The Supreme Court Hears Arguments Today On Student Loan Forgiveness

The Supreme Court has begun hearing arguments in a partisan legal fight over President Joe Biden’s plan to wipe away or reduce student loans held by millions of Americans.

The high court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, heard arguments on Tuesday on two challenges to the plan, which has so far been blocked by Republican-appointed judges on lower courts.

Arguments were scheduled to last two hours but were likely to go much longer. The public can listen in on an outside link or the court’s website. Twenty-six million people have applied, and 16 million have been approved to have up to $20,000 in federal student loans forgiven, the Biden administration says. The program is estimated to cost $400 billion over 30 years.

Joining us today on AirTalk is White House reporter for Politico, Daniel Lippman, UCLA professor of law Joseph Fishkin and professor of law at South Texas College of Law, Josh Blackman.

With files from the Associated Press

Teenagers Are In A Mental Health Crisis -- How Can We Help?

A CDC report from last week revealed that teenagers are struggling in a way they haven't before, likely brought on by the pandemic. The report shows increasing mental health challenges, experiences of violence, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Teens who identify as LGBTQ are particularly vulnerable, as well as teenage girls, who experienced record high levels of violence in the past few years. We covered this report last week on AirTalk and received heartfelt and sobering calls from parents who are figuring out how to best parent a teenager who is struggling. Joining us today on AirTalk to discuss the state of mental health amongst teenagers is clinical psychologist and author of the new book "The Emotional Lives of Teenagers," Lisa Damour.

Coding Bootcamps Offer An Affordable, Fast Alternative To A Traditional College Degree. Here’s How To Find The Right One

Coding bootcamps have been around for over a decade, but, in recent years, this business has boomed. Aside from for-profit companies like Coding Dojo and its many competitors, prospective students across the U.S. can now choose from a host of programs tied to traditional higher ed institutions. In Southern California, several public and private schools have established non-degree coding boot camps, often as part of their continuing education or extension programs. This includes Cal State Long Beach, Caltech, UC Irvine, UCLA and El Camino College. All of these programs promise something similar: In less than a year, students will have the skills to land a great-paying job in an ever-growing field. But finding the right program can be challenging -- there are a ton of options out there for prospective students to navigate, and with very few nationally-accredited coding bootcamps, navigating this landscape can be challenging. In her latest piece for LAist, Community Engagement Reporter Julia Barajas plugged herself into the world of coding to find out more about how these programs work, whether they pay off in the long term for the students who attend them, and how to figure out which programs are legit, if you’re considering one yourself.

Today on AirTalk, we’ll talk with Julia about her latest article, and we’ll also be joined by El Camino College Community Education Department Director Betty Sedor, who oversees that school’s coding bootcamp, and Nick Suwyn, the president of Promineo Tech, a company that partners with colleges across the U.S. to offer coding bootcamps.

With files from Julia Barajas -- you can read her full story here.

Tell Us About Your First Set Of Wheels And Why That Car Was So Special To You

You never forget your first car. Whether it was fresh off the lot or a beat up hand-me-down, your first set of wheels is an iconic piece of machinery living forever in your memory. It gets you where you need to go physically, yes, but it’s also there for you in pivotal moments of change, growth and hardship. Many of us drove our first cars until the wheels came off, sometimes out of necessity but also because it was hard to let go of something that felt more like a friend. So what makes a first car so special? Today on AirTalk, we open up the phones to listeners and have them share the story of their first car, whether it was brand new or a clunker past down through generations.