Patt Morrison for Wednesday, May 16, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

1:06 – 1:19: OPEN

 

1:20 – 1:39

On happiness and being human, with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and author Robert V. Taylor

“How to be happy, change the world and embrace a new way to be human” – it’s a tall order, especially when your list of worries could include lack of employment, loved ones overseas in the military, environmental calamities, or the political turmoil in a number of countries (just for starters). On today’s program Patt will speak with two men whose histories involve not just surviving, but transforming turmoil: the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and the Very Reverend Robert V. Taylor, an Episcopal priest and activist for social justice, as well as the first openly gay Episcopal dean in the United States. Archbishop Tutu and the Very Rev. Taylor met in South Africa during the fight against apartheid, and both have remained committed to the idea of promoting social justice and conflict resolution around the globe. Both men will speak tonight at LACMA, but you can get a head start on the conversation here.

·         LACMA presents “How to be happy, change the world, and embrace a new way to be human,” with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Robert V. Taylor, Wednesday, May 16, 2012, at 7:30 pm.

Guests:

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Robert V. Taylor, an Episcopal priest and activist for social justice

IN STUDIO

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

Could algorithms replace writers with robots?

In 15 years, ninety-percent of news stories will be written by computers. At least, that’s according to Kristian Hammond, the founder of the Chicago-based company Narrative Science, which is creating algorithms that can write news stories. They’re starting small and simple, with Little League games. Using play-by-play data submitted by parents through the iPhone app GameChanger, Narrative Science’s algorithms wrote nearly 400,000 accounts of Little League games last year. Those stories won’t edge out the top journalists of our day, but rather, the media universe will expand, as computers sift through vast amounts of data to produce cheap, readable accounts of stuff no journalist is currently covering. There isn’t any analysis, no personal voice and algorithms still aren’t sentient, but when asked about a prediction that a computer could win the Pulitzer Prize in 20 years, Hammond disagreed; he thinks it will happen in 5. Patt surveys the new frontier of algorithm journalism.

 

Guests:

Steven Levy, senior writer, Wired magazine

TBD, journalism professor

 

2:06 – 2:40

Big Man on Campus

As the 2011-2012 school year comes to an end, the Los Angeles Unified School District is once again following requirements to go through the maddening, disruptive and costly process of notifying over ten thousand employees that they may be laid off despite the fact that nowhere near that many will actually lose their jobs. As another class of high school seniors prepare to graduate and hopefully move onto higher education, the LAUSD board has reached a compromise over college-prep graduation requirements by mandating completion of new state university entrance requirements, raising grade point average requirements, but reducing the overall number of required courses. While the school board is requiring more from students, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) says the district is failing to provide students with enough supportive services and has filed more than 600 complaints claiming that over 175 schools are lacking school nurses, librarians, and counselors. Also, nearly five months after the Miramonte Elementary School controversy occurred, the LAUSD is still dealing with the aftermath of the incident, including a new negligence lawsuit brought against the district on May 4. LAUSD superintendent John Deasy is here to answer your questions about the latest district tribulations.

 

Guest:

John Deasy, superintendent, Los Angeles United School District

IN STUDIO

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

Dan Rather pulls no punches

Dan Rather served as the anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, and the divorce wasn’t pretty. As a correspondent, he reported on some of the biggest news stories of the 1960s like the Civil Rights movement and President Kennedy’s assassination. But his career at CBS came to a screeching halt in September 2004 when he did a 60 Minutes II report about President George W. Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard. The  story led to his dismissal from CBS; he later sued for breach of contract, but the case was dismissed before it could go to trial. Once the face of CBS, what does Rather think of his old network? How has the internet and the 24 hour news cycle changed the way that networks look at news? And what does he really think about Katie Couric? Dan Rather joins Patt to talk about his new memoir Rather Outspoken: My Life In The News.

 

Guests:

Dan Rather, managing editor & host of Dan Rather Reports on HD Net; former veteran anchor of the CBS Evening News

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lauren Osen

Southern California Public Radio - 89.3 KPCC

626-583-5173 / 626-483-5278

losen@scpr.org @Patt_Morrison

 

Patt Morrison for Tuesday, May 15, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

 

1:06 – 1: 30 - OPEN

 

 

1:30 – 1:58:30

Santa Monica’s new parking meters absorb left over money when cars leave
If you live in the Los Angeles area, you know how thrilling it is to park in a meter spot and discover that there is already paid-for-time remaining on the meter. For motorists parking in Santa Monica, however, the days of getting someone’s left over meter time have come to an end. On Monday, the city began installing thousands of new parking meters that can actually sense when one car leaves and another arrives. The new meters reset to zero after a car vacates, preventing the next driver from receiving any left over time. What happens to the unused funds? No, consumers are not reimbursed. The money is actually kept by the city, which expects to raise its meter revenue by $1.7 million. These meters also do not allow motorists to pay more than the maximum time allowed for a given spot, which blocks drivers from keeping a space for several hours by simply continuously feeding meters. The new meters will take payment by coin, credit card or by cell phone. Drivers can also receive text message warnings of their expiring meters. Eventually, the status of the space will be indicated on Santa Monica’s real-time parking map, available on the city’s official website and will provide the city with data about parking patterns. How appropriate is it for Santa Monica to immediately claim any unused money paid into parking meters? Will this new meter system increase parking availability in the area or will it merely end with more parking tickets being issued?

Guests:

Don Patterson, assistant director of finance for the City of Santa Monica

 

Sam Morrissey, engineer, City of Santa Monica

 

John Van Horn, editor, Parking Today, a monthly magazine for the commercial and institutional parking industry

 

UNCONFIRMED

Donald Shoup, Professor of Urban Planning, UCLA  

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:30
Nobody walks in LA, but could the Boulevard change all that?
The Boulevard, once merely a corridor to move cars, is enjoying a renaissance throughout Southern California. Biking culture is blossoming with festivals like CicLAvia and an ambitious bike-share program in the city of Los Angeles; urban planners are jumping on the opportunity to create new pedestrian spaces with food trucks and public art; museums and businesses are coordinating to put on “First Fridays” art walks; and Measure R funds are ensuring that new subway extensions, light-rail and bus networks are getting built. And the young ‘Millennial’ generation is increasingly bucking the trend of California’s car-obsessed culture by taking public transportation – where they can stay connected on their smart phones. Is there hope for the city where no one walks? Patt talks with some of the region’s most cutting edge urban planners who are shaping the future of Southern California.

Guests:

Doug Suisman, principal of Suisman Urban Design, an architectural and design firm that specializes in projects that enhance urban areas

 

Aaron Paley, co-founder of cicLAvia and president of Community Arts Resources, which organizes community events

UNCONFIRMED
Timothy Papandreou, deputy director of Transportation Planning for the Sustainable Streets Division of San Francisco’s Municipal Transit Agency

2:30 – 2:58:30

Big changes in the ad industry shifts who makes the big bucks
The advertising industry will pay large sums of money to get their client’s pitch to your eyes and ears, but the ways and places the industry is spending that money is changing. Perhaps you’ve noticed more A-list actors talking about cars in TV spots; Robert Downey Jr. pitches for Nissan, Tim Allen does commercials for Chevrolet and Best Actor Oscar winner Jeff Bridges has lent his gravelly voice to sell Hyundais – and they’re not alone. A celebrity pitching for products isn’t anything new, but doing voiceover work for advertising is no longer perceived as selling out by top-echelon talent – and this change is putting a lot of career voiceover performers out of work. There are also big changes taking place in the way companies are producing some of those commercials. Filming a typical TV ad can cost $400,000, but a company called Poptent has found an innovative way to ‘crowdsource’ the production of TV ads by tapping the YouTube generation and other amateur filmmakers to put together ads DIY-style for a budget even a college kid can afford. The winning entry for a 2006 Super Bowl amateur ad contest sponsored by Doritos was shot for a meager $12. Poptent charges their clients $40,000 and pays out a minimum of $7,500 to the creator of the ad, some of whom have parlayed their success into lucrative careers in the ad business. So, who is winning or losing in this changing industry? Are amateur videographers getting a golden opportunity or getting fleeced? And do you like hearing big stars’ voices in ads?

 

Guests:
Sasha Strauss, managing director, Innovation Protocol, a brand strategy firm, and adjunct professor at USC’s Annenberg School of Communication and USC’s Marshall School of Business

Jim Alburger, voiceover producer and artist; author of "The Art of Voice Acting” and creator of VOICE (Voice-over International Creative Experience), a four-day conference in Anaheim dedicated to the voice-over industry

Neil Perry, president of Poptent, a crowdsourced video production company based in San Clemente, CA

 

 

 

Producer - Patt Morrison
89.3 KPCC - Southern California Public Radio
213.290.4201 – mobile/SMS
626-583-7121  – office
474 South Raymond Avenue
Pasadena, CA  91105
jarmstrong@kpcc.org

Patt Morrison for Monday, May 14, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, May 14, 2012

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

 

 

 

1:06 – 1:30 OPEN

 

 

 

1:30 – 1:58:30

Surveying the millennial job market: Do internships no longer lead to jobs?

A market research firm surveyed 225 American companies to see how many are hiring recent graduates, to identify what skills companies are looking for, and to survey where they’re finding prospective employees. The results were surprising. It turns out that companies rely more on job boards than social networks like LinkedIn when hiring recent graduates and that, even in an increasingly tech-savvy world, of all the things employers look for when hiring entry-level talent, it’s the so-called ‘soft skills’ that are valued most: communication, teamwork, flexibility and positive attitude, over hard technical skills. More than half of the companies surveyed feel their talent needs have changed over the past two years. The study also found that companies expect students to have internships, even though only half have hired interns in the past six months and most aren't hiring their current interns for full-time positions. Are you a recent graduate searching for a job? Or are you hoping a current internship will become a job? Call in with your experience and find out who’s hiring, what they’re looking for, and where they’re looking.

 

Guest:

Dan Schawbel, founder of the market research firm Millennial Branding; he’s a Gen-Y expert and the author of Me 2.0

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

California is set for a big Facebook IPO tax payday
News of the Facebook’s impeding initial public offering (IPO) has those in the financial world speculating on exactly what will happen when the ubiquitous social media megacompany offers its first ownership shares to the general public on Friday (May 18^th). One thing that’s for certain, though is that the cash strapped state of California stands to see a tax windfall from the event. Facebook’s 27 year-old CEO, Mark Zuckerberg owns 534 million shares of Facebook, and since the company is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA he will likely be looking at a state tax payout of $189 million after the IPO. Once the taxes from other Facebook insiders cashing in is added up, California stands to make hundreds of millions more. How much will Facebook’s IPO help California’s ailing economy? How can California convince other innovative and lucrative companies to set up shop in the Golden State?

Guest: TBA

2:21:30 – 2:39

James Franco offers a new spin on “Rebel Without a Cause”

When filming began on “Rebel Without a Cause,” Warner Brothers considered it nothing more than a B-movie about delinquent teenagers, allotting it the usual black-and-white stock. But along the way someone made the realization that the film’s lead actor, James Dean, was set for stardom, and the studio switched over to full-color. The film went on to earn a place in the country’s cultural history, as well as on the National Film Registry. While much of the praise and attention focused on Dean’s performance, the plot and subplots – which involves strained family relations, a certain kind of claustrophobia felt by white, disaffected suburban youth, homoeroticism, and questions about masculinity – tapped deep into a certain zeitgeist amongst American youth. Whether or not these themes remain relevant has been taken for granted, but a new art show co-curated by the actor, filmmaker and artist James Franco for the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) will likely bring these questions to the fore. In an interview with Flaunt magazine, Franco explained that his intent was to use “the original film as material inspiration and as a connection to the history of Hollywood [and] mass entertainment.” Franco commissioned pieces by artists like Ed Ruscha, Paul McCarthy, and Harmony Korine, and appears in many of the video works, including Korine’s reinterpretation of the film’s knife fight, using female gang members on BMX bikes. The exhibit, called “Rebel,” opens on May 15 and has already been both lauded and panned. What do you take from “Rebel Without A Cause”? Is the film still relevant? Will you be going to see the exhibit?

 

Guest:

James Franco, actor, filmmaker and artist; Franco has just co-curated a group show about “Rebel Without a Cause” for MOCA here in Los Angeles, which opens 5/15.

 

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

The aerospace industry is taking off in China

China has announced a plan to spend a quarter of a trillion dollars on the aerospace industry. Their airlines are expected to triple in fleet size over the next ten years, which means big business for Airbus and Boeing. But the Chinese are looking to the future and want to produce their own airplanes. Their ambitious plan is reminiscent of America’s transcontinental railroad in the nineteenth century. Why are two-thirds of the new airports in the world being built in China? Is this a test for China’s hopes for modernization and innovation in other industries? How will this affect aviation in the United States and the rest of the world?  Is China looking to rule the skies?

 

Guest:

James Fallows, national correspondent, “The Atlantic”; author, China Airborne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Producer - Patt Morrison
89.3 KPCC - Southern California Public Radio
213.290.4201 – mobile/SMS
626-583-7121  – office
474 South Raymond Avenue
Pasadena, CA  91105
jarmstrong@kpcc.org

Patt Morrison for Friday, May 11, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Friday, May 11, 2012

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

 

1:06 – 1:30 - OPEN 

 

 

1:30 – 2:00
Mad Men pays $250K for the use of a Beatles song
The most recent episode of AMC’s period drama, Mad Men featured an excerpt from The Beatles’ 1966 psychedelic soundscape “Tomorrow Never Knows” as an essential plot element. The example is unique – both for the rarity of the biggest band in the world granting permission to use the song as well as for the hefty fee. Recorded music from both popular and unknown artists has been an integral part of movies and television for decades, but what makes a 46-year old song so unique that a television show with a relatively small budget would spend $250,000 dollars for 128 seconds of it to be used onscreen? In the advertising world, musicians used to shy away from being perceived as “selling out” and using their songs to sell diapers… but things have changed. Whereas avant-garde crooner Tom Waits once successfully sued Frito Lay for using a song eerily similar to a song they’d tried to license to sell snack chips, now artists actively court advertisers because they can get their big break by getting their songs into a TV commercial. Film, advertising and TV licensing can be important sources of revenue for musicians in the new millennium - especially in the face of plummeting CD sales. How much is a song worth? And how does the use of music fit into a film… or a TV commercial?

 

Guests:
Barry Coffing (coughing), CEO of musicsupervisor.com, a music licensing company that places music in film and television programs

Jess Penner, singer-songwriter and the face of Days Inn’s new advertising campaign
IN STUDIO

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

Senator Boxer demands car rental companies stop renting recalled vehicles

The next time you rent a car, you’ll want to check the manufacturer’s safety recall records because some car rental companies may be renting cars that have been recalled due to dangerous defects without having them serviced. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has called on major rental car companies to pledge not to rent out vehicles facing safety recalls until they are repaired in light of the 2004 deaths of two Santa Cruz women who died while driving a recalled rental car that had been neglected. Senator Boxer and Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), have sponsored legislation that would make it illegal for companies to rent or sell vehicles until safety defects that triggered recalls are fixed. Boxer said she wrote to the four leading companies -- Hertz Corp., Avis Budget Group Inc., Enterprise Holdings Inc. and Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc.-- asking them to voluntarily agree to "this basic commitment to protect consumers." Boxer said Hertz already has a policy consistent with the pledge. Should car rental companies be required by law to have recalled cars serviced before renting them to customers?

 

Guests:

Sen. Barbara Boxer, (D-California)

 

Cally Houck, mother of Raechel and Jacqueline Houck who died in a 2004 crash involving a rental car that did not get the safety recall upgrade needed

 

Unconfirmed

TBD, Representative from a rental car company

  

 

2:21:30 – 2:39

Black women and fat: Is black fat different than white fat?

If current obesity rates don’t change, 42 percent of American adults will be obese by 2030 and about one-quarter of that group will be severely obese, a condition that shortens life and incurs large medical expenses, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. As it is, 35.7 percent of adults are already obese, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Everyone agrees that obesity is an expensive medical and social health problem that needs to be alleviated, but not everyone agrees on how to effectively approach the fight against it. Some organizations advocate instituting a sugar tax, others push for a penny-per-ounce tax, while some individuals simply call for a “body-culture revolution.” Certain minority groups suffer from dangerously higher obesity rates, including black women, with four out of five of them considered to be seriously overweight. In a New York Times article published last week, African American scholar Alice Randall stated that black women choose to be fat because “our men like us bigger.” She goes on, “Chemically, in its ability to promote disease, black fat may be the same as white fat. Culturally, it is not.” A report from the Institute of Medicine released on Tuesday backs a multi-pronged approach to fighting obesity, but admits that there is no magic bullet to solve the problem. What will it take to buck the trend and curb obesity? Do we as a society need to completely change the way we think about our health and our bodies? Will lowering obesity rates require a profound and massive cultural revolution?

 

Guest:

Alice Randall, food activist committed to reforms that support healthy bodies and communities; author of The Wind Done Gone, Pushkin and the Queen of Spades, Rebel Yell, and Ada's Rules. She is a Harvard educated African-American novelist who lives in Nashville and writes country songs

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

Life and death: not always so simple to distinguish

What are the criteria for death? At various points in history, cultures believed that putrefaction or failure to answer when one’s name was called were proof enough. In 1968 in the United States, thirteen men on a Harvard University committee decided that “loss of personhood” was a better indication than anything else (including a stopped heart), but failed to specify what would denote such a loss. Is someone brain dead based on measuring the activity in the brain stem or the cortex, for example? Does modern medicine mispronounce people as dead for the sake of convenience? And what do the answers to these questions this say about our system of harvesting organ transplants? Join Patt and guest Dick Teresi, author of the book “The Undead,” to parse the nebulous territory between life and death.

 

Dick Teresi, coauthor of The God Particle and the author of “The Undead”; science journalist; former editor-in-chief, “Science Digest”

 

 

 

 

Producer - Patt Morrison
89.3 KPCC - Southern California Public Radio
213.290.4201 – mobile/SMS
626-583-7121  – office
474 South Raymond Avenue
Pasadena, CA  91105
jarmstrong@kpcc.org

 

Patt Morrison for Thursday, May 10, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Thursday, May 10, 2012

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

1:06 – 1:30 - OPEN

 

 

1:30 – 1:39

What's your dog thinking when he sees that steak on the table?
That look on Sparky's face? Love. Adulation. Sadness and empathy when he sees you grieving. Or, at least, these are the thoughts we imagine our pup having when he looks our way with his head cocked just so. Soon, however, we may be able to know what dogs are really thinking. Is it love, or is it the love of food that bonds our dogs to us? Scientists at Emory University recently proved that it's possible to perform an MRI on a non-sedated canine, and the next step is (you guessed it) – what, exactly, lies behind those big, brown puppy-dog eyes. Do dogs know what we're thinking? How about what we're feeling? What would you want to know about your pet's thoughts?

Guests:

Michael Chill, dog trainer and behavior specialist

 

UNCONFIRMED

Researcher from Emory University

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:30
Black women and fat: Is black fat different than white fat?

If current obesity rates don't change, 42 percent of American adults will be obese by 2030 and about one-quarter of that group will be severely obese, a condition that shortens life and incurs large medical expenses, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. As it is, 35.7 percent of adults are already obese, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Everyone agrees that obesity is an expensive medical and social health problem that needs to be alleviated, but not everyone agrees on how to effectively approach the fight against it. Some organizations advocate instituting a sugar tax, others push for a penny-per-ounce tax, while some individuals simply call for a "body-culture revolution." Certain minority groups suffer from dangerously higher obesity rates, including black women, with four out of five of them considered to be seriously overweight. In a New York Times article published last week, African American scholar Alice Randall stated that black women choose to be fat because "our men like us bigger." She goes on, "Chemically, in its ability to promote disease, black fat may be the same as white fat. Culturally, it is not." A report from the Institute of Medicine released on Tuesday backs a multi-pronged approach to fighting obesity, but admits that there is no magic bullet to solve the problem. What will it take to buck the trend and curb obesity? Do we as a society need to completely change the way we think about our health and our bodies? Will lowering obesity rates require a profound and massive cultural revolution?

 
Guest:

NOT CONFIRMED

Alice Randall, food activist committed to reforms that support healthy bodies and communities; author of The Wind Done Gone, Pushkin and the Queen of Spades, Rebel Yell, and Ada's Rules. She is a Harvard educated African-American novelist who lives in Nashville and writes country songs.

 

 

<>2:30 – 2:39  - OPEN

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

Which 'green' building trends are set to become the norm?

Anyone living in the Los Angeles area knows that we are high on consumption (gas, food, water) and low on resources. Making changes to your daily habits through things like energy-efficient appliances, replacing light bulbs, and driving less offers one kind of antidote, but "green" building trends, like using recycled materials, are also on the rise. Last year, California instituted the first mandatory green-building code in the nation, requiring that indoor water use be cut by as much as 20% and that at least 50% of construction waste has to be recycled. At this weekend's AltBuild Expo, California designers and architects will showcase how they've gone above and beyond the call of duty by providing demonstrations, lectures, and house tours involving all kinds of green building techniques, from solar power to recycled graywater. If you're planning on remodeling or repainting your house, or you have questions about sustainable methods of composting, gardening, or landscaping, tune in as Patt talks about both AltBuild and green building in general.

 

Guest:

Brenden McEneaney, Green Building Program advisor for the Office of Sustainability and the Environment, City of Santa Monica

IN STUDIO

 

RE: Patt Morrison for Wednesday, May 9, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

1:06 – 1:30 OPEN

 

1:30 – 2:00

Is your carry-on worth $100 each way? Spirit Airlines says yes. 

The good news is you get a cheap, no frills flight on Spirit Airlines. The bad news is you might have to pay some extra fees you weren’t counting on when you arrive at the gate. And those fees can be pretty steep. Spirit Airline announced last week that it will charge customers as much as $100 each way for some carry-on bags.  The company says the a la carte pricing is the only way it can offer low rates, but some consumer groups insist that those fees should be transparent so flyers can compare apples-to-apples when shopping around based solely on price. Others make the point that it can be virtually impossible to get the low-cost fare advertised on Spirit--flyers would have to travel with no baggage, take a seat chosen by the airline and forgo meals and/or snacks.  Yet when all is said and done, the pricing model works.  Spirit Airlines made $23 million last quarter as compared to Southwest “bags fly free” Airline, which ended the quarter in the red.  Would you rather pay a higher ticket price and have all the fees included or buy the cheapest fare possible and add fees as you go?  How much is too much for a carry-on bag? 

 

Guest:
Kate Hanni, executive director, Flyersrights.org, the largest non-profit consumer group for airline passengers in the world
Ray Neidl, an airline industry analyst with Maxim Group, a boutique investment banking, securities and investment management firm

2:06 – 2:30

Burbank’s National Teacher of the Year says education requires ‘all hands on deck’

Rebecca Mieliwocki had no interest in becoming a teacher after she graduated from California Polytechnic State University, but little did she know that 20 years later she would be honored at the White House by the President of the United States as the 2012 National Teacher of the Year. Mieliwocki, 43, teaches seventh grade English at Luther Burbank Middle School, a racially and economically diverse middle school outside Los Angeles. Mieliwocki has said that social and economic pressures have made her job increasingly more challenging since she began teaching in public schools 14 years ago. After completing the current school year, Mielwocki will take a one-year sabbatical to work as a spokeswoman for the Council of Chief State School Officers. What questions do you want to ask the 2012 National Teacher of the Year?

 

Guest:

Rebecca Mieliwocki, California Teacher of the Year for 2012 and National Teacher of the Year for 2012 and 2013; she’s a seventh-grade English teacher at Luther Burbank Middle School in Burbank

 

2:30 – 3:00

In our market-driven society, is there anything that money can’t buy?

Should society allow companies to pay for the right to pollute the environment? Should we pay children to read books or to get good grades? These are just a few of the ethical questions Michael Sandel attempts to answer in his new book What Money Can’t Buy The Moral Limits of Markets. In a market-driven age, the Harvard University professor warns that imposing marketplace values on non-market components of society is damaging to democracy and can corrupt healthy social values. Sandel also thinks there is not enough debate in public about “marketization” in terms of where it serves the public and where it is damaging. What elements of government and society, if any, should be considered off limits to markets?

 

Guest:

Michael J. Sandel, professor of Government at Harvard University and author of What Money Can’t Buy:The Moral Limits of Markets

IN STUDIO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RE: Patt Morrison for Tuesday, May 8, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

 

1:06 – 1:40 OPEN

 

1:40 – 2:00

Understanding the calorie in an “eat more” world

What is a calorie? The concept seems so simple, yet calories cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted, and it’s their over and under consumption that creates the majority of health problems around the globe. When it comes down to it, they are tricky to understand. New research from Duke University projects that the percentage of Americans who are severely obese—around 100 pounds or more overweight—will roughly double to 11 percent of the population by 2030. In her new book, nutritionist Marion Nestle filters through the misinformation put forth by food manufacturers and diet program promoters to explain what calories are and how they work, both biologically and politically, in our “eat more” world.

 

Guests:
Marion Nestle, professor, Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, New York University; author of "Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics"

 

 

2:06 – 2:20 OPEN

 

2:20 – 2:40

L.A. teens and literacy

Literacy rates in Los Angeles are the second lowest in the nation, but despite the grim statistics a few organizations are working with youth to generate a passion for reading, performing and writing. Diane Luby Lane founded Get Lit-Words Ignite to introduce youth to reading, literary performance and poetry. The program reaches over 15,000 at –risk students at 45 high schools a year. The non-profit group recently held a classical poetry slam at the Wiltern Theater with over 1,000 people in attendance and included a poetry performance by Academy award winning actor Tim Robbins. L.A. Youth, the nearly 25-year old paper written by teens for teens, is facing the possibility of closing due to lack of funding. Efforts are underway to raise $500,000 before May 15 to keep the paper running.  According to the L.A. Times, the paper is printed six times a year, with a circulation of close to 70,000 and an estimated readership of 400,000. The students write about issues close to their heart and get the opportunity to work with experienced editors.  Will these groups help change the literacy rates in L.A. by creating a life-long love of learning, reading and self expression?

 

Guests:

YOUTH LA

Donna Myrow, executive director, Youth LA

Jazmine Mendoza, junior at Chavez Learning Academy in San Fernando

 

GET LIT-WORDS IGNITE

Diane Luby Lane, founder and director, Get Lit-Words Ignite

Junior Herrera, teen poet, he is 18 years old and has been involved with Get Lit since he was 16. He currently attends East LA Community College. Junior is also a part of The Get Lit Players, Los Angeles’ award-winning classic teen poetry troupe.

 

 

2:40 – 3:00

Eagles founder Glenn Frey releases an album of classic, jazzy songs
The music group The Eagles perfectly captured the commercial side of the breezy, pop-country Southern California sound in the 1970s. Fans couldn’t get enough - the band sold tens of millions of copies of their six albums, two greatest hits packages and a live double album before disbanding acrimoniously in the early 1980s. Their first compilation album, “Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)” is one of the best-selling albums in history, selling upward of 42 million copies to date. After the split, founding member Glenn Frey went on to have a handful of solo hits and made a few turns in front of the camera on shows like Miami Vice in the 1980s. The Eagles reformed for a number of lucrative tours and another new album in the following decades, but the seeds for Frey’s new musical direction were sown when legendary actor and director Clint Eastwood asked him to perform a pair of songs at a golf event… one of which was to be from the 1940s. After some positive reviews, Frey seized the opportunity and decided to make an entire album of classic songs from his parents’ generation. The result is “After Hours,” Frey’s first new full album in twenty years, and it features Frey singing some legendary melodies and confidently pushing his familiar tenor into jazzier territory. What are your favorite Glenn Frey songs? How can artists reinvent themselves by looking back?

Guest:
Glenn Frey, singer/songwriter and founding member of The Eagles; his new album, “After Hours” contains new interpretations of classic songs