July 25 - 29, 2005
Monday, July 25
SAN DIEGO MAYORAL RACE
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Eleven candidates appear on Tuesday's ballot for mayor of San Diego. If no one wins a majority in the nonpartisan race, the top two finishers will compete in a Nov. 8th runoff. Larry talks about the election with LA Times San Diego Bureau Chief Tony Perry and Richard Babcock, V.P. and Chief Security Officer for Datamar, Inc., a political campaign polling and software firm.
KING/DREW UPDATE
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Larry Mantle talks with guests about the latest problems plaguing King/Drew Medical Center. Can the hospital and trauma center recover? Larry talks with LA Times reporter Charles Ornstein, Kae Robertson, Managing Director at Navigant Consulting
and LA County Supervisor Yvonne Burke.
THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT
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Polls says a majority of Americans now think the war in Iraq is a bad idea but most feel we need to stay there. Larry explores the state of the anti-war movement with U.S. Congressman Xavier Becerra, civil rights activist and Occidental College professor Tom Hayden, Leslie Cagan of United for Peace and Justice, Ian Thompson of the International Answer Coalition, Ann Roesler of Military Families Speak Out, and Tim Goodrich, Co-founder of Iraq Veterans Against the War .
TOUR DE LANCE
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Larry talks with Bicycling Magazine editor and chief Steve Madden about the results of this year's Tour de France.
Tuesday, July 26
SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY LAUNCH
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The space shuttle Discovery launched at 7:39am, Pacific Time, this morning from Cape Canaveral, Florida; the 114th space shuttle flight in 24 years. Discover was originally set to lift off on July 13th but the launch was scrubbed due to a faulty sensor. This spacecraft has a redesigned external fuel tank and nearly 50 other improvements made in the wake of the Columbia tragedy two and a half years ago. Larry talks with former shuttle astronaut, Scott Horowitz, about today’s launch and the shuttle’s return to flight.
STATE SPENDING CAP: “LIVE WITHIN OUR MEANS” ACT
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Governor Schwarzenegger is asking voters to support a measure that will cut government spending. The “Live Within Our Means” Act will limit how much lawmakers can increase the state’s budget by tying allotted budget growth to the average state revenue increase of the previous three years. Schwarzenegger’s proposal is aligned with a nationwide conservative strategy to curtail state budget growth. Larry Mantle talks with LA Times staff writer Evan Halper, Jean Ross of the California Budget Project and Mitch Zak of the Schwarzenegger Coalition.
DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ: A MISSED OPPORTUNITY?
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Larry Mantle talks with Larry Diamond, former senior advisor to the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq about his new book Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq. In the book, Diamond argues that the American effort was hampered not only by insurgents and terrorists but also by a long chain of miscalculations, missed opportunities, and acts of ideological blindness that helped assure the transition to independence would be neither peaceful nor entirely democratic.
MICHAEL RITCHIE
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Larry Mantle talks with the Center Theatre Group’s new artistic director Michael Ritchie.
Wednesday, July 27
FULLERTON-BASED NATIONAL GUARD UNIT UNDER INVESTIGATION IN IRAQ
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A Fullerton-based company of the California Army National Guard is under investigation in Iraq for detainee abuse and extortion of shopkeepers. The 130-soldier company has been put on restricted duty and its commander, Lt. Col. Patrick Frey, suspended while the army reviews the allegations. Larry Mantle talks with LA Times California correspondent Rone Tempest and Hal Kempfer of the United States Marine Corps Reserve.
SAN DIEGO MAYORAL RACE
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Eleven candidates appeared on Tuesday's ballot for mayor of San Diego. Larry talks about the election results with Tony Perry, San Diego Bureau Chief for the Los Angeles Times.
AFL-CIO LABOR SPLIT
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How will Southern California labor unions be affected by the national split? Larry Mantle talks with Ruth Milkman of the UCLA Institute for Industrial Relations and Patrick Kelly, Secretary-Treasurer for the Teamsters’ Local 952.
FREAKONOMICS
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So-called “rogue economist,” Steven D. Levitt and author Stephen J. Dubner join Larry Mantle to talk about their surprising and amusing New York Times bestseller Freakonomics. The book uses economics that show that much conventional wisdom and many “facts” that we take for granted are downright wrong.
MADHOUSE
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In 1907 Dr. Henry Cotton took charge of New Jersey’s state insane asylum, convinced that mental illness was caused by bacterial infection in the body. For over 20 years he began a program of removing teeth, tonsils, uteruses, and colons, often forcibly, believing that if he could remove hidden infections, he could cure the insane. He claimed an 85% cure rate, when the death rate from his colon surgery was close to 30%. The operations continued unabated until Cotton’s death in 1933, and in fact teeth removal at the Trenton asylum was still routine up until 1960. University of California San Diego Professor of Sociology and Science Andrew Scull has just written an expose of this medical horror story, and its cover-up, called Madhouse: A Tragic Tale of Megalomania and Modern Medicine. Larry Mantle talks with the author.
Thursday, July 28
SPACE SHUTTLE FLEET GROUNDED
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NASA’s shuttle woes continue, as cameras spot more debris falling from the external fuel tank during its launch. While there’s no indication that Discovery is in danger, NASA has decided to ground the remainder of the fleet. What will this mean to the future of the shuttle program? Larry talks to Jim Rostohar of NASA and Dr. Louis Friedman, Executive Director of the Planetary Society.
INLAND EMPIRE HOSPITALS RANK POORLY IN CARE OF HEART ATTACK, PNEUMONIA PATIENTS
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A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine ranks Inland Empire hospitals as worst in the country in their care of patients with heart attacks and pneumonia. It found that 21 hospitals in San Bernardino and Riverside counties were the least likely to meet national medical standards proven to increase patients' chances of survival from those diseases. Larry Mantle talks with the study’s lead author, Dr. Ashish Jha from Harvard’s School of Public Health, and Glenn Melnick of USC’s School of Policy, Planning and Development.
ORANGE COUNTY JOURNALIST “ROUNDTABLE"
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Larry Mantle talks with Orange County Register op-ed column editor Steven Greenhut, OC Weekly senior editorial writer and columnist, Gustavo Arellano about the latest news events and developments in Orange County.
NEW SECRET PACT TO LIMIT GREENHOUSE GASES
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The White House has taken some heat for not signing onto a multi-national agreement on global warming called the Kyoto Protocol. On Wednesday, there was word that several nations including the United States, Australia, China and India have agreed to an alternative treaty that would limit greenhouse gases. Australia's Environment Minister, Ian Campbell, said this agreement targets rapidly developing countries that pump out large amounts of greenhouse gas. Larry Mantle talks with guests about the new multi-lateral agreement called the Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate.
SEX, DRUGS AND CLASSICAL MUSIC
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Journalist and oboist Blair Tindall joins Larry Mantle to talk about the surprising rock-and-roll lifestyles lived by many musicians and conductors inhabiting the insular world of classical music.
Friday, July 29
LA’S TRANSPORTATION FUTURE: WILL WE EVER GET THERE?
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A live remote broadcast from the boardroom at MTA headquarters, adjacent to Union Station. Larry talks Deputy Mayor Jaime de la Vega, County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, MTA Countywide Planning Chief Jim de la Losa, Friends 4 Expo Transit founder Darrell Clarke, and Metrolink CEO David Solow.
FilmWeek
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Larry Mantle and critics
Peter Rainer, past president of the National Society of Film Critics and
Lael Loewenstein of Variety
discuss this week's new releases, including Must Love Dogs, Sky High, The Aristocrats,
9 Songs, Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus, The Edukators, and Elevator to the Gallows.
