A competitor jumps over fire as he takes part in the "Tough Guy" adventure race near Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, West Midlands, on February 1, 2015. The event challenges thousands of competitors to run through a gruelling 200 obstacles including water, fire, and tunnels after a lengthy run at the start; Credit: OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images

You’ve no doubt heard of women’s studies, but men’s studies? Sociology professor Michael Kimmel is starting the first master's program in Masculinity this fall at Stony Brook University in New York.

The program will seek to answer what the difference is between a “Real Man” and a “Good Man,” and why those labels conjure up such different images for many. Kimmel comes from a long career of boosting the study of men and boys. But is masculinity studies really necessary?

The point of women’s studies or African American studies is clear; they grew out of the 1970s and aimed to write women and minorities into a history they have largely been omitted from. The joke has been that men’s studies already existed.

But Kimmel argues there’s now more than ever a need to seriously consider an academic look at manhood.

What makes men men? And how are we teaching boys to grow into that? It would look at the effects of race and sexuality on masculine identity and the influence of the media and pop culture.

Guest:

Michael Kimmel, a professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Stony Brook University, which is part of the CUNY system. He directs the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities and is the author of more than a dozen books including “Angry White Men,” “Manhood in America: A Cultural History,” “Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men” and the “Cultural Encyclopedia of the Penis,” which he co-edited

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks to the media after keynoting a Women's Empowerment Event at the United Nations March 10, 2015 in New York City. ; Credit: Yana Paskova/Getty Images

After months of refusal, Hillary Clinton has agreed to turn over her personal email server to the Justice Department.

Federal Investigators are examining whether or not any classified information was passed through the system during Clinton’s time as secretary of state.

Steve Bucci, of The Heritage Foundation and Democratic strategist Kate Maeder debate what the decision means for Clinton’s campaign and we talk with data recovery expert Andrew von Ramin Mapp about how tech specialists will go about extracting deleted emails from the server.

 What do you think the investigation means for Clinton’s campaign?

For more about the Clinton email debate, Read the story here

Guest:

Steve Bucci, Director, Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign and National Security Policy, The Heritage Foundation

Kate Maeder, Democratic political strategist who works on campaigns in California for Storefront Political Media consultancy based in San Francisco

Andrew von Ramin Mapp, CEO and Founder of Data Analyzers, a firm that specializes in data recovery and computer forensics based in Orlando, Florida

A view of the Los Angeles city skyline as heavy smog shrouds the city in California on May 31, 2015; Credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

From 2005 to 2010, the western US made huge leaps in cutting ozone-forming pollutants at a 21 percent decrease, but the ozone in the atmosphere did not drop because of a combination of pollutants drifting from China plus a natural uptick in ozone, according to a new study.

Scientists with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena and from the Netherlands say Chinese emissions of ozone-forming pollutants increased 21 percent during those six years. Plus, due to natural cycles including the 2009-10 El Nino, an unusual amount of ozone drifted down from the stratosphere.

The fact that pollutants are migratory places greater pressure on achieving global agreements to reduce emissions. Ahead of climate talks in Paris this year, China has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 60-65 percent from 2005 levels. How will greenhouse gas emissions cuts contribute to reducing ozone? Practically speaking, how will China achieve those cuts?

Rapid increases in tropospheric ozone production and export from China

Guest:

Jessica Neu, Co-author of the research and research scientist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Paul Joffe, Senior Foreign Policy Counsel and Manager of ChinaFAQs project with the World Resources Institute - a nonprofit policy organization focused on global environmental issues - founded by a MacArthur Foundation grant in 1982

Helen Park, a avid collector, adjusts her My Little Ponies as they are displayed at the International My Little Pony Convention at Redwood Hotel and Country Club, on October 26 2007 in England. ; Credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Jay Leno is famous for his massive car collection and Tom Hanks is known to be a lover of vintage typewriters.

From matchbooks to stamps to die-cast toy cars, people collect all kinds of things. But what are the stranger collections out there? 

What do you collect? Why do you collect what you collect?

Call 866-893-5722 to let us know!

Guest:

Joan Hamill, Communication Relations Director at the Orange County Fair, which wraps up this weekend and holds a "Collections" competition every year

A1973 photo of Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley campaigning. ; Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tom Bradley was an iconic Angeleno.

The son of sharecroppers and the grandson of slaves, Bradley became an ambitious student, exceptional UCLA track star, respected LAPD officer, and ultimately a five term mayor of Los Angeles from 1973 to 1993.

Now filmmakers Lyn Goldfarb and Alison Sotomayor bring us the first documentary on Bradley - connecting with more than 100 people who knew him, including family and friends, staffers, and critics.

"Bridging the Divide: Tom Bradley and the Politics of Race" will air on PBS SoCal (KOCE) this Tuesday, August 18 at 8:00 p.m. and tonight at Laemmle Town Center in Encino with a filmmaker Q&A.

What are your memories of Bradley?

Guests:

Raphael Sonenshein, Executive Director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State LA; Academic advisor for "Bridging the Divide: Tom Bradley and the Politics of Race"

Robert C. Farrell, a Freedom Rider in the 1960s who became an LA City Councilmember (1974-1991); Currently a member of the steering committee of the Black Community Clergy and Labor Alliance

"I Saw You On Tinder"; Credit: Photos by Denis Bocquet via Flickr Creative Commons

“The Bling Ring” author Nancy Jo Sales’s latest piece for Vanity Fair looks at how mobile dating apps have changed the way millennials approach dating and sex, with particular emphasis on the LA-based company Tinder.

Her conclusions are less than flattering. Most of the 20-something women she talked to are avowed Tinder users, but they feel ambivalent about the casual sex and hook-up mentality mobile dating seems to promote inherently.  

What do Tinder users in LA think?

Guest:

Julie Spira, online dating expert based in Los Angeles and founder of cyberdatingexpert.com . She tweets @JulieSpira

; Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

In a hyper-connected world filled with over-sharing, when it comes to the bad news of a friend's death, you are more likely to learn about it through a text message, email or on Facebook than from a phone call or even face-to-face.

With an abundance of communication media, what is the etiquette of sharing news of someone's death?

Advice columnist Amy Alkon says "People tend to sneer at email and text message as lesser forms of communication, but it can be done tactfully and is even preferred by some." Alkon counsels that if you must use text or email to impart the bad news, make sure to offer a phone call, as well. In years past, even a phone call would seem rude and impersonal, "but that is not the pace of the world we live in today," Alkon adds. 

How have you handled sharing the bad news of a friend's death? And has it ever been mishandled by people in your life?

Guest:

Amy Alkon, Author of the science-based book "Good Manners for Bad People who sometimes say F*CK"

Workers clearing the sidewalks used to have to give the homeless three days to find somewhere to store their stuff. Under the new policies, city workers must only give notice 24 hours before clearing encampments from sidewalks.; Credit: Maya Sugarman/KPCC

It’s been a month since two ordinances went into effect that shorten the time homeless people have to clear out their belongings after being asked to move, but concern from some about how the new laws affect the homeless community hasn’t ebbed.

The Los Angeles City Council’s homelessness committee met Wednesday night to consider dialing back the ordinances a bit at the suggestion of Councilman Mike Bonin, who would like to see the misdemeanor for violators who refuse to move eliminated, among other tweaks. Advocates for the homeless say police are citing older ordinances when dismantling the camps but using the tactics of the new ones.

The two ordinances, one dealing with encampments on streets and sidewalks and the other with parks, became law after Mayor Eric Garcetti refused to sign or veto them. He instead asked that enforcement of the laws be delayed until they could be further discussed and tweaked.

Guests:

Gale Holland, reporter for the L.A. Times covering homelessness and poverty. She was at last night’s meeting of the homelessness committee

Pete White, founder and co-director of the Los Angeles Community Action Network

The town of Silverton is pictured on August 11, 2015 in Colorado. The Animas River (shown at bottom) was accidentally flooded with approximately three million gallons of wastewater from the Gold King mine last week; Credit: Theo Stroomer/Getty Images

It’s been eight days since an Environmental Protection Agency-supervised crew accidentally burst a Gold King Mine plug that unleashed 3 million gallons of wastewater containing heavy metals and arsenic into the Animas River.

Communities in three states are increasingly frustrated about the downplayed and delayed response from the EPA and lack of information about the health impacts of the spill.

Yesterday Colorado health officials said the city of Durango can resume using drinking water treatment facilities that draw from the river. Experts believe this accident could significantly shape the way in which the EPA and others conduct future mine cleanups in the western United States.

Guests:

Jonathan Thompson, lives and works in Durango, CO, where he’s Senior Editor at High Country News

Joel Reynolds, Western director and senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), he has penned an Op-Ed for the Los Angeles Times titled "The Animas River spill and the myth of mine safety"

A sign reading "Persian Square" overlooking Westwood Blvd. in Los Angeles, California, on March 15, 2012; Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

A vote in Congress on the Iran nuclear deal is slated for September, and both sides of the debate have been fighting to be heard.

Opponents want to push for a better deal, saying that the U.S. is conceding too much. Proponents say the deal achieves the basic imperative of stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

An estimated 800,000 Iranian Americans live in Los Angeles and whether the deal goes through has specific resonance for Tehrangeles.

On the segment today, Larry talks with two Iranian Americans living in Los Angeles to share their perspectives on the deal.

Guests:

Nina Ansary, author of the book, "Jewels of Allah" and an Iranian-American historian in Los Angeles. She is a non-practicing born Muslim

Sam Yebri, president of Thirty Years After,  a nonprofit Iranian-American political advocacy group based in Los Angeles. He is an Iranian American Jew

I-710/60 Freeway Interchange, Los Angeles CA; Credit: Joe Wolf via Flickr

The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) says the draft environmental impact report on the 710 extension is essentially useless because it didn’t account for the amount of cancerous emissions the tunnel project would cause.

The report suggests that the cancer risk of the project is 149 chances per million people exposed to pollutants. The district standard threshold is 10 chances per million. The AQMD suggests that Caltrans and Metro revise the air quality part of the EIR and contact them to start discussing applications for permits, because any controls put on air pollution from exhaust will require a permit from the AQMD.

In a response letter, the city of Alhambra says the traffic gridlock that happens at the place where the 710 currently ends at Valley Boulevard already causes a risk of cancer, and that the tunnel project would reduce that risk.

Does this report change your opinion on the 710 extension? What challenges does this present to the project? How will the city of Alhambra respond?

August 5 Letter from the South Coast Air Quality Management District

Guests:

Steve Scauzillo, Reporter for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, covering environment and transportation

Barbara Messina, Vice Mayor of the City of Alhambra representing the Second District

Donald Voss, Former Mayor of La Cañada Flintridge

Blue Heron, Theler Wetlands, Belfair, WA. ; Credit: Christine Majul via Flickr

A recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey, Oregon State University and UCLA looked at the Pacific Northwest’s tidal wetland vulnerability to rising sea levels.

This vulnerability could affect water purification, flood protection and habitats for fisheries. The study aims to give resource managers better planning strategies, though the most resilient marshes along the coast of Washington won’t have to adapt to the changes until 2110. Researchers plan to study the coast, ending at the border with Mexico.

Researchers behind the current study are preparing to release a report that focuses on the effects of rising sea levels for Southern California. We’ll get a sneak peek on that on AirTalk today.

Guest:

Karen Thorne, Research Ecologist for USGS, and principal author of the report

The N.W.A. bio pic "Straight Outta Compton" directed by F. Gary Gray; Credit: Universal

This weekend’s much-hyped release of “Straight Outta Compton” shows the explosion of fame in the 80s and 90s for Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, and Ice Cube for what he called their brand of “Reality Rap.”

Their lyrics that conveyed the life of some African Americans in South LA helped give rise to a fit of Black Cinema in the early 90s, including “Boyz n the Hood,” “Juice,” and “Menace II Society.

Crafted as conventional Hollywood action movies with protagonists going through rites of passage in rough settings, the movies were an easy sell to distributors. It’s one of the few eras, including Blaxploitation movies in the 1970s, where a spurt of Black Cinema enjoyed commercial success.

Today’s African American filmmakers are making critically successful films such as “Middle of Nowhere” and “Imperial Dreams,” but distribution is another story. Film critic Tim Cogshell says there have always been movies that tell African American stories with finesse and skill, but the struggle is studio support.

Some history of African American cinema starts in the summer of 1915 when two brothers George and Noble Johnson founded the Lincoln Motion Picture Company in Nebraska to produce films for African-American audiences. During the 1920s, Norman Studios of Jacksonville, Florida produced silent films featuring all-African-American casts.

How have these films resonated with you?

Guests:

Tim Cogshell, Film Critic for KPCC and the Alt Film Guide; Cogshell reported on hip hop and film in early 1990s Los Angeles

Actor Armie Hammer, director Guy Ritchie, Entertainment Weekly senior writer Kyle Anderson and actor Henry Cavill pose for a photo during SiriusXM's Entertainment Weekly Radio 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' Town Hall with Guy Ritchie, Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer on August 12, 2015 in New York City; Credit: Cindy Ord

Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Tim Cogshell and Justin Chang review this week’s new releases including Guy Ritchie’s return with “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” the much-hyped and well-received “Straight Outta Compton,” the latest from Noah Baumbach, “Mistress America,” and more. TGI-Filmweek!

Guests:         

Tim Cogshell, Film Critic for KPCC and the Alt-Film Guide

Justin Chang, Chief Film Critic for Variety

Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks at the Des Moines Register Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair on August 15, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa; Credit: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

Several candidates were at the Iowa state fair this weekend. Trump's still leading in the latest poll, but there's some movement beneath him. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton's dealing with questions about her State Department emails and Joe Biden was reportedly on the phone getting feedback on a possible run.

Political observer David Mark and POLITICO reporter Hada Gold join Larry to round up the latest in election politics.

FOX NEWS POLL (Interviews Conducted August 11-13, 2015)

Guests:

David Mark, co-author of “Dog Whistles, Walk-Backs, and Washington Handshakes (ForeEdge, 2014), and co-author of a weekly political language column for the Christian Science Monitor

Hadas Gold, political reporter at POLITICO

New Zealand's Nigel Richards competes in a category of the Francophone Scrabble World Championships in Louvain-La-Neuve on July 21, 2015. ; Credit: JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

Strategy. Precision. Obsession. For SCRABBLE enthusiasts, playing can evoke these words, and not just to score points. Since its birth in the 1930s, the tiny tiles have helped shaped the way we view language, and even raised questions about ethnic slurs and “dirty words.”

In his memoir, “Word Nerd," former executive director of the National SCRABBLE Association, John D. Williams Jr., writes about what it was like to experience the game’s role in Hollywood, the digital age, and stories from what he describes as the “Geek Underground.” He was also the national spokesman for SCRABBLE and mediated between the brand and countless devoted players.

What are your thoughts on the SCRABBLE obsession? What cultural impact do you think SCRABBLE has had on language?

Guest:

John D. Williams Jr., author of “Word Nerd: Dispatches from the Games, Grammar, and Geek Underground” (Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2015) and former executive director of the National SCRABBLE Association

Which diet is better - low-fat or low-carb?; Credit: Via WikiMedia

After confining 19 adults with obesity to a metabolic ward for 2 two-week periods, scientists at the National Institutes of Health found that when the test subjects cut dietary fat intake they lost more weight than those who cut carbohydrates.

“Compared to the reduced-fat diet, the reduced-carb diet was particularly effective at lowering insulin secretion and increasing fat burning, resulting in significant body fat loss,” said Kevin Hall, Ph.D., senior investigator with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and lead study author.

“But interestingly, study participants lost even more body fat during the fat-restricted diet, as it resulted in a greater imbalance between the fat eaten and fat burned. These findings counter the theory that body fat loss necessarily requires decreasing insulin, thereby increasing the release of stored fat from fat tissue and increasing the amount of fat burned by the body.”

Health scientists have conducted a plethora of studies pitting low-fat diets against low-carb diets, but results can be flawed due to the 'guinea pigs' straying from the assigned diets or mis-reporting in food diaries, so a highly controlled trial such as this is notable.

What are the implications of these findings?

Calorie for Calorie, Dietary Fat Restriction Results in More Body Fat Loss than Carbohydrate Restriction in People with Obesity

Guest:

Kevin Hall, Ph.D., Senior investigator with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health and lead study author

Tom Steyer introduces a panel during the National Clean Energy Summit 6.0 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on August 13, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. ; Credit: Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for National Clean

An enterprise piece by the AP today claims that the Clean Energy Jobs Act, which voters approved handily back in 2012, has only produced one-tenth of the jobs it promised to create.

On top of that news, the state hasn’t been keeping track of how much work has been done or how much energy has been saved. The ballot measure backed by billionaire investor Tom Steyer raised taxes on corporations and claimed it would generate clean energy jobs by funding energy-efficiency projects in schools.

Supports of the prop claim it’s far too early to attempt to measure its success. They point out that it went into effect while the state was still climbing out of a recession and that the funds have only been flowing to schools for 13 months and many schools are still in the planning stages of bigger projects that will create more jobs and more energy savings.

PROPOSITION 39: OFFICIAL TITLE AND SUMMARY

Guests:

Julia Horowitz, staff writer for the Associated Press in their State Capitol Bureau; she wrote the piece California measure fails to create jobs

Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos; Credit: David Ryder/Getty Images

Amazon’s workplace practices have come under scrutiny after a fierce New York Times piece detailing how the company differs from its competitors in what it expects from employees.

Data and metrics are used at every stage of the process in order to evaluate employees and their performance. Brutal honesty on ideas is traded among colleagues and secret feedback is sent to co-workers’ bosses. “Purposeful Darwinism” leaves a minority of workers out of a job at the end of each year. Returns from leave are met with performance evaluations.

These are just a sampling of the workplaces practices that have simultaneously led to the most creative and efficient of solutions, as well as one of the most stressful and crushing of workplaces. Turnover is high, with only 15 percent of its employees having worked there more than five years.

In crafting a high-risk, high-reward environment, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos expects undying fealty to the needs of the consumer as well as total immersion into the ethos of the corporation. The ideal worker is not merely an “Amazonian” but an “Amabot.”

What does Amazon gain from this model of employment? What does it lose? And by its own definition, does it deliver?

Guests:

Brad Stone, author of “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon” (Little, Brown and Company, 2013). He is also a senior writer for Bloomberg Businessweek in San Francisco

John Boudreau, Ph.D., Professor and Research Director at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and Center for Effective Organizations; co-author of “Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital”

"Exploiting Charity"; Credit: Michael Coghlan

You’ve seen them around: those giant colorful metal donation bins seeking clothing and shoes across the region.

Their sudden proliferation had led many cities to outright ban these bins. But according to the Los Angeles Times, a recent lawsuit won by the nonprofit Planet Aid against a ban put in place by a city in Michigan on free speech grounds might pave the way of their reappearance on the streets of Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The Massachusetts-based Planet Aid owns about 20,000 donation bins in the country, about 1,500 in Southern California.

Planet Aid has also filed similar suits against the cities of Alhambra, Corona, and Stanton.

PLANET AID, a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation v. CITY OF ST. JOHNS, MI, a Michigan municipal corporation

Guest:

Larry Rosenthal, professor of law at the Chapman School of Law