June 16 - 20, 2008
Monday, June 16
Finally Getting Married
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Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, who had been turned down for years at the Beverly Hills Courthouse in their requests for a marriage license, return to the courthouse today to become the first couple in Los Angeles County to receive a same-sex license and get married. They were plaintiffs in one of the lawsuits that led to the overturning of California's gay marriage ban. Also joining David is the deputy to the mayor of West Hollywood, Jacob Stevens, to discuss the arrangements the city is making to accommodate same-sex couples getting married.
Scott McClellan
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Scott McClellan is a former presidential press secretary whose new book, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," has thrust him into the spotlight. His account is critical both of the Bush Administration and of the media that follow blindly by what they're told. McClellan was also recently subpoenaed to testify before congress later this month on the Valerie Plame case. Guest host David Lazarus speaks with McClellan about his experiences in the White House and the reactions from Capitol Hill regarding his book.
Cloud Seeding In The San Gabriel Mountains
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Los Angeles County plans to launch an $800,000 cloud-seeding project in the San Gabriel Mountains in hopes of boosting rainfall and raising the levels at local reservoirs. The project, which will rely on injecting clouds with silver iodide particles, has won county supervisors' backing and is slated to begin this winter. Guest host David Lazarus speaks with William Saunders, Civil Engineer for Water Resources at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, Chris Stone, Principal Engineer for Water Resources at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, and Roelof Bruintjes, Lead researcher on weather modification at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
Salman Rushdie
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Noted Indian-British novelist Salman Rushdie made international headlines 20 years ago as the mark of an Islam-invoked fatwa for his writing. In his new book, "The Enchantress of Florence," Rushdie utilizes his signature magical realism to paint a picture of love and obsession in Renaissance Italy. The story borrows from both history and myth, from Eastern and Western cultures. Guest host David Lazarus speaks with Rushdie about his thriving and sometimes controversial career spanning two decades, as well as what lead him to write "The Enchantress of Florence." Salman Rushdie will be interviewed and signing tonight at 7:30 at "Writers Bloc," Writers Guild Theatre, 135 S. Doheny in Beverly Hills.
Tuesday, June 17
Same Sex Couples Tie The Knot
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David Lazarus talks with Carrie Kahn, NPR reporter, Adolfo Guzman Lopez, KPCC reporter, and Steven Cuevas, KPCC reporter at various locations where gay couples are getting married.
First Comes Love, And Then Comes Marriage...
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Many of the gay couples who will tie the knot today are, or will be, parents. How do gay couples parent? And do children with gay and lesbian parents turn out differently than the children with heterosexual parents? Guest host David Lazarus talks with Judy Appel, Executive Director of Our Family Coalition, and Matthew Staver, Founder and Chairman of the Liberty Council and takes listener calls.
Hillary Clinton Out As Vice Presidential Pick?
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Guest host David Lazarus talks with the political editor for NPR, Ken Rudin, about Patti Solis Doyle being hired as Chief of Staff for Obama's Vice Presidential candidate. Doyle was fired by the Clinton campaign earlier in the year for essentially being ineffective. What does this move mean by the Obama campaign?
Frontline Documentary: "Young And Restless In China"
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Guest host David Lazarus talks with Sue Williams, producer of the new FRONTLINE documentary, "Young and Restless in China," about the generation that is now coming of age in China, and how they are struggling to make their mark in an ever-changing climate. "Young and Restless in China" airs tonight on KCET from 9-11 p.m.
Don Felder, formerly of The Eagles
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Don Felder, former lead guitarist of the Eagles, one of America's most successful bands joins David Lazarus. In his new book, about life with the band, Felder chronicles the Eagles wild ride, from the pressure-packed recording studios to the trashed hotels rooms, from the mayhem to the clashing egos. He joined the band during the recording of The Eagles' third album in 1974 and stayed with them through their break-up after "The Long Run" and their resumption for the "Hell Freezes Over" tour from 1994 to 1996. He was fired from the band in 2001.
Wednesday, June 18
Off-shore Oil Drilling
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Guest host David Lazarus talks with experts about President Bush's assertion that we need to drill for oil off-shore immediately to alleviate rising gas and energy prices. Guests include Severin Borenstein, Director of the University of California Energy Institute, Ron Bailey, science correspondent for Reason magazine, and Daniel Heinerfeld, spokesman, for the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council).
Is The Price Of Gas Driving Us To Public Transit?
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Recent statistics on public transit in Los Angeles give a conflicting message, as more people are riding trains and light rail but fewer are taking the bus. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) spokesman David Sotero joins David Lazarus this morning to share more details. And David opens the phone lines to find out if LA drivers are parking their cars and using public alternatives to get around town.
FDA to Regulate Tobacco
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A bill before Congress would give control of tobacco products to the FDA. The agency would be able to reduce harmful ingredients in cigarettes, require new health warnings, and bar misleading labels such as "light" and "mild." Larry talks with Stephanie Saul, staff writer for the New York Times, Brad Sherman, Democratic Congressman, William S. Robinson, executive director of the African American Tobacco Prevention Network, and Mitch Zeller, Former Director of Tobacco Programs at the FDA.
The Science Of Trust
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What makes us trust strangers with our children, work, and money? Research shows that trust is in our biology and it's largely determined by a brain chemical called oxytocin. Researcher Paul Zak has been studying this hormone and how it affects our personal lives and society at large: his most recent findings appear in this month's Scientific American. Zak joins guest host David Lazarus this morning to talk about oxytocin and how it affects the decisions we make everyday in relationships, politics and economics.
Thursday, June 19
Online Privacy At Work
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The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that employers must have a worker's permission before reading electronic messages transmitted by an outside contractor. The court said workers have a reasonable expectation of privacy with those messages, but that employers could read an employee's e-mails stored on an internal server without first gaining consent. Ted Chen discusses the case which stemmed from a lawsuit filed by three Ontario Police officers whose messages were obtained by their Department and reviewed without the officers' permission. Ted talks wtih Orrin Kerr, Professor of Law at George Washington University and takes listener calls about the ruling.
Inland Empire Journalists Roundtable
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Ted Chen talks with Steven Cuevas, KPCC's Inland Empire Reporter, Cassie MacDuff, columnist with The Press Enterprise, and David Kelly, staff writer for the L.A. Times, about the latest news, events, and developments in the Inland Empire.
The Political Mind
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It turns out that Americans actually vote against their own interests. In his new book, "The Political Mind," George Lakoff explains that human beings are not the rational creatures we imagine ourselves to be. According to his research, conservatives understand that most brain functioning is grounded not in logical reasoning but in emotionalism. Therefore, Lakoff says, as long as liberals believe that people use an objective system of reasoning to decide on their politics, the Democrats will continue to lose elections. Ted Chen talks with Lakoff about his theory.
Mexico City
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Guest host Ted Chen talks with author David Lida about his new book, "First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, The Capital of the 21st Century" that provides an insider's view of Mexico City as a thriving urban center that is playing a prominent role in the world.
Friday, June 20
Deal Reached On Government Wiretapping Laws
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After a year-long battle, House and Senate leaders reached a compromise yesterday that increases the government's authority to eavesdrop, and protects telephone companies from being sued. Ted Chen talks with Greg Miller, Los Angeles Times staff writer about the details of the agreement.
Scott McClellan Testimony
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Former White House spokesman Scott McClellan is testifying before the House Judiciary Committee today. He stated that President Bush and Vice President Cheney wanted him to say that Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libbey, was not involved in the leak of Valerie Plame's identity. Ted talks with Congressman Brad Sherman, a member of the Judiciary Committee, for an update on the ongoing hearing.
Obama Campaign Rejects Public Financing
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Guest host Ted Chen talks with Peter Nicholas, L.A. Times staff writer and opens the phones for listeners to weigh in on the decision by Barack Obama's campaign to no longer accept public financing. The campaign turned down $84.1 million federal dollars, the first major candidate to do so since 1976. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee accused Obama Thursday of breaking a promise to the American public to abide by federal spending limits. Is relying solely on private donations a "flip flop" that could harm Obama's campaign or a brilliant tactic to raise more money and connect with more voters?
Doris Day
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Although studios and the press sold her as "the girl next door" and a happy wife and mother, a new biography of Doris Day uncovers an insecure workaholic who suffered four failed marriages and a nervous breakdown. Ted talks with David Kaufman about his new book, "Doris Day: The Untold Story of the Girl Next Door" and learns about the down-to-earth woman who brought great joy to her fans but found little for herself.
FilmWeek Reviews
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Ted Chen and critics Lael Loewenstein, of Variety, and Claudia Puig, of USA Today, review some of the week's new feature films including "Get Smart," "The Love Guru," "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl," and "Brick Lane."
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