January 17 - 21, 2005
Monday, Jan. 17
The Changing Political Landscape in Los Angeles
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Raphael Sonenshein, Professor of Political Science, Cal State Fullerton, Kathy Feng, Voting Rights Attorney, Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California, Connie Rice, civil rights attorney (and SCPR Board member), and Fernando Guerra, PhD., Associate Professor of Political Science, Loyola Marymount University, join Host Larry Mantle for a discussion of the changing political landscape in Los Angeles. Together they look at the evolving political voice of the African-American, Asian-American, and Latino communities of Los Angeles.
Ken Burns' New Documentary: "Unforgivable Blackness--The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson"
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Larry Mantle talks to acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns about his latest documentary on Jack Johnson, the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World, whose dominance over his white opponents spurred furious debates and race riots in the early 20th century.
Robert Olen Butler
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Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Robert Olen Butler joins Host Larry Mantle to discuss his latest book, Had a Good Time: Stories From American Postcards (Grove Press). It is a collection of stories based on old postcards found by Mr. Butler. He spins a story off each postcard’s message and image, creating imaginative stories from a few lines written by a complete stranger.
Tuesday, Jan. 18
Mayoral Debate
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"AirTalk" Host Larry Mantle moderates the first-ever Young Professionals Mayoral debate. Present were candidates Bob Hertzberg, Sen. Richard Alarcon, Councilman Parks and Councilman Villaraigosa.
Condoleezza Rice Confirmation Hearings
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Larry discusses today’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearings of Dr. Condoleeza Rice to be the Secretary of State in President Bush’s cabinet. Joining Larry is David Menefee-Libey, professor of Politics at Pomona College, California Congressman Xavier Becerra, 31st District, Arnold Steinberg, political consultant & writer, and Ken Matsugi, Senior Fellow at the Claremont Institute.
Mario & Melvin Van Peebles
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Larry Mantle talks with Mario and Melvin Van Peebles. Melvin Van Peebles, father of Mario, was the man behind the groundbreaking 1971 independent film “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassss Song.” The film ushered in a new genre of action films with black stars, which would come to be called “Blaxploitation” films. Mario Van Peeble’s recent film “BAADASSSSS!”, which was just nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, tells the story of his father journey while making “Sweet Sweetback” three decades ago.
Wednesday, Jan. 19
California's Death Penalty
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Yesterday Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected condemned killer Donald Beardslee's request for a stay of execution. The US Supreme Court turned down remaining appeals, which cleared the way for Beardslee's execution early this morning at San Quentin State Prison. This made him the 11th person executed in California since the Death Penalty was reinstated in 1977. Over 600 mean and women remain on California’s death row, the largest condemened population in the nation. Larry talks with experts on both sides of the death penalty debate. Joining him is Kent Scheidegger, Legal Director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in Sacramento, a public interest foundation supporting the rights of crime victims; Steve Rohde, Vice President of Death Penalty Focus, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization dedicated to the abolishment of capital punishment; Mort Borenstein, an attorney specializing in capital cases, who spent 20 years as a public defender in LA County, and Bill Wood, Supervising Deputy Attorney General in charge of the capital litigation team in the San Diego Office of the state Attorney General.
Iraq: When Can the US Pull Out?
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An article in the Los Angeles Times yesterday quoted unnamed military commanders as saying that it may not be feasible to fully defeat the insurgency on the ground in Iraq. Instead, they say, the focus should shift from offensive operations to training Iraqi troops to combat the counterinsurgency. Peter Khalil, visiting fellow at Sabhan Center for Middle East policy at the Brookings Institute, and Stephen Metz, Research Professor at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College, join host Larry Mantle to discuss this admission and where the US goes from here. When can our troops safely leave Iraq? What is acceptable threshold to leave while a counterinsurgency remains?
Thom Mayne
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Thom Mayne is the founder of the LA- based architecture firm Morphosis, which means “'to be in formation.” He joins Host Larry Mantle to discuss his work and ideas. One of Mr. Mayne’s many projects is the new Caltrans District 7 headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.
Thursday, Jan. 20
Presidential Inauguration
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President George W. Bush will be inaugurated for his second term at noon today, Eastern Time. Thousands of people are in the capitol for the inauguration and the four days of celebrations surrounding it. Protestors and supporters of President Bush will line the streets from the White House to the US Capitol building, where Bush will be sworn in as the 55th President of the United States. Mitch Frank, political reporter for Time magazine, and Don Frederick, Congress/politics editor in the Los Angeles Times’ Washington, D.C. Bureau, join Larry Mantle to talk about the Inauguration.
Second Presidential Terms
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Mark A. Peterson, chair of the UCLA department of public policy and professor of public policy and political science, and Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll, join Host Larry Mantle to discuss second presidential terms. How much approval do presidents get in their second terms? How does Congress regard a president who will not be up for reelection? What is the agenda for Bush’s second term?
Orange County Journalist “Roundtable”
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Larry Mantle talks with Orange County journalists 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, about the latest news events and developments in Orange County.
A Status Update on the Reconstruction of Afghanistan
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Dr. Larry Goodson, Director of Middle East Studies at the Army War College, has a new article coming out in the January issue of the Journal of Democracy, titled “Bullets, Ballots, and Poppies in Afghanistan.” Goodson writes that the US is learning some lessons and making some progress in Afghanistan. However, there remains much work to be done, and many problems to solve—-fragmentation, violence and an opium economy. Dr. Goodson joins Larry to give a status update on the US and allied efforts to rebuild Afghanistan.
Banking on Baghdad
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Journalist and author Edwin Black joins Larry Mantle to talk about Iraq’s tumultuous 7,000 year history through the lens of global business--from banking corporations to petropolitics. Black traces the history of foreign involvement in Iraq, and explains why the country’s resources are still so prized in today’s global economy. His new book is called Banking on Baghdad: Inside Iraq’s 7,000-year History of War, Profit, and Conflict (Wiley).
Friday, Jan. 21
Workers' Comp Reform: Winners and Losers
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There is a new political action group of voters injured at work: VotersInjuredatWork.org They are protesting changes in the workers' compensation system that have been implemented to curb employers’ rising costs. Larry and experts take a look at who has been helped and who has been harmed by the changes to workers’ comp. Joining him is John Garamendi, State Insurance Commissioner and David Neumark, an economist with the Public Policy Institute of California. He is author of the PPIC’s report “The Workers’ Compensation Crisis in California: A Primer.” Also participating is KPCC Reporter Rachael Myrow, Rick Rice, Assistant Secretary of the California Workplace and Development Agency, Nicole Mahrt, spokeswoman with the American Insurance Association, and Steve Duncan, member of the Board of Directors of VIAW—Voters Injured at Work.
Inglewood Police Officers Win Discrimination Lawsuit
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On Wednesday, a jury gave a financial award to two Inglewood police officers, including $1.6 million to former Inglewood police officer Jeremy Morse, who was terminated after being videotaped punching a black youth in the face. What does this jury award mean for police departments, who must discipline officers? What does it mean for the cities that are liable in such cases? And what does it mean for the officers themselves? Gary Fullerton, practicing attorney who often defends police officers, a former LAPD Detective, and the former director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, Laurie Levenson, Professor of Law at Loyola law School, and Mike Gennaco, Chief Attorney, Office of Independent Review for the LA County Sheriff’s Department, join Larry to discuss the case and its broader ramifications.
FilmWeek
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Larry Mantle with critics
Peter Rainer of New York Magazine and
Andy Klein, film editor and chief critic of both
CityBeat and ValleyBeat
discuss the new film releases for this week including
Assault on Precinct 13, Dolls, In the Realms of the Unreal,
and The Big Red One: The Reconstruction.
Both the 5th annual 70mm Festival. and the Guy Madden film series with the
American Cinematheque
were also highlighted.
Peter Rainer's Top Ten List:
Sideways
Hero
Los Angeles Plays Itself
The Incredibles
The Return
Osama
Story of the Weeping Camel
Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer
Before Sunset
Bright Leaves
