AirTalk for Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Contact: Producers Joel Patterson, Jasmin Tuffaha, Fiona Ng

626-583-5100

SCHEDULE FOR AIRTALK WITH LARRY MANTLE

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

11:06 –11:20

Topic: OPEN

Guest: TBA

 

11:20 -11:40

Topic: Mandating a “living wage” for Los Angeles hotel workers: Los Angeles mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel said over the weekend that she supports a plan to extend the city's "living wage" requirement so all hotel workers in the city. The city already requires hotels along Century Boulevard near LAX to pay their employees $12 an hour. Greuel said over the weekend that she wants to expand that. Hotel workers say higher wages will pump much-needed cash into the Los Angeles economy but business leaders argue that it will drive employers outside of the city. Greuel says she supports the higher wages but Eric Garcetti has not taken a position. Will this issue drive a wedge between the two candidates in the run up to the election? Should the "living wage" be extended to all hotel workers? Will hotel owners be able to afford the increases and remain profitable?

Guest 1:  Tom Walsh, president of UNITE HERE! Local 11

Guest 2: TBD

 

11:40-12:00

Topic: California Condors versus Wind Farms

Guest:  Ashley Richman, Director of Siting Policy at The California Wind Energy Association

 

12:06 – 12:20

Topic: How will California spend its budget surplus?

Guest: TBA

 

12:20 – 12:40

Topic: How are travellers impacted by lack of airport competition?

Guest: William Swelbar, Research Engineer in MIT’s International Center for Air Transportation

Guest: Brian Sumers, Airports and Airlines Reporter, Los Angeles News Group

 

12:40 – 1:00

Topic: Cyborg Neil Harbisson listens to color: Neil Harbisson was born completely colorblind, but with a machine he helped invent called the "eyeborg" he can now hear in color. Harbisson says he was inspired by the idea of expanding his perception: his eyeborg machine perceives a wide spectrum of colors, including some that the human eye can't detect, and translates them into sound. Each color matches up with a tone and pitch, and using bone conduction in the back of his skull, Harbisson is able to listen to the colors the machine is seeing. Harbisson has been wearing his eyeborg for more than a decade, and over time has adapted it to see more and more. The eyeborg can detect some colors that only insects and birds can see, as well as infrared, which Harbisson says is his favorite color because of its low tone. Harbisson, a former music student, has used his expanded senses as a cyborg to contribute to his art. He paints famous speeches and works of music. He has spent time listening to famous faces -- Prince Charles has a nice sound to him -- and looking at beautiful vistas, though Harbisson says his favorite views are at the supermarket, where pure white light enhances bright colors. While many are fascinated by the eyeborg, Harbisson says that cyborgism hasn't quite caught on. There are developments to be made in the medical field for those wishing to use technology to enhance their sense. Harbisson has also been outspoken about cyborg rights; he has often been discriminated against by store owners and law enforcement officers who assume the eyeborg is a camera. What is the future of cyborgism? How can people enhance their perception with technology? Neil Harbisson joins us for a conversation about his experience as the world's first recognized cyborg.

Guest:  Neil Harbisson, Cyborgist and Colorologist