Passengers board Metrolink subway trains during rush hour on June 3, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.; Credit: David McNew/Getty Images

Is California's high-speed rail project dead?

Well . . . it's definitely hit the brakes.

That's due to the deferment of a $647 million federal grant for the electrification of Caltrain, which has put a hold on plans to finish California’s high-speed rail project.

The delay was prompted by a letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao from 14 Congressional Republicans. It called for a full audit to be completed prior to any grant approval. Funding would have paid for a 50-mile electrical power system for both Caltrain and a potential high speed rail to travel from San Jose to San Francisco, and critics of the move are describing this as the Trump Administration’s attack on the state of California. Gov. Jerry Brown last week asked the president’s administration to reverse the decision to withhold the grant. And senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein are among lawmakers who have expressed their support of funding the project.

So what’s the future of the high-speed rail? Larry weighs in with experts on the project to find out.

Guests:

Ralph Vartabedian, L.A. Times national correspondent; he has been following the story; he tweets @RVartabedian

Meghan McCarty, KPCC reporter covering commuting and mobility issues; she tweets @meghamama

Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Change and Business Program, a joint program between UCLA and UC Berkeley schools of law. He is the author of “Railtown: The Fight for the Los Angeles Metro Rail and the Future of the City” (University of California Press, 2014); he tweets @EthanElkind

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Boy sleeping in bed.; Credit: /iStockphoto

It’s supposed to be the best -- and simplest -- eight hours of your day, so why do so many people find themselves wrestling with that benign thing called sleep each night?

In the book “Wild Nights: How Taming Sleep Created Our Restless World,” writer Benjamin Reiss tackles the history of sleep (and insomnia) by looking at literature, social and medical history, and science.

The book tells the stories of sleep through different people, from cave-dwelling sleep researchers to sleepwalkers and frustrated parents.

Guest:

Benjamin Reiss, a professor of English at Emory University, and the author of the new book, “Wild Nights: How Taming Sleep Created Our Restless World” (Basic Books, 2017)

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

People protest the executive order by by US President Donald Trump, banning immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries at Los Angeles International Airport, California on February 4, 2017. ; Credit: AFP/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump’s new travel moratorium is designed to avoid the successful legal challenge that scuttled his previous ban. But will it, too, prove vulnerable?

The new order is a 90-day ban on travelers from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen. Iraq was in the first order blocked by federal courts but has now been dropped. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said this was because the State Department and Iraq were working together to implement updated security measures to prevent Iraqi citizens with terroristic or criminal intent from entering the country. Legal permanent residents, green card holders, are exempt under the new order, as are current visa holders, and refugees from anywhere in the world, not just Syria, will be banned for 120-days. The ban will be enacted in ten days.

The Administration argued that the last ban needed to be implemented immediately so those planning harm wouldn't accelerate plans to enter the U.S. -- are there concerns now that this ten day period before implementation could be exploited? And for those looking to challenge the new ban, what might be constitutionally vulnerable?

Guests:

Alan Gomez, USA Today reporter covering immigration; he tweets @alangomez

Lanhee Chen, research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and former policy director for the Romney-Ryan 2012 presidential campaign; he tweets @lanheechen

John Iadarola, host and creator of ThinkTank, part of The Young Turks Network; he also serves as a weekly co-host for The Young Turks weekly live show; he tweets @johniadarola

James R. Copland, a senior fellow and director of Legal Policy at the Manhattan Institute

Ahilan Arulanantham, legal director and director of advocacy at the ACLU of Southern California

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with representatives from PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.; Credit: Pool/Getty Images

After much anticipating and hand-wringing on both sides of the aisle, House Republicans have finally unveiled legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

The “American Health Care Act” would keep a couple of the most popular parts of the ACA -- the ability to stay on your parents’ health insurance until you’re 26 years old and preventing insurance companies from charging more or denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. The revised law would do away with the individual mandate, which imposed a penalty on Americans who chose not to purchase insurance, and instead tries to ensure people maintain coverage by letting insurance companies impose a surcharge if you have a gap between health plans.

The legislation has been met with mixed reviews from Republicans in Congress, and the bill’s plan to target Planned Parenthood isn’t doing much to get Democrats on board. The architects say the bill is designed to be readable by all Americans.

You can read the full text below:

American Healthcare Act by Southern California Public Radio on Scribd

Guests:

Dan Diamond, author of POLITICO Pulse, a daily briefing on health care politics and policy; he also hosts POLITICO’s Pulse Check podcast and tweets @ddiamond

Grace-Marie Turner, founder and president of the Galen Institute, a non-profit policy research organization focusing on health care and tax policy; she’s also a contributor to Forbes.com; she tweets @gracemarietweets

Kavita Patel, M.D., nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; she’s also a practicing primary care physician at Johns Hopkins Medicine and was previously a director of policy for The White House under President Obama; she tweets @kavitapmd

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Musa, a 25-year-old Kurdish marksman, stands atop a building as he looks at the destroyed Syrian town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, on January 30, 2015. ; Credit: BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images

Under the Obama Administration, military operations in Syria gave the U.S. a position to monitor the operations without intervention.

But President Trump may have other plans in the fight against ISIS. An official from the Defense Department last month told CNN that conventional forces could hit the ground in Syria. And the Washington Post reported that U.S. officials have cited a Pentagon plan for a forthcoming assault on Raqqa, ISIS’ Syrian capital. This would require adjustments to current restrictions on U.S. involvement in Syria, lifting a cap on military size in that country.

The proposal wouldn’t necessarily put more boots on the ground, it would mean more involvement in decisions from Washington, and President Trump did pledge during the presidential race that he would amp up military action to combat ISIS.

So how effective could it be to send troops to Syria? Larry weighs in with experts on the pros and cons.

Guests:

Jessica Ashooh, scholar at the Atlantic Council, specializing in Middle East task force strategy; she was a senior policy planning analyst in the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a participant in the Geneva II peace talks

Joshua Landis, professor of international and area studies and director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma; Landis’ blog is SyriaComment.com

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A photo from the entrance to the underpass at North Hollywood's Metro Station.; Credit: Steve Hymon/Metro

Since our last chat with Washington, Measure M was passed with nearly a quarter of voters checking ‘yes’ on their November ballot.

However, even with the successes of Measure M and the opening of new Gold Line stations and the Expo Line to Santa Monica, Metro ridership saw a 6 percent drop in 2016, thanks in large part to a sharp decline in annual bus ridership.

Metro’s Board also recently approved a plan worth almost $800 million that would shift responsibility of policing most of Metro to the Los Angeles and Long Beach Police Departments. The L.A. Sheriff’s Department would still oversee some of the system.

Back for his regular check-in with AirTalk and Larry Mantle, Metro Los Angeles CEO Phil Washington is in studio to chat about all this and other local transportation news, including the latest on whether Metro will be selling the naming rights to its trains and stations. Have a question? Post in the comments below or join the conversation at 866-893-5722.

Guest:

Phil Washington, CEO of Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro)

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A sign is posted in front of a Wendy's restaurant on August 10, 2016 in Daly City, California. ; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Fast food joint Wendy’s has begun introducing self-service ordering kiosks to at least 1,000 locations -- or about 15 percent of its stores, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The move is seen by some analysts as a way to offset new minimum wage requirements that some places, including California, have voted in.

Is this an unintended consequence of the minimum wage hike?

Guests: 

Ted Green, Co-Chair of the Labor and Employment Committee at the Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed)

Saru Jayaraman, Co-Director and Co-Founder, Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC United), a nonprofit working to improve wages and working conditions for restaurant workers. She is the author of “Forked: A New Standard For American Dining” (Oxford University Press, 2016)

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A local woman argues with one of the squatters occupying a building on Endell Street, London, 1969. (Photo by William Lovelace/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images); Credit: William Lovelace/Getty Images

If you allow your kids to stay up past their bedtime tonight, they’ll stay up late every night.

Real Americans eat meat. If you don’t, you’re not American.

This healing herb that I grow in my backyard is obviously better than any synthetic medicine.

The above arguments are all examples of informal logical fallacies - slippery slope, no true scotsman and appeal to nature, respectively.

A logical fallacy is a flaw in reasoning in which the premise doesn’t passably support the conclusion. Whether appealing to emotion, shooting down a strawman or begging the question, you’ve probably heard these debate shortcuts used by friends, family, politicians, and (if you can admit it) yourself.

We want to hear from you. Which logical fallacies do you hear most often? Are you guilty of relying on any logical fallacies? Which of these flaws in reasoning bothers you most?

Here is a graphic of various logical fallacies:

From: yourlogicalfallacyis.com by Southern California Public Radio on Scribd

Guest: 

Foad Dizadji-Bahmani, professor of philosophy at Cal State Los Angeles; his areas of research are the philosophy of science and physics; he also teaches logic and critical thinking

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Snacks and drinks with higher nutritional value are displayed during a news conference on school food nutrition September 15, 2003 in Washington, DC.; Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Food and Drug Administration is hearing public comment in Maryland on Thursday to discuss modernizing the term “healthy.”

Foods currently need to meet criteria for amounts of fat and certain beneficial nutrients like vitamin D or potassium, but it doesn’t account for ingredients like whole grains. The controversy over an updated “healthy” label on food products was sparked by a dispute with LLC, the company behind KIND bars. Some of the bars contained a high content of saturated fat, which did not meet the FDA’s criteria for healthy despite being made up of unprocessed foods such as nuts and dried fruit.

But is the term “healthy” misleading for consumers? Is the term simply a marketing ploy?

Guests:

Lindsay Moyer, senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest; she is also a registered dietician

Adam Drewnowski, director, Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington School of Public Health

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

; Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A new state bill, AB 1103, from Assembly members Jay Obernolte (R-Hesperia) and Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) would allow cyclists to essentially treat stop signs as yield signs.

Idaho has a similar law in place that has lead to a drop in bike-related injuries in that state, Assembly member Obernolte told the Los Angeles Times.  

The latest California proposal came three years after the enactment of the so-called “three-foot rule,” which requires drivers to be at least 3 feet away when they pass a cyclist.

Guests:

Dave Snyder, executive director of the nonprofit organization California Bicycle Coalition based in Sacramento

Jay Beeber, executive director of Safer Streets L.A., and a research fellow with the Reason Foundation

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

The logo of the CIA is seen during a visit ofUS President Donald Trump the CIA headquarters on January 21, 2017 in Langley, Virginia. ; Credit: Pool/Getty Images

WikiLeaks released a trove of secret files over the CIA’s efforts to hack into people’s computers, phones, and popular electronic devices.

Most analysts who have looked at the files believe they are genuine, and that what was released constitutes just the tip of the iceberg of what WikiLeaks holds.

What are the implications of the dump?  

Guests: 

Kim Zetter,  a reporter covering cybercrime, privacy, and security who’s been following the story for the Intercept. She is the author of “Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon” (Broadway Book, 2015)

Bob Stasio, a fellow at the Truman National Security Project, a national security think tank. He is also former Chief of Operations of NSA’s Cyber Center

Jordan Robertson, reporter at Bloomberg who’s been following the story

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks during a campaign event at Raleigh Studios on February 21, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Los Angeles County voters appear to have narrowly approved sales tax increase Measure H to fund homeless services, marijuana Measure M got over the two-thirds threshold required and LA city's Measure S moratorium on large development was trounced.

Mayor Eric Garcetti was re-elected with more than 80-percent of the vote. Despite the defeat of Measure S, Angelenos are clearly unhappy with development being decided on an ad hoc basis. And now that Garcetti has pushed through passage of tax increases to fund homelessness with Measures HHH and now H, Angelenos what to know when they’ll see encampments go away.

Larry get the mayor’s his thoughts on what the election results mean for the city's future.

Guest:

Eric Garcetti, mayor of Los Angeles

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Protesters gather during the Women's March on Washington January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. ; Credit: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

Today marks International Women’s Day.

It started back in 1911, but this year's observance comes amid questions over the direction of the women's' movement. A day after President Trump's inauguration, huge crowds turned out in cities around the world. The question now for women's' leaders is how to take the excitement of that day and strategically move forward.

One idea was calling for a women's strike today. Dubbed "A Day Without a Woman," it echoes last month's "Day Without An Immigrant." Women are being encouraged to avoid work in or out of home, to show their value to society. But the idea has also garnered intense backlash. What is the intended message? And what other options are there for advancing the women's movement, given the diversity of issues of concern?

Guest:

Jia Tolentino, a contributing writer for newyorker.com; she wrote about the women's strike 

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Morning commuters travel the 210 freeway between Los Angeles and cities to the east on December 1, 2009 near Pasadena, California. ; Credit: David McNew/Getty Images

Another change is coming from the Trump Administration. And this time, it’s impacting two issues near and dear to Californians - the environment and our cars.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the Trump Administration is planning to roll back federal fuel-economy requirements implemented under Obama.

A requirement enacted in January puts a 36 mile per gallon average on new cars. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt was asked by automakers to throw that standard out. But California has a waiver which allows it to enforce fuel efficiency standards, and the roll back could spark a legal battle for the state to keep its requirements. So what chance does the EPA have of moving forward?

Guests:

Emily Guerin, KPCC environment reporter; she’s been following the story

Oren Cass, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, where his focus includes energy and  environmental policy

Ann Carlson, co-director, Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment; she is also a Shirley Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law at UCLA

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Using city of Los Angeles data, this chart shows percent of voter turnout in LA Mayoral Primary Nominating Elections from 1913 to 2013.; Credit: KPCC

Mayor Eric Garcetti won re-election. Measure H is closing in on passage, and Measure S is heading for certain defeat.

But the big story coming out of Tuesday’s Los Angeles’ elections might be the poor turnout. At under 12 percent, it’s possibly the lowest in the city’s recent history.

There’s been a lot of talk about how President Trump’s unexpected win would galvanize people’s sense of civic duty, as well as voter turnout all across the country. So what happened in LA?

Guest:

Fernando J. Guerra, professor of political science and director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University; he is a member of the Southern California Public Radio Board of Trustees

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A woman displays "Siri", voice-activated assistant.; Credit: AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Kids might love having Alexa around to help with homework, set the alarm clock or tell them the weather – but what are the effects of these “smart” voice assistants on child development?

It’s likely that voice assistants such as Microsoft’s Cortana, Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa will soon become a staple of family life, but their impact on the way children are socialized is still unclear.

According to the Washington Post, some children who often use voice assistants become more rude, because they get acclimated to removing social niceties such as “please” and “thank you” from their speech.

That’s something toy maker Mattel is looking to address with Aristotle, a home baby monitor similar to the Echo that can play games with kids, read aloud from children’s books, and, yes, require that kids say “please” when asking questions to help instill manners.

If you’re a parent who owns a voice assistant, how does it affect your children? What are the negatives? The positives? What child-friendly functionality would you want to see in a smart voice assistant?

Guest:

Sandra Calvert, professor of psychology at Georgetown University and director of the Children’s Digital Media Center  

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A section of the California seal hangs on the front of the State of California Earl Warren building January 22, 2007 in San Francisco, California. ; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

California Supreme Court Justice Kathryn Werdegar announced Wednesday that she will retire this summer.

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Werdegar is the longest-serving member of the state Supreme Court. She began her tenure in 1994 under then Gov. Pete Wilson’s appointment, and has decided cases such as a 1996 ruling that prevents landlords from renting to unmarried couples. In 2008, she also voted to outlaw same-sex marriage bans, the case that let to Proposition 8. Werdegar will turn 81 in April.

So who will fill Werdegar’s seat? That’s up to Gov. Jerry Brown. But the question looms: Who is the best justice to step in, as California’s pushback with the Trump Administration moves forward?

Guest:

David Siders, senior reporter for POLITICO, and co-author of POLITICO’S California Playbook; he’s been following the story

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) (C) during a news conference with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) (L) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR).; Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Bleary-eyed members of two separate House committees fought to stay awake into the early hours of the morning on the east coast as work progressed on the GOP bill to replace Obamacare.

The House Ways and Means Committee called it quits at 4:30a Eastern on Thursday morning after approving its portion of the law. Meanwhile, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the bill after a 27 hour marathon session.

Here in the Golden State, we’re starting to get a look at potential local and statewide impacts of the law on Californians if it were implemented. Nearly a third of California’s population is covered by Medi-Cal, which could be phased out if the Republican’s bill to replace Obamacare passes. The L.A. Times’ Melanie Mason also reports that most plans in California could be ineligible for tax credits under the new law.

Today on AirTalk, California health policy experts share what came out of the all-night session, take a closer look at what the impact could be here, and share their takes on how the House GOP’s plan to replace the Affordable Care Act could impact enrollees in the Golden State, the state exchanges, and MediCal.

Guests:

Mary Agnes Carey, Partnerships Editor and senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News; she tweets @MaryAgnesCarey

Lanhee Chen, research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, former policy director for the Romney-Ryan 2012 presidential campaign, and a former senior official at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the 2nd Bush Administration; he tweets @lanheechen

Shana Alex Charles, assistant professor in the Department of Health Sciences at California State University, Fullerton

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A man poses holding a smartphone showing the App for ride-sharing cab service Uber in London on October 28, 2016.
; Credit: DANIEL SORABJI/AFP/Getty Images

It may still be top dog when it comes to ride-sharing services in the U.S., but Uber’s reputation is in need of some serious repair work after a tumultuous end to 2016 and start to 2017.

Let’s rewind to just before the new year, in December, when Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was tapped to be part of an economic advisory panel for the Trump Administration, an offer he originally accepted. This didn’t sit well with some of Uber’s clientele, which launched a massive social media campaign to #DeleteUber, which has left the Uber app with a two out of five-star rating on Apple’s App Store. Kalanick announced in early February that he was withdrawing from the council.

Later that month, video surfaced of Kalanick in a tense argument with a driver for UberBlack, Uber’s higher-end black car service, over the impact Uber’s pricing model changes had on his financial stability. Kalanick has since publicly apologized and said he would be seeking help developing leadership skills.

Just days later, news broke of Uber’s use of software called ‘Greyball,’ which helped them identify and track law enforcement and others who might not help business. Most recently, Kalanick announced he’d be hiring a chief operating officer to help him lay out his vision for the future of the company.

We’re also taking a look at how people felt the need to see Uber in a certain way, as more than just a service, but as a social cause behind which to stand. Is this behavior specific to millennials, many of whom look for jobs that not only provide money and benefits but also give a sense that you’re contributing to a larger force of change?

Guests: 

Carolyn Said, San Francisco Chronicle reporter covering business, tech, and the on-demand economy; she tweets @CSaid

Jason Dorsey, founder of the Center for Generational Kinetics, a research firm specializing in millennial and Gen Z marketing; he tweets @jasondorsey

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Former Utah governor and Republican presidential canididate Jon Huntsman looks on with his wife Mary Kaye during a town hall style meeting at the Kendal Retirement Community on October 11, 2011 in Hanover, New Hampshire. ; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

We’re halfway through the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency and a lot has happened.

Larry talks with POLITICO’s breaking news reporter about today’s job numbers, the 40% drop in illegal border crossings, Washington and Hawaii’s challenge to the new Trump EO and Jon Huntsman’s appointment at ambassador to Russia -- all the news you may have missed before heading into the weekend.

Guests: 

Louis Nelson, POLITICO Breaking News Reporter

Neil Irwin, senior economics correspondent for the New York Times; he wrote the article, “Should Trump Get Credit for Good Jobs Numbers?”

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.