Senate passes $9 billion in federal cuts, including to public broadcasting

Just after 2 a.m. ET, the Senate passed about $9 billion in federal spending cuts requested by President Donald Trump, including deep reductions to public broadcasting and foreign aid, moving forward on one of the president’s top priorities despite concerns from several Republican senators.

The legislation, which now moves to the House, would have a tiny impact on the nation’s rising debt but could have major ramifications for the targeted spending, from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to U.S. food aid programs abroad. Additionally, The Trump administration revoked federal funding for California’s high-speed rail project on Wednesday, intensifying uncertainty about how the state will make good on its long-delayed promise of building a bullet train to shuttle riders between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The U.S. Transportation Department announced it was pulling back $4 billion in funding for the project, weeks after signaling it would do so. Overall, a little less than a quarter of the project’s funding has come from the federal government. The rest has come from the state, mainly through a voter-approved bond and money from its cap-and-trade program. We break down the latest with these cuts with Erik Wasson, Congressional reporter at Bloomberg and Ralph Vartabedian, independent journalist and former national correspondent for the L.A. Times

With files from the Associated Press 

How effective are prescribed burns? A new Stanford-led study tries to answer.

Prescribed burns have been touted as a potential solution to help mitigate wildfire risk, and although the practice is used by many states and efforts are federally funded, there hasn't been much quantitative data to back up these practices. Until now. A new study led by Stanford shows that prescribed burns can help reduce the severity of wildfires by 16% and the smoke pollution from fires by 14%. The study analyzed areas treated with prescribed burns between 2018 and 2020. The study compared the outcome of two areas that burned during the fire season of 2020. One area has received prescribed fire treatment from 2018 to 2020, while the other nearby area didn't. The area that had prescribed fire showed less severe burning and less smoke. Today on AirTalk, we discuss the study's findings with Makoto Kelp, postdoctoral fellow in Earth System Science at Stanford University and lead author of the study.

A new book traces the history of domestic surveillance in the US

In the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001, Congress passed the Patriot Act which expanded the scope of the government's ability to surveil US citizens. While the Patriot Act has been seen by some as a prime example of the government expanding its power at the risk of citizen privacy, it is by no means the origin of these concerns. Political movements in the 19th and 20th centuries led the federal government to the adoption, development, and growth of surveillance programs. A new book traces this history, and argues that expansions to these programs have been unlawful at times, and often on the back of exaggerations of domestic political threats. Here to explain more is Patrick Eddington, a senior fellow in homeland security and civil liberties at the Cato Institute and author of The Triumph of Fear: Domestic Surveillance and Political Repression from McKinley to Eisenhower.

LA County’s new director of homeless services joins us

Los Angeles has a new director for its biggest homeless service agency. Chosen last week in a unanimous vote by the LA County Board of Supervisors, Sarah Mahin will head the Los Angeles County Department of Homeless Services and Housing. The department she leads is a new one, created by the board of supervisors to promote accountability and more direct oversight around spending. Joining us today on AirTalk is Sarah Mahin, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Homeless Services and Housing.

How ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ factored into the civil rights movement

The Ed Sullivan Show wasn’t just a television show. For a time, it was the television show. The variety show had a run of over 20 years, and at times had tens of millions of viewers tuning in to watch every Sunday night. Musical acts of all kinds would come onto the program, including Black artists — a move that some backers of the show were initially skeptical of. Now, a new documentary highlights the role The Ed Sullivan Show played in the civil rights movement by showcasing Black musical talent to a nationwide audience. Today on AirTalk, we’re speaking with Kerry Gordy, career music executive, eldest child of the founder of Motown Records, Berry Gordy, and producer of Sunday Best about the documentary, which is available to stream on Netflix starting July 21.

TV Talk: ‘Love Island,’ ‘Untamed,’ ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty,’ and 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 will 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, listeners will get the latest scoop on what’s worth watching with Roxana Hadadi, TV critic for Vulture and Saloni Gajjar, staff writer covering TV at the A.V. Club. Plus, our very own Austin Cross joins us to share his thoughts on the wildly popular reality series Love Island USA.

TV shows:

• Love Island USA (Peacock)
• Untamed (Netflix)
• The Summer I Turned Pretty (Amazon Prime Video)
• Dexter: Resurrection (Paramount+)
• The Institute (MGM+)