination in the headlines. This week it's a recall on organic carrots and other vegetables sold at various grocers like Walmart and Sprout's. This comes on the heels of the McDonald's e-coli outbreak that resulted in one death and 34 hospitalizations and the Boar Head's listeria contamination that led to 10 deaths earlier this year. Some experts say that this increase in recalls means that our food safety system is working, but others have expressed concerns about how our global supply chain is allowing for more points of contamination. Are these recent outbreaks just a coincidence or a sign of a larger issue at hand?
Today on AirTalk, we discuss how food contaminants happen and why there seems to be such an influx of them. Joining us is Darin Detwiler, food safety expert and professor of global economics food and agriculture at Northeastern University.
Need a light? A new study gives detailed look at how daily light exposure impacts human health
We know that diet, exercise, and sleep are crucial for our health but what about light? Well, a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences found that daily light intake not only influences our circadian rhythm — our body’s internal clock— but can also impact our risk of mortality. Over a five-year period, researchers tracked the light exposures of nearly 90,000 people for one week and found that participants with the brightest nights had a higher risk of premature death over those with darker nights. Additionally, it found that people exposed to brighter light during the day had a lower risk of mortality than those who spend their day in dimmer environments. So, what might these findings mean for those of us who spend our days indoors? Or those of us glued to our phones at night? Joining us today on AirTalk to discuss the study’s findings and how light exposure impacts our health is Angus Burns, co-author of the study and Research Fellow, Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
The latest from Gov. Newsom’s special session to ‘safeguard California values’ under Trump
Gov. Gavin Newsom called newly elected state lawmakers to work as soon as they’re sworn in on Dec. 2 for a special session to “safeguard California values” as the state prepares — again — to be a liberal antagonist to the upcoming Trump administration. In a proclamation declaring the special session, Newsom said he wants the Legislature to approve funding for the Department of Justice and other state agencies to “immediately file affirmative litigation.” In other words: Gear up for lawsuits. According to a senior legislative source, the special session is intended to be narrowly focused on providing legal resources to the attorney general’s office — perhaps as much as $100 million — to fight the Trump administration. The goal is to appropriate the money before Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20, though given how many new members are joining the Legislature, they may not be ready to act until early January. Joining to discuss the latest is Guy Marzorati, correspondent on KQED's California Politics and Government Desk.
With files from LAist. Read more here
A look at listening trends in music and podcasts in 2024
Spotify Wrapped is finally out, naming the year’s top songs and podcasts on the platform… for you individually, and across the globe. Taylor Swift has been crowned Spotify’s most-streamed artist for the second year in a row, followed by The Weeknd, Bad Bunny, and Drake. Her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” is also the most-streamed album globally. The honor of the #1 song, however, belongs to Sabrina Carpenter for her breakout summer hit “Espresso.” “The Joe Rogan Experience” and “Call Her Daddy” also kept their top spots on the list of podcasts, at #1 and #2 respectively. Joining us to unpack this year’s listening trends is Mikael Wood, pop music critic at the Los Angeles Times.
TV Talk: ‘The Sticky,’ ‘Black Doves,’ ‘Skeleton Crew,’ and more
This week on TV Talk we dive into this week’s biggest shows, including a new animated series set in the DC Universe called ‘Creature Commandos,’ and a new Star Wars series called ‘Skeleton Crew,’ starring Jude Law. These are new shows you won’t want to miss! Joining us for the conversation is senior entertainment editor at Consequence, Liz Shannon-Miller.
