August 2 - 6, 2004
Monday, Aug. 2
California Performance Review
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The California Performance Review, a panel created by Arnold Schwarzenegger, will present their recommendations to the governor next week. The report calls for sweeping changes in state government – the elimination of 118 boards and 1,153 commissions – and massive consolidation of state bureaucracies. Larry Mantle talks with Rob Stutzman, Director of Communications for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; State Senator Jack Scott, Republican Assemblyman Ray Haynes; Jaime Court, Executive Director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights; and John White, Senior Advisor to the Sierra Club
The Raising of The Terror Alert in Manhattan, Newark and Washington D.C
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Host Larry Mantle talks with WNYC reporter Fred Mogul, Reporter Chris Keating from WBGO in Newark, and Sidsel Overgaard, morning producer for WAMU in Washington D.C.
Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality and Gay People's Right
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Author Evan Wolfson, a civil rights litigator, will join Larry to discuss the human significance of the right to marry in America. His new book considers how marriage equality will affect our lives and what is at stake for our country in this civil rights movement. Also joining the discussion will be Pepperdine School of Law Professor Douglas Kmiec.
Tuesday, Aug. 3
Antonio Villaraigosa announces his candidacy for Mayor of Los Angeles.
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Larry Mantle talks with Los Angeles City Councilman for the 14th District, Antonio Villaraigosa about his candidacy for the Mayor of Los Angeles.
President Bush supports the creation of a National Intelligence Director and a National Counterterrorism Center
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Larry Mantle talks with Amy Zegart, assistant professor of policy studies at UCLA who specializes in National Security issues, about President Bush's plans to respond to the 9-11 commission's recommendations.
The creation of the modern FBI and the criminals who became national icons
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Larry Mantle talks with the author of Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34, Bryan Burrough about the creation of the FBI and the most spectacular crime wave in American history.
Polarization of the media
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A recent Pew Research Center study indicates that news audiences are increasingly politicized. Far more Republicans watch the Fox News Channel than CNN. The reverse is also true; CNN’s audience is more heavily Democratic than is Fox’s. Larry is joined by Jonathan Taplin, Professor of Communication at USC’s Annenberg School of Communication and Tim Graham, Director of Media Research for the Media Research Center, to discuss the survey and its implications. Are Americans seeking news sources that only reinforce their political beliefs? If so, what does that say about our ability to understand other points of view and make informed decisions?
Grief counseling for young children
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While children seem to eventually recover from the loss of primary attachment figures there is considerable evidence that the loss can have profound effects on psychological development and the child’s overall well being. Larry Mantle talks with Joan Etherton, Children’s Program Director and co-founder of The Center for Grief and Loss For Children in Glendale, and Linda Garcia, Manager of the Chase Child Life Program at Children’s Hospital about grief and young children.
Wednesday, Aug. 4
Private Communities, Public Access
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As more and more gated communities are built in Southern California, more conflicts with surrounding neighbors are arising over public access to roads, trails and parks. The latest controversy concerns the decision by the Los Angeles City Council to allow the erection of a gate on Canyon Back Road near Brentwood. Opponents of the gate say it’s illegal, and that it would restrict public access to the Santa Monica Mountains. Larry's guests include Wendy Rosen, President of the Upper Mandeville Canyon Association; Richard Zien, former chairperson of the Gate Committee for the Crown Homeowners Association; and Tom Freeman, pro-bono council for the Canyon Back Alliance.
Al Qaeda and The Internet
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A recent New Yorker article states that one group that tracks terror Web sites has gone from monitoring twelve sites to monitoring more than four thousand. An article in next month’s Atlantic Monthly chronicles information discovered on the main computer used by Al-Qaeda's chief strategists in the years leading up to 2001, including information about tactics, motivations, and the planning of September 11th. Larry speaks with Paul Eedle, journalist and director of the London based Out There News, about Al Qaeda's increasing reliance on the internet for their own communication and to further its goals.
Mexico
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Larry Mantle talks with Los Angeles Times staff writer Sam Quinones about a variety of issues in Mexico including the recent elections.
Slow Down!
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One day, journalist Carl Honore realized that his life was far too hectic. He rushed through airports, he was grumpy all the time, and he even rushed his son’s bed-time stories. When he saw a newspaper article extolling the virtues of “the one-minute bedtime story,” he realized that something had to give and wrote a book called "In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement in Challenging the Cult of Speed" (HarperCollins). He tapped into a larger zeitgeist, the slow movement, a reaction to the crazed speed of contemporary life. Carl Honore joins Host Larry Mantle to discuss the art of slowing-down.
Thursday, Aug. 5
City Council Hinders Wal-Mart in Los Angeles
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Two Los Angeles City Council panels have unanimously approved proposals to hinder the opening of Wal-Mart super stores in Los Angeles. Larry Mantle speaks with LA City Councilman Eric Garcetti about the anti-Wal-Mart proposals that will be voted on next week by the full council. He also talks with Ken Jacobs from the UC Berkeley Labor Center about a recent study he co-authored that documents the cost of low wages at Wal-Mart on social services in California, and with Pete Kanelos, Regional Director of Government Relations for Wal-Mart.
Orange County Journalist "Roundtable"
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Larry Mantle talks with Orange County journalists about the latest news events and developments in Orange County. Joining Larry is Chris Reed, Orange County Register op-ed column editor, Jean Pasco, Los Angeles Times staff writer and Gustavo Arellano, Staff Writer for the OC Weekly.
Modern Warfare and The American Soldier
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Larry Mantle talks with author Evan Wright about his new book Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America and the New Face of American War (Putnam). In the book, Wright expands on his three-part series that appeared in Rolling Stone that focused on the twenty-three Marines of First Recon who spearheaded the blitzkrieg on Iraq. Evan Wright lived on the front lines with this platoon from the opening hours of combat to the fall of Baghdad through the start of the guerrilla war.
The Medical Reserve Corps
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The Medical Reserve Corps of Los Angeles is a volunteer group of retired doctors and nurses who have organized to provide auxiliary medical services during an emergency caused by a terrorist attack. Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Raymond Goodman, Director of the Medical Reserve Corps in Los Angeles, about the scope of its mission and its connections to the federal government especially the Department of Homeland Security.
Friday, Aug. 6
Mars Rover Update
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Scientific findings from the NASA rover Spirit’s first three months on Mars have been released today. Researchers, using Spirit’s toolkit of geological instruments from early January into April, have read the record from rocks and soil in the rover’s landing area and found a history of volcanic blanketing, impact cratering, wind effects and possible past episodes of scant underground liquid water. Larry Mantle talks with JPL Project Scientist Dr. Joy Crisp.
John Kerry and George Bush's Foreign Policies
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We’ve heard a lot of rhetoric from both the Bush Administration and from the Kerry campaign, but just how do their foreign policy platforms compare? Joining Larry to discuss the foreign policy platforms is Kiron Skinner, assistant professor of history and political science at Carnegie Mellon, research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and an unofficial/surrogate foreign policy advisor for the Bush-Cheney campaign. Also joining the conversation is New Yorker Washington correspondent Phillip Gourevitch and John Dalton, former Secretary of the Navy under President Clinton. Mr. Dalton is a trustee and an advisor to the Kerry campaign.
FilmWeek
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Larry Mantle and critics
Peter Rainer of New York Magazine
and
Scott Foundas of Variety
and the L.A. Weekly
discuss this week's new film releases, including Collateral, Open Water, Code 46, Little Black Book, Bang Rajan,
Los Angeles Sees Itself and Stander.
