Do politicians never learn from sex scandals?; Veterans of long-past wars find hope in PTSD diagnosis; New age composer Iasos to give first LA multimedia performance; The science behind interval training workouts like CrossFit, plus much more.
The latest on the Bob Filner sexual harassment scandal
A total of seven women have now come forward and accused San Diego Mayor Bob Filner of sexual harassment. Amitha Sharma, a reporter for KPBS, has been following the case. She joins the show with the latest.
Do politicians never learn from sex scandals?
On the East Coast, New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner confronted new revelations of more inappropriate sexting he did after leaving Congress (and introduced America to his alias, "Carlos Danger.")
Meanwhile on the West Coast, San Diego mayor Bob Filner is facing calls to step down amid allegations by at least seven women of sexual harassment.
Sex scandals in politics is surely nothing new. But in many ways it's confounding. Why, after he spent nearly 20 years in Congress, are these accusations about Bob Filner just now coming to light?
Why do politicians who know that they're in the spotlight do things which so easily can land them in big trouble?
To explain is Mark Sachleben, professor of political science at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, and co-editor of the upcoming book, "Scandal! An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Consequences, Outcomes, and Significance of Political Scandals."
Friday Flashback: Immigration, debt ceiling, political scandals
Immigration reform looks to be going nowhere, budget and debt ceiling battles may threaten economic recovery, and some Democrats are saying its time be move more forcefully to the left.
It's time for the Friday Flashback, our analysis of the weeks' major news with James Rainey of the LA Times and from Washington DC, National Journal's Nancy Cook.
Let's start with the latest on immigration reform. It's more or less stalled in the House, but Eric Cantor, the House Majority leader has come up with a sort of modified Dream Act plan. Some see it as designed to put Democrats in a tough spot.
Meanwhile, is there a sense among Democrats that maybe it's better to just wait, and make Republican resistance to immigration reform an issue in next year's elections?What percentage of the Senate bill will even be considered by the House?
Also, a little internal squabble among House Republicans. Iowa Congressman Steve King, a vocal opponent of immigration reform, said a few things that made Speaker John Boehner unhappy this week.
Moving on, Congress will take a nice, long August recess, and in the fall, the big issues will be the budget, and the debt ceiling. We've seen this movie before.
Clearly the White House is gearing up for a big fight, and there's speculation that House Speaker John Boehner, who has kind of taken a back seat over the past year, is ready to come out swinging.
An interesting response by some Democrats to what they see as Republican foot-dragging. They're calling for a more aggressive move toward something that sounds a lot like old-style populism. What's this about, and is it going to fly?
Meanwhile, there doesn't seem to be much consensus about how the economy is doing. Two headlines to illustrate: From Business Insider this week, "The US Economy Is Gaining Momentum," and from The Guardian, "Ten Reasons the US Economy Is Stuck." So, what is it?
Beyond the budget battles, two stories this week of politicians behaving badly. More women coming out with charges of sexual harassment by San Diego Mayor Bob Filner. Plus, the admission by New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner that, even after he resigned from Congress over an online sexual affair, he continued those activities with a number of women.
Can a 7 minute workout be as effective as a 60 minute one?
Over the past year articles like "The Scientific 7-Minute Workout" have been eaten up by time crunched fitness fanatics. The articles claim that intervals - or short bursts of activity - can cut the amount of time that people have to workout to achieve desirable results. The idea is that instead of an hour-long run people can perform 20 minutes of intervals and reap the same rewards.
The use of short intervals has been made popular by companies like Crossfit - which is what host Alex Cohen finds herself doing frequently.
A Martinez on the other hand prefers hours of working out.
Both are workout fanatics, but they have very different routines.
Which technique's better?
We'll find out by speaking with Dr. Allen Lim, a sports physiologist and the former coach for some of the world's top cycling teams.
But first - motivated by a bit of schadenfreude - we sent Alex and A to the gym.
The results, surprisingly enough, included both sweat and tears.
Live Nation to offer locally grown and vegetarian food at venues
Tonight, Kid Rock performs in Irvine at the Verizon Wireless Ampitheater. While Kid Rock hails from Michigan, the food available for concert-goers will have had a much shorter commute.
That's because the entertainment company Live Nation is introducing local foods and vegetarian meals at its 38 amphitheaters across the US.
For more on this we're joined now by Brian Yost, who oversees the concessions for all of Live Nation's venues in America.
LA largely disregards 'split sentencing' alternatives to incarceration (PHOTOS)
As Los Angeles County considers replacing Men's Central Jail with a new billion-dollar-plus complex, criminal justice reform advocates want fewer people in jail. The ACLU and other organizations believe the county should cut its inmate population.
KPCC's Rina Palta reports one way other counties in California are trying to do so is often used elsewhere in the state, but seldom in Los Angeles.
Raymond Chandler at 125: Remembering a crime novel icon
It's been 54 years since the iconic hardboiled crime writer Raymond Chandler said the "Long Goodbye." But the author of that book and other noir classics, like "Farewell My Lovely" and "The Big Sleep," is still being celebrated.
Earlier this week, devotees of his wisecracking detective stories gathered to celebrate the 125th anniversary of his birth. Our literary contributor David Kipen couldn't resist joining in. He's the founder of the lending library Libros Schmibros in Boyle Heights and a verified Chandler geek.
He headed downtown to an event hosted by the literary salon known as the Los Angeles Visionaries Association to check out some of Chandler's favorite haunts.
If you'd like to take your own tour of Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles, there is another Esotouric tour coming up on August 10.
Filmmaker Maggie Carey on her directorial debut, 'The To Do List'
The new film "The To Do List" stars actress Aubrey Plaza as Brandy Clark, an incredibly studious high school graduate who has decided she wants to lose her virginity before heading off to college.
But she knows very little about sex, so she turns to her friends and older sister Amber, played by Rachel Bilson, for advice.
Director Maggie Carey joins the show to talk about what it took to get this movie made.
New age composer Iasos to give first LA multimedia performance
The description of a concert being held this evening at the Cinefamily theater in LA reads like this:
There are in this world armies of synth knob-twiddlers, electronic tone peddlers and New Age noodlers, but for decades, existing on an entirely different plane has been the Greek composer Iasos, who, with a mere waving of his hand, blows away all imitators with a multiverse of crystal giggling energy.
The source of that "giggling energy" is Iasos, considered by many to be the father of new age music. He recently released a new album on the Numero Group label called, Celestial Soul Portrait.
Tonight he's in LA for his first ever multimedia performance at the Cinefamily theatre on Fairfax, and he was kind enough to drop by our studios.
1979 Documentary on Iasos from Iasos on Vimeo.
Sex Researcher Virginia Johnson dies at 88
She was a twice-divorced secretary who went back to school when she was 32. He was a no-nonsense gynecologist and research scientist. In 1957, William Masters hired Virginia Johnson to be his assistant, and their research led to the publication of "Human Sexual Response" in 1966.
The book was "a bombshell", according to Thomas Maier, who wrote a biography of the couple, "Masters of Sex."
Maier notes Johnson's humanity was an excellent complement to Master's scientific rigor. The two eventually married, worked together for decades, and later divorced. Their research "changed the conversation," says Maier, and was instrumental in launching the sexual revolution of the late 1960's.
A television series based on Thomas Maier's book about the couple will air on Showtime, beginning in September.
Lisa Loeb and her transition into children's music
When you think of musician Lisa Loeb, chances are this song comes to mind:
"Stay" became a No. 1 hit after it appeared in the 1994 film "Reality Bites," but these days, you're much more likely to hear Loeb singing songs like this:
A decade ago, Lisa Loeb started making music for kids. She's one of three performers who'll be joining host Alex Cohen on Saturday July 27 for a free concert and conversation at our Crawford Family Forum at KPCC.
Lisa Loeb joined the show in the studio earlier for a sneak preview.