AirTalk for Monday, August 5, 2013

Contact: Producers Joel Patterson, Jasmin Tuffaha, Fiona Ng, Karen Fritsche

626-583-5100

SCHEDULE FOR AIRTALK WITH LARRY MANTLE

Monday, August, 5, 2013

11:06 –11:30

Topic: OPEN

Guest: TBD

 

 

11:30-12:00

Topic: Childless cities (TEMP HEAD)

Think Manhattan or San Francisco and the images that come up are young, hip urbanites living life up. But author Joel Kotkin says cities shouldn't only be a playground for the young. He argues in a City Journal piece that in order for cities to continue to thrive economically and culturally, they must draw young families out of the suburbs and back to urban areas. Which means they need to create affordable urban neighborhoods with good schools, safe streets, nice parks and more. Is this premise valid? Can the young, upwardly-mobile creative class sustain urban growth just as well? If you are married with kids, have you ever considered moving to a place like downtown Los Angeles?

 

Guest:  Joel Kotkin, who has co-written a piece titled “The Childless City” for the City Journal, a quarterly magazine put out by the Manhattan Institute. He is also the author of “The City: A Global History” (Modern Library, 2006)

Guest: Eric Klinenberg, Professor of Sociology at New York University, and author of “Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone” (Penguin 2012)

Call him @ landline: TBD                                                     

12:06 – 12:30

Topic: How can L.A. crackdown on hit-and-runs?

In 2012, the LA Weekly reported on an awfully high number of vehicular hit-and-run crashes in Los Angeles. The report said that the LAPD records about 20,000 hit-and-run incidents a year, 4000 of which result in injury or death. It also reported that 48% of all crashes in LA are hit-and-runs, compared with and 11% average across all US cities. And despite those statistics, the report said, “there is no LAPD task force or organized city effort to address the problem.” In response LA City Councilman Joe Buscaino introduced a motion calling for the LAPD to start addressing the problem, and the department then released its own report to the Police Commission and the Public Safety Committee. The report took issue with the 48 percent figure, saying that the number was reached by calculations using only "reported collisions" and not "all collisions," and claimed that city's hit-and-run rate is actually comparable to other major metropolitan areas. On July 26th the Public Safety Committee met to discuss the issue, with city council members, LAPD representatives, and bicycle and pedestrian safety advocates on hand. Despite some reported pushback from LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Downing, the participants seemed to agree that hit-and-runs have not been adequately addressed before, and that they are not properly punished or even prioritized by law enforcement.  Now that the issue has been officially brought to motion, what will be done to curb hit-and-runs?  What can be done?

 

Guest: (PENDING) Joe Buscaino, LA City Councilman

Guest:  (PENDING) Mitch O’Farrell, LA City Councilman

Guest: (PENDING) Michael Downing, LAPD Deputy Chief

Guest: (PENDING) Mike Feuer, LA City Attorney

12:30 – 12:40

Topic: Can the hypothetical "Hyperloop" make California high-speed rail history? Imagine travelling from Los Angeles to San Francisco in about thirty minutes without the help of Scotty. Elon Musk, the inventive entrepreneur behind Tesla, SpaceX and PayPal, is envisioning a transportation tube he’s calling a “fifth mode of transportation.” On August 12, he’ll reveal the alpha design for the project, then crowd-source ideas from anyone and everyone with a brilliant scientific mind. Musk thinks he can make it happen for about $6 billion and with competitive ticket prices. His inspiration stems from his derision for California’s beleaguered high-speed rail project. He told Bloomberg Businessweek last year, “[T]he $60 billion bullet train they’re proposing in California would be the slowest bullet train in the world at the highest cost per mile. They’re going for records in all the wrong ways.” Is this the paradigm shift we’ve been waiting for? How much do we know about how it would work? Why is Musk releasing the alpha design as open source rather than patenting it? Should officials with the high-speed rail project be paying attention?

Guest:  Alan Ohnsman, Bloomberg News reporter covering automotive and green transportation

12:40 – 1:00

NOT CONFIRMED - PENDING GUEST

Topic: Food critic hates In-and-Out Burger. Is he high? (TEMP HEAD)

 

Guest:  Larry Olmsted