Today on the show, KPCC health reporter Stephanie O'Neill helps define those often-confusing health insurance terms. Then, local scientists are on the hunt for missing DDT off the coast if Palos Verdes. A judge's ruling in the Detroit bankruptcy may have a ripple effect on public pensions in California. The curious case of the missing Spanish-language radio show, El Mandril. Slate's Emily Yoffe offers her advice for the holidays and a photographer turns his lens on the cinema scene in Afghanistan.
Defining the often confusing health insurance terms
The Affordable Care Act is forcing millions of Americans to confront the daunting challenge of picking health insurance.
RELATED: FAQ: What the heck do all of those health insurance terms mean?
Millions more are considering their options during open enrollment at their jobs. But how many truly understand what's being offered by the insurance companies? KPCC's Stephanie O'Neill can help.
California GOP hosts 'fake' Obamacare site
As if people weren't confused enough about health care, Republicans here in California aren't making things any easier. State assembly members have been sending their constituents to the website, CoveringHeathCareCA.com.
It's an official looking site, with a picture of a stethoscope draped over a computer keyboard and a banner that reads, "helping you Navigate Federal Health Care Changes."
But look a bit closer, and you'll find language like this:
"Seniors on Medicare may not see changes immediately to their benefits or coverage. Down the line, however, the erosion and accessibility of care may become a problem."
For more on this controversial site, we're joined by republican strategist John Feehery.
Detroit bankruptcy ruling could impact public pensions in California
City and union officials all over California are reacting to the pension ruling out of Detroit.
A judge presiding over that city's bankruptcy case ruled yesterday that public employee pensions are not protected from cuts, as officials there try to rebalance budgets and regain some economic footing. This goes against what most state officials in California have always believed, that pensions are sacrosanct under the law and can't be touched.
Dan Walters, columnist for the Sacramento Bee, joins the show to explain the implications of this ruling.
Top-rated Spanish-language El Mandril radio show missing from airwaves
For the past month, a big, national radio star has been missing from the airwaves.
The El Mandril Show, hosted by Ricardo "El Mandril" Sanche and heard in dozens of cities around the country. His show was so popular in L.A. that he was number one, beating big names such as Rush Limbaugh and Ryan Seacrest.
It's an amazing journey for the radio host who, just last April, was 7th in the ratings. But since last month, he's been off the air in L.A. and a few other cities. Exactly why is something of a mystery.
We're joined by Veronica Villafane, editor and publisher of Media Moves, to find out what this means for Spanish-speaking listeners.
Members of Catholic Church targeted by Mexican drug cartels
In Mexico, it seems nothing is sacred to the drug cartels. Not even the Catholic Church. Members of that religious community have been increasingly targeted by powerful gangs for extortion, threats and even murder.
Reporter Richard Fausset wrote about the most recent incident in the LA Times. He joins the show from Mexico City to explain.
Arizona-Mexico tensions begin to thaw
There are signs that officials in Arizona and Mexico are getting along better. That's after Arizona's immigration enforcement law provoked deep tensions a few years ago. From the Fronteras Desk in Phoenix, Jude Joffe-Block reports local leaders are making an effort to boost trade and tourism.
Every week at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport, some 120 jets take off bound for Mexico.
But that wasn't quite enough, so the city courted the Mexican airline Volaris to offer new flights, including a nonstop one to Mexico City that begins in December.
“In recent years demand to and from Phoenix and Mexico has been growing,” said Deborah Ostreicher, the airport’s deputy aviation director.
Ostreicher said the new flights reflect that demand, and are also part of a conscious effort by the city to create more links with Mexico.
“Because it really is our largest trading partner,” Ostreicher said. “It is very important to us and we want to offer more air service so that people can come and go to and from Mexico.”
Not too long ago, Arizona was internationally known for its efforts to crack down on illegal immigration from Mexico. Now local mayors are seeing legal Mexican visitors as key to economic development.
During one year before the recession, 24 million Mexicans visited the state and spent $2.7 billion, according to a University of Arizona report.
Avondale's mayor, Marie Lopez Rogers, is encouraged by those stats and wants to help grow those figures.
She is working with the Maricopa Association of Governments on a proposal that would allow Mexicans who have border-crossing cards to visit the entire state, instead of just the zone up to 75 miles north of the border they can visit now.
The idea reflects a change in the mood from just a few years ago.
“I think the mayors have realized that we can’t continue down the path of being afraid,” Lopez Rogers said. “We need to embrace, and we’ve taken a couple of trips into Mexico and talked to our counterparts, and I think we realize that there is a great economy there.”
The recession made clear to many leaders that Arizona needed to diversify its economy away from just real estate, said Erik Lee, the executive director of the North American Research Partnership, a think tank focused on the continent.
“At the end of the day you have to make and sell stuff to folks to grow your wealth to grow your economy,” Lee said. “Mexico is right there as our go-to customer internationally.”
But relations between Arizona and Mexico grew downright chilly in 2010 when Arizona passed its immigration enforcement law, SB 1070.
Now Lee says it is notable who is pushing to repair the relationship and boost trade.
“In the wake of the SB 1070, local leaders around the state have really taken a leadership role, which was historically the prerogative of the state of Arizona,” Lee said.
For example, the Phoenix City Council has approved opening a trade office in Mexico City early next year.
It will be the only permanent presence Arizona has in Mexico’s capital.
While Mexico's secretary of foreign affairs, Jose Antonio Meade was visiting Phoenix last month, he cited the city's plan to open the office as one of a number of signs indicating the relationship has improved, according to The Arizona Republic.
Roberto Rodriguez Hernandez became Mexico’s new Consul General for Arizona over the summer, and has come in with a list of projects aimed at strengthening Arizona-Mexico ties.
“We don't want to blame each other for who is responsible for the dark period, but essentially we want to turn the page,” Rodriguez Hernandez said.
One of his plans is to create a scholarship program that will help students on both sides of the border.
Another is to open a cultural center in Phoenix that will showcase Mexican and Mexican-American exhibitions.
“This cultural center is going to be not just a message, but a symbol of unity, a symbol for a new beginning, a symbol of new opportunities,” Rodriguez Hernandez said.
Erik Lee of the North American Research Partnership has figured out how to sum up this moment in Arizona-Mexico relations:
“We are getting reacquainted after a spat, in the middle of a long friendship.”
Now that tensions are thawing, the hard work of boosting cross-border trade can begin.
In recent years, each of the other border states has enjoyed substantial gains in their exports to Mexico.
What remains to be seen is if Arizona can catch up.
Sports Roundup: USC football, Kobe Bryant, and more
USC and UCLA have settled their football coach situations, the Mamba is slithering closer to a return and what stadium would you like for your final resting place?
For all that and more we're joined by Andy and Brian Kamenetzky, who have covered sports for ESPN and Los Angeles Times.
The USC football coaching search has come to an end as they have hired Washington head coach and former Trojans assistant Steve Sarkisian. Andy, the only USC alum in the room, offers his take on the decision.
Ed Orgeron led the team to a 6-2 record and actually re-energized the program but regardless it did not seem like he was a real candidate. Fair or unfair?
College football coaches have not had a great track record in terms of being transparent when they take a new job. This is what Steve Sarkisian told KJR radio in Seattle on Sunday:
"I didn't interview for the job, they reached out to me I talked to them I'm not anywhere near along the course of taking that job or not...I've got a great job, I love my job here at the University of Washington."
Monday he's USC's new coach. Is this just the business of coaching or out and out lying?
Across town in Westwood, the UCLA Bruins locked up their head coach Jim Mora to a 6-year extension. It might have been sparked by an interview Mora gave 7 years ago when he was coach of the Falcons. Then he said that if the Washington job ever opened up he would be first in line resume in hand.
The Lakers are off until Friday when they'll be in Sacramento to play the Kings. There is a chance though, that Kobe Bryant could make his season debut that night. What's the latest with the Black Mamba?
The team is 9-9 and they've actually shown more than most people expected out them so far. Whenever Bryant comes back, who has to make the bigger adjustment, him or his teammates?
The Alabama-Auburn game last Saturday had one of the most unbelievable endings anyone has ever seen. Apparently someone or something also had their ultimate ending on the field that day.
Etiquette Lesson: Tips for a stress-free holiday season
Thanksgiving and Hanukkah are things of the past, but the holiday season is still in full swing. We've got Christmas and the New Year to worry about!
RELATED: Holiday Survival Guide: How to deal with dreaded family members
Maybe you need some advice on gift giving at the office, or just some tips on general etiquette for the holidays — whether to send thank you cards, best practices for party going, etc. Here to help us make these remaining holidays as stress free as possible is Slate's Emily Yoffe, best known for her Dear Prudence advice column.
RELATED: For next month's etiquette lesson: What's your biggest workplace pet peeve?
Interview Highlights
What is an appropriate gift for coworkers?
"This actually brings up the gift-at-the-office issue. I want to get on the table immediately because this time of year, I hear from a lot of people who are pressured to put money in a collection pot for gifts for the boss. People do not give gifts to the boss. And actually, the office is not a real gift-giving venue. I think these kind of things it's very lovely if you have gingerbread cookies or some kind of token thing. But you just don't want to get into giving elaborate gifts or a gift that I obviously spent a lot of time and money on, because then your colleagues feel obligated to reciprocate which they don't want to do, and it just starts this whole miserable process that people are dealing with their families and puts it in the office."
How can you avoid etiquette mistakes at holiday parties?
"I think the big thing to remember about office parties is that the operative word is "office," and you're not off. This is not the time to get drunk and tell people what you really feel and who you're attracted to. This is a work event. Now, it's lovely that you can socialize with your colleagues and, of course, a lot of people do. Outside of the holiday season, they'll have picnic, softball games, whatever. But you always have to keep in mind even when you're at a social/work event, work is the ruling principal. Especially at places where there's alcohol, you don't want to have to stumble in after the holidays and apologize to people."
For divorced families, how should you handle juggling multiple visits?
"Well, I get a lot of letters from people who are driven absolutely crazy saying, 'I got two hours here, then we all got to pile in the car and then we have to go there and these people aren't speaking to these people.' I think this really works well having a schedule. Alternating years, this group gets Thanksgiving, this group gets Christmas and also people get so hung up on the specific day.
"I understand there's ritual to the Thanksgiving meal, there's ritual to the opening presents, but sometimes you can come the day after Christmas and everyone is relaxed. You have leftovers and you have a lovely less stressful visit. I think the people who are filling torn apart by it have to set some ground rules for themselves and amazingly everyone else will accommodate to that."
Should you bring a food item to a holiday dinner party, even if you're not asked to?
"It's lovely to bing a hostess/host gift. Don't give them something they are going to have to serve. I don't want to serve your green bean casserole. I've invited you. I've made all the food so I don't want to serve your food. You can bring a food item, this is great time a year for food items, so bring that bottle of wine or bring something that clearly the host can enjoy later. But don't suddenly shove your chiffon cake when the host may have spent all day making their favorite fruit cake."
Are thank you notes a necessity during the holidays?
"It's not optional, it's not something you nag about. It's like brushing your teeth. You get a gift from someone, you write a thank you note. I understand this is to family and I already said 'Thank you.' Your daughter 18 or 20 years from now will so stand out from the crowd because she will be thanking the people who gave her internships or gave her advice for work or whatever. So when the rest of the room slugs, piss people off, your daughter will shine."
Scientists-turned-detectives look to crack the case of the missing DDT
Something's afoot in the ocean off the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and it's drawing out the detective instincts of scientists. Call it the case of the missing DDT.
Over decades, tons of the pesticide flowed through LA County's sewers. It settled into the world's largest underwater toxic hotspot, but in recent tests, that contamination has all but vanished. KPCC's Molly Peterson talked with researchers working to crack the case.
Water regulators examine fracking waste
The debate over fracking to extract oil and gas has focused largely on the chemicals injected underground, and their potential effect on public health.
Now environmental groups are turning their attention to the waste produced by simply drilling a well in the first place. The California Report's Sasha Khokha reports water regulators in the Central Valley will consider the issue tomorrow
App Chat: The best new apps for board game fans
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, perhaps you spent a good chunk of your time playing the very addictive board game with your family members. What are you to do when you find yourself without a group of friends and family to play with? Pull out your tablet or smartphone of course!
There are a bunch of more traditional board games finding new life online. Here to tell us more about it is Devindra Hardawar, national editor for Venture Beat.
Suggested Apps:
Pandemic ($6.99)
Allows you and friends to manage to a global outbreak. This is a cooperative board game, so it's more about working together than trying to defeat each other (also tons of fun on your own).
Carcassonne ($9.99)
The first truly great iPad board game, it centers around building and managing towns using plenty of tiles and some meticulous rules. Its helpful in-game manual makes it far easier to learn than the traditional tabletop version of the game. Offers multiplayer over Bluetooth, wifi, or just passing around your iPad.
Small World 2 ($9.99)
One of many world domination boardgames, this one stands out with its colorful graphics and wide variety of races to choose from.
Ticket to Ride ($6.99)
This game lets you live out your dreams of being a railroad tycoon — you'll certainly want to be one after playing it. Ticket to Ride lets you build out train routes with the goal of covering as much of the U.S. and parts of Canada as you can.
Agricola ($6.99, for iPad and iPhone)
A resource building game that lets you build a tiny farm into a magnificent agriculture machine. Supports up to five players. One of the more faithful board game adaptations, and the colorful graphics should keep kids interested.
What role should technology play in LA classrooms?
The use of iPads and other technology in schools has been up for debate, even though technology has been in schools for some time.
The latest move has ignited a growing debate as to whether some high tech tools are really necessary or as useful as they're held up to be.
KPCC's education editor Evelyn Larrubia has been following this for some time and today she's moderating a panel discussion in our Crawford Family Forum.
Picture This: Capturing Afghanistan's cinema culture (photos)
Photographer Jonathan Saruk was embedded with the military in Afghanistan when he noticed a few movie theaters in Kabul slowly reopening. Under the Taliban, movies were banned, so when he started seeing people going back to the movies he pulled out his camera.
As part of our ongoing series, Picture This, we talk to him about documenting film culture in Afghanistan's capital city.
Interview Highlights
On the role movies play in Afghanistan's culture:
"It's just as popular, one might say. We, in a more cosmopolitan city of Kabul, probably have half a dozen movie theaters in the city and they play the latest Pakistani and Indian films. In the Taliban years it was banned, so I think as soon as they were forced out, there was a resurgence of people going back to the theaters again."
RELATED: AudioVision: See more of Jonathan Saruk's Afghanistan cinema photos
On what kind of people are going to the cinema in Afghanistan:
"Generally speaking, Friday is the big day off in Afghanistan, so if you go on a Friday afternoon it's generally packed with young men. If you go on off-days, kind of there rest of the week, you see kind of more unemployed older men, there's always young men, but that's primarily the crowd there…In the many times I went to the movie theater, I never once saw a woman. I inquired about this. You get a variety of excuses, mostly having to do with security and I think generally speaking it's a cultural taboo."
On the people he photographed at the theaters:
"With regards to the audience, it was difficult to speak to many of them, but the projectionist I got to spend quite a bit of time with. It's a wide variety of people. There was a pair of brothers and their father who were the projectionists on the Pamir movie theater, so this has been passed down to his sons. It's a skill set. I met another projectionist at the Ariana Cinema, who actually flew up to Pakistan during the civil war and worked in a matchstick factory in Kashmir, and was eventually able to come back to Kabul after the Taliban fell. He was one of the civil projectionist who rushed in to try to get the movie theaters back up and running."
On whether American films are shown:
"Occasionally. I never actually got to see one in the movie theater while it was playing, but last time I was there, there was some Angelina Jolie action flick that was playing at one movie theater. They do come up. I think it was "Salt." I think, generally speaking, it's more expensive to come by so the vast majority are from Pakistan and India, and are those Bollywood-type of films."
On the image of dancing audience members:
"Yes, it was rather shocking. The first time it happened I was at the Pamir theater in the old city of Kabul and it was Friday afternoon. It was a really rowdy crowd and suddenly when one of dance sequence happens, which is common of Bollywood and Pakistani type films, and a few teenagers got up and started dancing. It was fantastic to see."
What's the point of TNT tweeting the script of 'Mob City'?
Tonight on TNT, it's the premiere of a new show called "Mob City", a gritty 1940s drama about gangsters living in Los Angeles.
But what happens in the show will come as little surprise to those who have been following the twitter handle
. Ever since Monday, the screenplay for the first episode has been released in small chunks on the social media site.
For more on this, we're joined by writer John August, host of the podcast Script Notes.
Getting to know the LA-based band Run River North
The San Fernando Valley based band Run River North play and sing about their lives – including the Korean-American immigrant experience.
The six-member band can be found performing usually at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, but also roaming the streets of L.A. filming their do-it-yourself music videos, one of which was completely done in a car.
Two members of the band spoke with A Martinez in his car – sharing insight on a number of topics, from where they get their ideas to being first generation Korean-American.
On the idea for the filming their music video in a car
“The big motivation was we didn’t want to make a YouTube video that was like every other cover song or any other original song. We really wanted to make the visual just as exciting as the song.”
On writing lyrics
“For me, I write about folks that I know and folks that I want to be like and my folks. I always want to write about stuff that I know and that I’ve experienced. You won’t hear a lot of love songs because I don’t think I’ve fallen in love yet. For the song writing process, it’s whenever I think of my parents trying to go for the American dream or what does it mean to be dash American.”
On being dash American
"There's so much story there. ... One of those songs it came out in is "Fight to Keep." The substance of it is watching my dad go for that American dream: Find a job here, own a home and provide for his kids to go to college. And, he did all that but there was some crisis. Watching him fail and succeed ... that's kind of what the song is about: How do you fight to keep the fire burning at night and how do you fight to keep this American dream when there is so much failure sometimes."
Run River North - Fight To Keep
On how being Korean-American influences their music
“For most of us, [our parents] came from Korea to America to provide for their children, for a better life. When they hear after all of that sacrifice – it’s even bigger than a 9 to 5 job to hear ‘I’m going to be a musician.’ At first, there was some blowback, but I think because of some of the doors we’ve had open our way.”
“And we willingly want to do this for our parents.”