October 20 - 24, 2003
Monday, Oct. 20
Strike Update
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Guest Host Patt Morrison speaks with Reverend Jesse Jackson, Founder and President of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, and Rick Icaza, President of UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers Union), Local 77, to get an update on the status of supermarket workers who have been striking for a week.
Los Angeles Film Critics Cancel Awards
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The Los Angeles Film Critics Association announced this morning that they have canceled their 2003 awards. The group is protesting an industry ban on sending special DVD‰Þªs and videos of eligible films to award voters. Jean Oppenheimer, President, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and AirTalk FilmWeek critic, joins guest Host Patt Morrison to discuss the issue.
Will More Military Bases Be Closed in California?
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Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has said that U.S. military bases are at 25% over-capacity, and that a large round of base closures will take place in 2005. California lost about one-hundred-thousand jobs in four rounds of base closures that took place between 1988 and 1995. How much will California be impacted this time around? Patt Morrison talks to Los Angeles Times reporter Tony Perry, Bill Borado, President of the Ventura County Economic Development Association, and military analyst Loren Thompsen.
Passing: When People Can't Be Who They Are
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Journalist and author Brooke Kroeger interviewed people who ‰ÞÏpass‰Þð for something that they are not, usually in the face of some kind of social injustice. Her subjects include a white teacher in the South who passed for black, a gay seminarian, and a lesbian in the Navy. Kroeger probes their motivations for deception and examines the nature of how people define themselves in American society versus how society defines them. Brooke Kroeger joins guest Host Patt Morrison to discuss her new book Passing: When People Can‰Þªt Be Who They Are (Public Affairs).
Al Franken
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After having dissected the factual inaccuracies of talk show host Rush Limbaugh in Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot, humorist and author Al Franken tackles a larger foes like President George Bush and the Bush Administration, Ann Coulter, Bill O‰ÞªReilly and scores of other conservatives, whom Franken says, are playing loose with the facts. His new book is called Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right (Dutton).
Tuesday, Oct. 21
First Lady Sharon Davis
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Guest Host Patt Morrison speaks with First Lady of California Sharon Davis about the recall‰Þªs aftermath and the plans that she and her husband have for the future.
Bush‰Þªs Environmental Policy
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Bush chose Utah Governor Michael Leavitt to head up the EPA, after Christie Todd Whitman left the agency. This changing of the guard comes amidst ongoing criticism of the Administration‰Þªs environmental policies. Defenders of Bush‰Þªs environmental record say that his Clean Air Act has done a great deal to help air quality. They say that managed logging is not a problem, as it is a sustainable industry; that water pollution has decreased, and note how Bush has ordered stricter emissions standards. Critics of the Administration‰Þªs environmental record say that Bush‰Þªs policies are a disaster on all fronts, and that California‰Þªs emission standards will be undermined by the EPA. Greg Wetstone, Director of Advocacy at the National Resources Defense Council and Jim Di Peso, Policy Director for Republicans for Environmental Protection join guest Host Patt Morrison to discuss the Administration‰Þªs environmental record.
The Spoken Word
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Professor of Linguistics John McWhorter and Patricia Skarda, professor of English at Smith College join guest Host Patt Morrison to discuss the demise of rhetoric and oratory in the American public arena. They contend that we have become a nation of sound-bytes, which has no place for the eloquent speeches of yesteryear, like the Gettysburg Address or the more recent speeches of John F. Kennedy. What happened to oratory in America, and what does its demise say about contemporary culture?
Mexican Folk Art
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Patt Morrison talks with Assistant Curator of Ethnology at the Natural History Museum, Bill Wood and Melinda Casares of Banamex about the new exhibit at the Natural History Museum, ‰ÞÏGrandes Maestros: Mexican Folk Art.‰Þð The exhibit runs from October 19th, 2003 through January 4th, 2004.
Wednesday, Oct. 22
Disney Hall: Changing The Downtown Landscape
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The construction of Walt Disney Concert Hall is certain to become a catalyst for changes in the cultural and economic landscape of downtown Los Angeles. Patt Morrison talks about plans for transforming the Grand Avenue corridor, The Music Center and other downtown cultural landmarks with John Emerson, CEO of the Music Center of LA County.
The Orchestra
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Patt Morrison speaks with Martin Chalifour, the Principle Concert Master (First Violin) of the Los Angeles Philharmonic about what it‰Þªs like play in WDCH. They‰Þªll discuss the unique characteristics of the hall and the exciting prospect of making music in a new orchestral venue created especially for the LA Phil.
Walt Disney Concert Hall And The Los Angeles Philharmonic Reach Out
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Deborah Borda, joins Patt Morrison to talk about how the new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic will become a magnet for visitors and patrons alike. Borda will discuss her plans to reach out to new audiences with unique programming and increased accessibility.
Designing Disney Hall
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Architect Frank Gehry joins Patt to discuss the magnificent design and the challenging construction of Walt Disney Concert Hall.
The Sound Of Disney Hall
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Edward Yim, Director of Artistic Planning for the LA Philharmonic joins Patt to talk about programming for the WDCH. They‰Þªll discuss the variety of Already the acoustics of Walt Disney Concert Hall are being heralded as exceptionally brilliant. The hall‰Þªs acoustician, Yasu Toyota, joins Patt and architect Frank Gehry with whom he worked so closely, to discuss the creation of the concert hall sound and what its unique characteristics are.
Programming A New Season In A New Hall and Dining At Disney Hall
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Edward Yim, Director of Artistic Planning for the LA Philharmonic joins Patt to talk about programming for the WDCH. They‰Þªll discuss the variety of new programs being offered during the concert season including the several festivals, themes and projects such as the ‰ÞÏCreation Festival,‰Þð ‰ÞÏFirst Nights‰Þð and a project called ‰ÞÏBuilding Music.‰Þð And, Chef and founder of The Patina Group, Joachim Splichal joins Patt to talk about the culinary offerings available during the opening Galas of Disney Hall and the restaurants and dining rooms that he will assist in creating for Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Thursday, Oct. 23
Southern California Environmental Report Card, 2003: Smart Growth
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UCLA Professor Jonathan Zasloff wrote the chapter on Smart Growth in the 2003 Environmental Report Card issued by the UCLA Institute of the Environment. Professor Zasloff gave the City of Los Angeles a grade of ‰ÞÏB-‰ÞÏ He joins guest Host Patt Morrison to discuss the Housing Element part of the General Plan. Is the City of Los Angeles doing what it needs to in terms of planning for the City‰Þªs future housing needs? Also joining the conversation is Jack Weiss, Los Angeles City Council member for the Fifth District. Mr. Weiss serves on the Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
State Employee Layoffs
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Governor Davis‰Þªs 2003-2004 budget calls for 1.1 billion in payroll cuts. This amounts to approximately 16,000 state employee jobs. Only 500 jobs have been eliminated so far. What are the options for governor-elect Schwarzenegger, and what impact are massive layoffs likely to have on the local economy? Patt talks with Jim Hard, Director of the California State Employees Association‰Þªs Civil Service Division, Marty Morgenstern, Director of the Department of Personnel Services for the State of California, and Jack Kyser, Chief Economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation.
Science Talk with Michael Shermer
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Patt Morrison talks about the latest science stories with Michael Shermer, KPCC science expert, and publisher of Skeptic Magazine.
Friday, Oct. 24
The Florida Case Of Terri Schiavo
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Guest host Patt Morrison discusses the case of Terri Schiavo who has been in a persistent vegetative state for 13 years following cardiac arrest. Her husband, Michael and her parents are at odds over whether or not to remove her feeding tube to allow her to die. Patt is joined by experts Neil Wenger, MD, UCLA professor of Medicine and Health Services Research. A national expert in quality of life issues, and John Peter Gruen , MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Neurological Surgery, Keck School of Medicine at USC.
400 Years Of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, And Heroines
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In her new social history, America‰Þªs Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines, Gail Collins, the first woman to head up the New York Times editorial pages, surveyed American women going back four hundred years from the lives of colonial housewives to the can do everything women of the 21st century. Patt Morrison talks with Gail Collins about America‰Þªs women and their ‰ÞÏstruggle to straighten out the perpetually mixed messages about women‰Þªs role that was excepted by almost everybody of both genders.‰Þð
FilmWeek
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Guest host John Rabe and critics
Andy Klein, film editor and chief critic of both
CityBeat and ValleyBeat,
Peter Rainer of New York Magazine
and
Charles Solomon, animation critic for amazon.com
discuss this week's new film releases, including In the Cut, Elephant, Brother Bear, The Singing Detective, The Party's Over,
Bus 174,
and To Be and to Have.
