February 11 - 15, 2008
Monday, Feb. 11
WGA Strike Settlement
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Larry Mantle talks with Patric Verrone, President of the WGA West about the details of the strike settlement.
Detainees Charged
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The Pentagon said this morning that it will seek the death penalty for six Guantanamo Bay detainees. These detainees will be charged with murder and war crimes in the September 11th terrorist attacks. Larry talks with Charles Stimson, Senior Legal Fellow at the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation, and Charles Doskow, Professor of Law at the University of La Verne College of Law.
Primary Results And Upcoming Previews
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Larry Mantle talks with Jonathan Martin, senior political writer, from Politico.com, and Doyle McManus, Washington Bureau Chief for the L.A. Times about the results of the Primaries over the weekend.
An Eater's Manifesto
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Author Michael Pollan joins Larry Mantle to talk about what to eat, what not to eat and how we should think about our health in today's daunting dietary environment where most of what we're consuming is not food but rather "nutrients" or "edible food substances." His new book, "In Defense of Food" is a response to his national bestseller The Omnivore's Dilemma and tells us to "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
Tuesday, Feb. 12
Will Your Vote Count?
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Many Nonpartisan voters in Los Angeles County who voted in last Tuesday's presidential primaries will not have their votes counted. According to acting Registrar Dean Logan, an estimated 49,500 votes cast by decline-to-state voters cannot be counted because their intentions are unclear. Nonpartisan voters were unaware of the need to fill in a bubble indicating whether they were voting in the Democratic Party or American Independent Party, and many declined to state, thus making their votes uncountable. While Logan maintains that the ballot system is too complicated for the lost votes to be recounted, voter advocates consider Logan's decision a disenfranchisement of L.A. voters, and urged him to reconsider. This hour, Larry talks to Rick Hasen, Professor of Law at Loyola Law School, Rick Jacobs of the Courage Campaign, Eric Bauman, Chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, and L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. Larry will also take calls from listeners.
Blue Cross Asking Doctors For Information On New Patients
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The L.A. Times has obtained a letter sent from Blue Cross to a physician that asked the Doctor to provide medical information about new patients seeking to be insured by Blue Cross. The letters are intended to find out if the patient has any undisclosed, pre-existing conditions which would be cause for cancellation of the policy. Larry talks with David Aizuss, M.D., Physician with the California Medical Association, and President of the L.A. County Medical Association about the issue.
Prescription Drug Abuse
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Deaths from prescription drug overdoses are on the rise. In the wake of Heath Ledger's death, due to an overdose of prescription medications, Larry Mantle takes a look at the problem of prescription drug abuse. Larry talks with Greg Thompson, Pharm.D, associate professor at USC's School of Pharmacy, and Richard Rawson, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry at the Semel Institute at UCLA, and Associate Director of the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Program.
Joan Rivers
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Best known as a comedienne and red-carpet fashion laureate, Joan Rivers is also a Tony nominated actress; best-selling author; Emmy Award-winning talk-show host; writer, and businesswoman. Her new play, "Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress," opens Wednesday at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood. She joins Larry to talk about the play and her long and varied career.
Wednesday, Feb. 13
Potomac Primaries Analysis
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Larry talks with John Decker, Reuters Political Reporter and Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, Political Analyst for KNBC and senior scholar at the USC's School of Policy, Planning and Development about the results of the Potomac Primaries.
What Should Superdelegates Do?
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Larry Mantle talks with Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, Political Analyst for KNBC and senior scholar at the USC's School of Policy, Planning and Development, and Art Torres, California Democratic Party Chair, and takes listener calls about the role of Superdelegates in the Presidential election.
Fifth Anniversary of the Conflict in Darfur
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Larry and his guests discuss the ongoing violence in Darfur. They look at the role of international peacekeepers and the diplomatic efforts that are being employed to resolve the conflict. Guests include Shashank Bengali, Africa correspondent for McClatchy newspapers, Scott Baldauf, Africa bureau chief for the Christian Science Monitor, Ambassador Jan Eliasson, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Darfur, and Ambassador Donald Steinberg, Deputy President at the International Crisis Group in New York.
Thursday, Feb. 14
Most L.A. County Clinics May Close
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LA County healthcare officials have drafted a cost-cutting plan that calls for closing all but one of the county's dozen clinics. Services at the county's six comprehensive outpatient health centers would also be reduced in an effort to cut a $195 million deficit. Together the county health centers get about 400,000 primary care visits a year - nearly two-thirds of them from uninsured patients. Larry and discusses the proposal with the County's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bruce Chernoff, County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, and community healthcare advocates Lark Galloway Gilliam and Yolanda Vera.
What's Great About Orange County's Great Park
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Orange County Great Park chairman Larry Agran joins Larry Mantle to respond to criticisms leveled by OC News journalists regarding the Great Park and its management.
Inland Empire News Update
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Larry Mantle talks with Steven Cuevas, KPCC's Inland Empire Reporter, and Michelle DeArmond, columnist with The Press Enterprise, about the latest news, events, and developments in the Inland Empire.
Who You Gonna Run With?
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Larry Mantle takes calls from listeners and talks with political insiders Dan Schnur and Darry Sragow about possible vice-presidential running mates for John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
George Benson
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Jazz guitarist and performer George Benson talks with Larry Mantle about his career and upcoming concert at Disney Concert Hall. The concert, a tribute to Nat King Cole, promises to be a one-of-a-kind evening with the acoustic guitar master as he performs some of Nat's timeless classics and his own favorite hits.
Friday, Feb. 15
Pico/Olympic One-Way Traffic Plan to Begin March 8th
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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has ordered Los Angeles transportation officials to implement a plan to make Pico Boulevard mostly one-way eastbound and Olympic Boulevard mostly one-way westbound. The plan will be in effect from the Santa Monica city limits to Fairfax Avenue. Parking will be forbidden on all but a few stretches of Pico and Olympic boulevards during rush hour beginning March 8th. Larry talks with City Councilmen Jack Weiss and Bill Rosendahl about the pros and cons of the plan.
New Los Angeles Times Editor Russ Stanton
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Larry talks with new L.A. Times editor Russ Stanton about his new role and his priorities for the paper moving forward.
It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a Satellite!
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Taking a page from Hollywood science fiction, the Pentagon said Thursday that a Navy cruiser somewhere in the northern Pacific will make an unprecedented attempt as soon as next week to shoot down an errant satellite with a missile, just before the spacecraft enters Earth's atmosphere. Military and administration officials said the satellite is carrying fuel called hydrazine that could injure or even kill people who are near it when it hits the ground. The dramatic maneuver may trigger international concerns, and U.S. officials have begun notifying other countries of the plan, stressing that it does not signal the start of a new American anti-satellite weapons program. Larry Mantle talks about the unusual problem with New York Times Associate Editor Philip Taubman.
American Cinema of the Late 1960's
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The 1960's were tumultuous not only in our country's political and social history but in our cultural and entertainment history as well. Larry talks with entertainment journalist Mark Harris whose new book, Picture at a Revolution, takes an in-depth look at the films and filmmakers that transformed American cinema in the late 60's. In it Harris tracks the five Best Picture nominees at the 1968 Academy Awards: The Graduate; Bonnie and Clyde; In the Heat of the Night; Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and Dr. Doolittle from concept to Oscar night.
FilmWeek Reviews
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Larry and critics Lael Loewenstein of Variety, Henry Sheehan of henrysheehan.com, and Charles Solomon of amazon.com review some of the week's new feature films including Definitely Maybe, Jumpers, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Diary of the Dead, and The Killing of John Lennon as well as the 2007 Academy Award Nominated Short Films.
