AirTalk for Thursday, October 27, 2011

Contact: Producers Linda Othenin-Girard, Karen Fritsche, Katie Sprenger & Jasmin Tuffaha

626-583-5100

 

SCHEDULE FOR AIRTALK WITH LARRY MANTLE

Thursday, October 27, 2011

 

10:06 –10:30

TENTATIVE – DO NOT PROMOTE

Topic: Will Los Angeles officials crack down on #OccupyLA?

 

Guest: (Ms.) PJ Davenport, activist with OccupyLA; freelance television and multi-media producer

Other Guests: TBD

10:30 –11:00

Topic: Knowing your medical mind:  When it comes to your health, are you a maximalist or a minimalist?  A believer or a doubter?  Do you lean towards naturalism or technology?  These are all key aspects of your medical mind – your own prescription for making medical decisions. Between our doctors, the internet, friends and family we’re deluged with medical advice.  How do we choose which path to take?  Do you rely on statistics, seek out new therapies, shy away from side effects?  Do you trust your grandmother’s remedies over the latest drug-of-the-moment?  In their new book, Drs. Jerome Groopman and Pamela Hartzband share the stories of people making big decisions – options for battling cancer, choosing between statins or lifestyle changes to treat high cholesterol, interpreting their loved ones’ end-of-life preferences – and explore the belief systems and experiences that shaped their choices.  The decision to watch and wait, rather than have a new type of surgery, may have more to do with your own tolerance for risk than your confidence in the surgeon.  This book doesn’t tell you what medical decisions to make.  But it does offer some insight into how and why you make those decisions, and that knowledge, the authors say, may help you to have more confidence in your choices. Do you trust your medical mind? Could understanding the medical choices you make improve your health - even save your life?

 

Guests: Jerome Groopman, M.D. and Pamela Hartzband, M.D., authors of “Your Medical Mind: How to Decide What is Right for You” (Penguin Press)

IN STUDIO               

 

Jerome Groopman, M.D., and Pamela Hartzband, M.D., are on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and on the staff of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, both in Boston. They have collaborated on several articles for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The New England Journal of Medicine among other publications. Groopman, a staff writer for The New Yorker, is the author of four books, including The New York Times bestseller “How Doctors Think.”

 

11:06 –11:30 

Topic: LAUSD & UTLA battle over Public School Choice as outside groups push for broad reform: Leaders from the Los Angeles Unified School District and the United Teachers Union Los Angeles have been in closed-door discussions this week. What exactly they’re negotiating remains a bit of a mystery. The 3-year teacher contract expired this past June. But according to UTLA, full contract negotiations haven’t yet begun. The primary focus seems to be about Public School Choice (PSC), which allows outside groups to apply to take control of failing schools. In August, the school board agreed to keep charter schools out of the next round of Public School Choice. Insiders say that in return, the board hoped that UTLA would agree to a district-wide reform contract by November 1. But will they? And if not, what other proposals are on the table? Meanwhile, several outside groups, including The United Way, The Urban League, Alliance for a Better Community, Families in Schools, Asian Pacific American Legal Center and Communities for Teaching Excellence, have joined the fight to pressure both UTLA and LAUSD to “stop putting the interests of adults ahead of children.” The groups are pushing for changes largely supported by Superintendent John Deasy, such as giving schools more freedom to do their own hiring, making student achievement part of any teacher evaluation process, raising the bar on tenure eligibility and allowing bonuses and raises for high-performing teachers. Even if Deasy supports these reforms, it remains to be seen how various board members will respond. What – if anything – will be agreed to by November 1? Do LAUSD board members support Deasy’s proposals? Or might some fall towards UTLA? How are rank and file union members responding to all this? Will student test scores become part of how we grade teachers? We’ll talk with the top dogs in the fight, Superintendent John Deasy and UTLA President Warren Fletcher.

 

Guest: John Deasy (DAY-see), Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)

BY PHONE

Guest: Warren Fletcher, President, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA)

IN STUDIO   

 

For web:

“LAUSD Office of the Superintendent” http://bit.ly/r3u8LX

“Don’t Hold Us Back” http://dontholdusback.org/

“United Teachers Los Angeles” http://www.utla.net/

 

11:30 –12:00 
Topic: Anita Hill re-imagines home and the American dream: The topic of sexual harassment became the focus of a national debate on Oct. 11, 1991 as lawyer Anita Hill testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that she had been sexually harassed by then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. The committee and the Senate ultimately decided to confirm and appoint Thomas, who has held the post for the past two decades. Since then, Hill said she received over 25,000 letters – mainly from supporters – on what the Thomas hearings meant to them. In her new book, “Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home,” Hill expounds on how much of our access to opportunity is defined by where we live. She says for many people, it determines the kind of schools their children will attend and whether or not they will have access to quality, healthy food. In particular, Hill cites the foreclosure crisis hitting many Americans, to call for a new understanding about the importance of home and its place in the American Dream. Hill explores stories about discrimination in predatory lending practices, arguing that inequality needs to be addressed by the current administration. How does the subprime mortgage crisis shed light on inequality in America? How has the economic meltdown affected our conception of the American Dream? Does the American Dream exist for everyone? What does equality mean to you?

Guest: Anita Hill, Author of Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home (Beacon); professor of social policy, law, and women's studies at Brandeis University, where she teaches courses on Race and the Law and Gender Equality; former attorney-advisor to Clarence Thomas at the U.S. Department of Education
IN STUDIO                                       

 

EVENT: Professor Hill will be in conversation with KPCC’s Patt Morrison tonight, Thursday, Oct. 27^th at 7pm at the Los Angeles Public Library, downtown. More info on the AirTalk page at kpcc.org.

 

FOR WEB: http://www.lfla.org/event-detail/660/Anita-Hill

 

 

Karen X Fritsche
Producer - AirTalk with Larry Mantle
89.3 KPCC 89.1 KUOR 90.3 KPCV
Southern California Public Radio
474 S Raymond Ave
Pasadena, CA 91105
Desk: 626-583-5164 | Studio: 866-893-5722

 

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AirTalk is Best Talk & Public Affairs Program, LA Press Club 2011; host Larry Mantle is SPJ/LA's Distinguished Radio Journalist of the Year 2011