Larry Mantle Host, AirTalk
- Phone: (626) 583-5161
Larry Mantle has been the host of AirTalk on KPCC since April 1st, 1985. It is now the longest continuously running daily talk program in the Los Angeles radio market. Mantle also hosts the movie review and interview program FilmWeek on AirTalk, heard every Friday at 11:00 a.m. on KPCC.
A fourth-generation Angeleno, Larry has interviewed thousands of prominent guests on an extraordinary array of topics, and received many journalistic awards in the process. Larry grew up in southwest Los Angeles, Inglewood, and Hollywood. He's a graduate of Hollywood High School and Vanguard University of Southern California. Larry and his wife Kristen are the parents of Desmond.
Stories by Larry Mantle
Honey, don't take the car -- they'll impound it
As our Frank Stoltze has reported, the union representing LAPD officers has filed a grievance against the department over its new rules about impounding cars from unlicensed drivers.
Random post-vacation thoughts!
How’s that for a scintillating, must-read, title. That’s what happens when I go on vacation – my sense of presentation deserts me.
A great April Fools prank commemorates our 26th anniversary
They got me good! I opened my mouth to introduce Film Week on AirTalk, only to hear my son, Desmond, greeting listeners and running through the movies to be reviewed. I was stunned.
L. A. radio's living legend, Michael Jackson
What a pleasure in having the talk radio giant Michael Jackson observing part of AirTalk Thursday morning. Michael dropped in to check out our studios and watch how we put together our daily program.
Santa Ana’s gentrification sparks debate
The Santa Ana City Council has proposed multiple projects to upgrade housing and bring new business activity to the area. But some vocal groups oppose redevelopment. They argue that the changes will push out family-owned businesses and negatively transform the character of downtown Santa Ana.
Santa Ana's battle for the soul of a city
Tuesday morning on AirTalk, we aired our hour-long debate about the future of Santa Ana’s downtown. The program originated at Libreria Martinez, Ruben Martinez’s terrific bookstore on Broadway in the heart of historic Santa Ana.
Boyhood memories of Elizabeth "Cleopatra" Taylor
Talking Wednesday morning on AirTalk about the death of Elizabeth Taylor reminded me of one of my earliest memories of movies. I was nearly five years old and looking at the calendar pages of the Los Angeles Times as it rested open on the breakfast nook table at my grandparents’ house in the View Park neighborhood of southwest L.
Online tax collections
No, I’m not talking about Internet-based IRS audits. Instead, it’s the ongoing battle to collect sales taxes from web-based retailers like Amazon.
Does "no fly" fly with you?
That was the question I asked AirTalk listeners Monday morning after U. S. jets attacked Libyan military facilities starting over the weekend. I have to admit I was taken by surprise over the action, as I was enjoying a few days of spring training baseball in Arizona.
Cokie and Steve Roberts have good advice for interfaith marriages
The NPR veteran and her journalist husband Steve have written Our Haggadah: Uniting Traditions for Interfaith Families. The book is largely taken from what Cokie created in 1970 to guide the Roberts’ inclusive Seder.
Japan's eathquake and tsunami shoves our region's vulnerabilities back into our face
There’s no getting around that most of us move through our days without giving much thought to what a large magnitude quake would do to Southern California. The scale of such an event, and resulting destruction, is too unpleasant to ponder, unless you’re paid to do it.
Listeners are on fire
There’s no other way to put it, given the tremendous financial support we’re seeing during this spring member drive. It’s hard to express how gratifying it is to watch this level of response to our requests for listener membership.
The challenge of responding to a breaking story
Often on AirTalk we begin one or more of the program’s hours with a breaking news story. Usually it’s not something completely out of the blue, but a major development in an ongoing story.
Made it by that much
It was looking shaky this morning for making our $5,000 challenge from a Southern California Public Radio board member. We were a long way from the threshold for fulfillment, and it looked like we might miss out for the second time in one morning.
The Southwest Los Angeles council district race turns rancorous on AirTalk
I expected the biggest debate fireworks in the Northeast Los Angeles race between incumbent Jose Huizar and challenger Rudy Martinez. A couple weeks ago the two joined me on AirTalk, and it was clear there was no love lost between the men.
