Police watch activists gather in front of The Metropolitan Museum of Art as they march up 5th Avenue in response to the recent fatal shootings of two black men by police, July 7, 2016 on the Upper East Side in New York City.; Credit: Yana Paskova/Getty Images

Last week, Minnesota police officer Jeronimo Yanez was acquitted of all charges in the fatal shooting of black motorist Philando Castile.

Castile’s girlfriend had Facebook livestreamed the immediate events after the shooting in 2016. But on Tuesday, dashboard cam video was released showing the events leading up to the shooting, as well as footage from a squad car that shows Castile’s girlfriend Diamond Reynolds and her four-year-old daughter during the aftermath.

In light of this footage, we want to hear from you about your reactions, as well as what experiences have shaped your view of law enforcement. Did you have a positive or negative view of police officers growing up and why? What experiences shaped your perspective, and has it changed over the years?  

Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle

Guest:

Jody Armour, professor of Law at the University of Southern California

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

Production staff on a weekly fashion magazine edit in a temporary office.; Credit: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

California is considering a proposal to bar employers from asking job applicants about how much they made at their previous jobs.

The bill would also require private employers to disclose a job’s pay range, if that information is requested. AB 168 would still allow a job seeker to disclose their salary history voluntarily.

Proponents of the bill believe banning the practice could help narrow the gender wage gap, and could prevent discrimination against older workers. Part of the reasoning is that the history of the gender pay disparity makes it more likely that a woman will have a lower salary, and this legislation would ensure that she wouldn’t have to contend with that when negotiating salary for a new position.

Opponents argue that salary history is a crucial piece of information an employer needs in order to make a sound hiring decision, that this bill would create hurdles for employers and could open them up to expensive litigation.

Do you think an employer should be allowed to ask for your salary history? What successful or negative experiences have you had when asked to provide your salary history during the hiring process? If you are an employer, do you find it helpful to have an applicant’s salary history when hiring or setting their salary?

Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle

Guests:

Rebecca Kieler, consultant at Kieler Career Consulting, based in the Bay Area, with 20-plus years of experience in the field; she’s worked with companies such as Sun Micro Systems, Johnson & Johnson, and Yahoo

Mike Belote, lobbyist for the California Employment Law Council

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

US House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (C), Democrat of California, speaks alongside doctors, nurses and healthcare providers against the Republican healthcare bills during a rally on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, June 22, 2017.; Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Yesterday, congressional Democrats met in a closed meeting to discuss a possible ouster of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, whose leadership has been blamed for a string of defeats in the house – most recently, the catastrophically expensive loss for Jon Ossoff in the Georgia 6th.

While Pelosi is defiant, gambling that there isn’t enough support for Democrats upset with her leadership to actually oust her, the catastrophic losses for the Democratic party in the last several have left some representatives determined to make a change before the 2018 midterms.

Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle

Guests:

Sarah Wire, a DC-based reporter who writes on the California Delegation for the LA Times; she tweets @sarahdwire

Carolyn Lochhead, DC Correspondent with the San Francisco Chronicle; she tweets @carolynlochhead

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

Freshman state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, holds his daughter Cecily, six months, as he waits to be sworn-in to the state Senate, in Sacramento, Calif.; Credit: Rich Pedroncelli/AP

State Senator Josh Newman is the target of a recall effort for supporting Gov. Jerry Brown’s massive gas tax bill.

The petition, led by former San Diego city councilman and current talk show host Carl DeMaio, has gathered over 30,000 signatures.

The recall attempt has generated outrage among Democrats and many political observers for what they see as a blatant attempt by state Republicans to target a politically vulnerable member of the Legislature to strip the Dems of their supermajority.

Yesterday, guest host Libby Denkmann spoke with DeMaio about the recall. Today, she speaks with Senator Newman for his take.

Guest:

Josh Newman, State Senator for the 29th Senate district of California, which includes the cities of Anaheim, Fullerton, and West Covina

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

The Department of Labor is suing Google to obtain payroll data to determine whether the company is complying with equal opportunity laws.; Credit: Kim Jin-a/AP

The Google messaging platform, Gchat, is being laid to rest on Monday.

As reported by Slate, it was a way to for an entire generation to instant message at work before the days of Slack. Gchat enabled colleagues to chat online in an offline short of way, where you could write what was on your mind with abandon.

But what happened to Gchat? It seemed to have all the elements of a great social media platform, enabling media transfers, group chats and searchable features. But it seems the app was never fully supported by Google. Even the title of Gchat was unofficial. Its 2005 release was referred to as Google Talk, in 2006, the Gmail integration was know as Google Chat or Chat. And there have been various reinventions of Gchat since. At least, that was the hope with Google+ Hangouts.

With social media growing at lightning speed, why couldn’t Gchat latch on to the movement? If you were a Gchat devotee in its early days, what were its highlights? What will you miss most?

Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle

Guest:

Josh Constine, editor-at-large for TechCrunch; he’s been following the story; he tweets @JoshConstine

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

US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, walks through the US Capitol in Washington, DC, June 22, 2017, following the release of a draft of the Senate Republican's healthcare bill.; Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell wants a vote on the Senate version of the Affordable Care Act replacement bill this week, even though five GOP Senators have publicly come out against it.

Passage would need the support of at least 50 Republican Senators. All Democrats in the Senate are expected to vote the bill down. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told ABC’s “This Week” over the weekend that the bill has “at best, a 50-50 chance” of passage.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear President Trump’s travel ban challenge, and rumor is swirling that Justice Anthony Kennedy is seriously contemplating retirement – a move that would bring on seismic changes to the makeup of the country’s highest court.

Guest host Libby Denkmann and guests Caroline Heldman and Charles Kesler discuss these topics, and more, in AirTalk’s weekly political segment.

Guests:

Caroline Heldman, associate professor of politics at Occidental College and author of the forthcoming book, “Protest Politics in the Marketplace: Consumer Activism in the Corporate Age” (Cornell University Press, 2017)

Charles Kesler, Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College and editor of the Claremont Review of Books

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

An Amp sits on the dashboard of a Lyft driver's car on January 31, 2017 in San Francisco, California. ; Credit: Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images for Lyft

The latest endeavor from ridesharing company, Lyft, has a familiar ring to it.

Lyft Shuttle, revealed last week, was met with mixed reviews, and not just because it’s been described as a bus with a cooler name. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, critics say the shuttle will compete with public transit, giving commuters with the most money more exclusive options. And that means less demand to improve city transportation, and another way to separate the haves from the have-nots.

But supporters of the shuttle argue just the opposite: that giving the public a much needed alternative is simply responding to market needs. It also means incentivization for public transit to step up its game. In any case, Lyft Shuttle has put a big challenge on the longstanding transit monopoly.

Would you use Lyft shuttle? Do you think this will help improve public transit or will it stifle any advancement in city bus developments?

Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle

Guests:

Ed Krayewski, associate editor at Reason.com; he wrote the article “Lyft Shuttle Doesn't Reinvent the City Bus, But It May Break the Mass Transit Monopoly;” he tweets @edkrayewski 

Henry Grabar, staff writer for Slate; he writes about cities and transit; he tweets @HenryGrabar

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

Girls hug each other outside the European school of Strasbourg in France.; Credit: PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images

Jane Fonda once said, “It’s my women friends that keep starch in my spine and without them, I don’t know where I would be.”

Women’s friendships are the focus of linguist and New York Times Bestselling author Deborah Tannen’s new book, “You’re the Only One I Can Tell”. Rather than taking a psychological approach to women’s relationships, Tannen uses her experience as a linguist to analyze the way words build – and break – the bonds of friendship.

She interviewed 80 women ranging from ages nine to 97 for the book. It covers everything from the definition of closeness to how miscommunication can result in drama and the influence of social media on female friendships.

Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle

Guest:

Deborah Tannen, professor of linguistics at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and author of the book, “You’re the Only One I Can Tell: Inside the Language of Women’s Friendships” (Ballantine Books, 2017)

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

Cadets in the LAPD's Newton Division are required to go through a 16-week academy that takes place on Saturdays.; Credit: Brian De Los Santos/OnCentral

Over the weekend more than 450 LAPD cadets graduated from the youth program.

The ceremony was uncharacteristically solemn after a rough couple of weeks in the news. It all started with reports of cadets joyriding in stolen police cruisers and escalated to LA Police Chief Charlie Beck personally arresting a 31-year-old officer for allegedly having sex with an underage cadet. Then law enforcement found more than a hundred firearms when searching the accused officer’s home.

There are now calls for an investigation of the LAPD cadets program and their other youth initiatives. What does all this mean for the program’s future and the at-risk kids it was designed for?

Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle

Guests:

Kate Mather, reporter covering the LAPD for the Los Angeles Times; she authored the article, “Police commissioner calls for inspector general to investigate LAPD’s troubled cadet program”

Mitchell Englander, LA City Councilmember for the 12th District; he’s calling for an investigation and audit of all LAPD youth programs; he tweets @Mitch_Englander

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

Harry Potter fans prepare to take a steam train from Sydney Central Station to a secret location for the much anticipated unveiling of the final novel by author J.K. Rowling.; Credit: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

In 1997, the first “Harry Potter” book was published in the U.K., and twenty years later, kids and adults still dream of receiving their Hogwarts acceptance letters.

In the two decades since its publication, the series has become a worldwide phenomenon, arguably changing the landscape of children’s book publishing, and spawning a wildly successful movie franchise, as well as podcasts, fanfiction, theme parks, wrock bands (that’s wizard rock bands, for you muggles) and a fair share of controversy.

What did Harry Potter mean to you growing up? Do you have any fond memories of going to midnight-release parties or staying up until the wee hours of the morning to binge read the books? How do you keep the magic alive now?

Call in at 866-893-5722.

Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle

Guest:

Maureen Palacios, owner of Once Upon A Time, the oldest children’s bookstore in the country, located in Montrose 

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

The California Legislature's top Democrats, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin De León, opened the new session on Monday by taking aim at President-elect Donald Trump.; Credit: Steve Yeater for CALmatters

California’s single-payer health care system was sidelined late Friday afternoon.

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount), who made the decision, said the proposal was “woefully incomplete.” This dashed hopes for quick passage of the bill, SB 562, which would offer a universal health care plan to the state. Rendon went on to point out that issues of financing, care implementation and cooperation with the Trump Administration were lacking in the legislation. The expense of the $400 billion proposal was one of the main causes of concern for Rendon, who said on Monday the bill was beyond fine-tuning that many measures need to move forward.

Former Assembly Speaker John A. Perez supported Rendon’s decision, saying he had taken the hit of postponing single-payer health care so none of the other members would have to. Perez called Rendon’s action “the job of a leader.” Gov. Jerry Brown had his reservations about the costs of such a revamp of the current system. The California Nurses Assn., which sponsored the bill, criticized the move, accusing Rendon of acting in insurance companies’ interests. And Sens. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) and Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), who authored SB 562, vowed this isn’t the end of the single-payer health care conversation. But how practical is the measure?

Guest host Libby Denkmann speaks to experts on the single-payer health care issue to speculate on the future of SB 562.

Guests:

Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount), California Assembly Speaker representing the 63rd district; it includes Bell, Lakewood, Paramount and a northern portion of Long Beach

Michael Lighty, director of public policy at the California Nurses Association, which sponsored SB 562

Sally C. Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, a nonprofit think tank focused on free-market solutions to policy problems

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

An Apple Store employee tries on a pair of headphones during a press preview of the new flagship Apple Store on May 19, 2016 in San Francisco, California.; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The music industry grew six percent last year, thanks partly to the popularity of streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.

Spotify is the undisputed leader in the industry. To play catch up, Apple Music has been offering record labels more money to license their music. But with some 27 million subscribers now, Apple’s streaming service is rumored to be renegotiating its contracts with record labels to reduce how much it pays them.

But where are the musicians – the hitmakers – in all of this?

Music writer Charles R. Cross joins guest host Libby Denkmann to discuss the issue.

Guest:

Charles R. Cross, a Seattle-based music journalist and author of multiple books, including “Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock & Roll” (HarperCollins, 2012), and his latest, “Here We Are Now: The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain” (It Books, 2014)

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

Police officers stand guard at a barricade following the sniper shooting in Dallas.
; Credit: LAURA BUCKMAN/AFP/Getty Images

A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge is expected to decide this morning whether or not a man convicted of drug charges will get a retrial.

Defendant Emil Alseranai claims his right to fair trial was violated. During his first trial, the defendant googled the testifying Sheriff’s Sergeant who arrested him. He discovered a civil jury had previously found the officer “liable of using false evidence or false testimony” in a different arrest.

So what parts of an officer’s record have to be disclosed before testifying in court? How much of the burden falls on the defense or prosecution teams? How much of an officer’s record is legally private? What are the reasons for an officer to disclose his or her record up front? Why might an officer choose not to mention a previous accusation?

Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle

Guests:

Jerry Coleman, special assistant district attorney for city and county of San Francisco; adjunct professor of law at University of San Francisco, where he teaches ethical prosecution

Ken Yuwiler, partner at Rains Lucia Stern law firm in the Bay Area

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

Travellers stand in front of an information desk at Pyongyang airport on April 17, 2017.; Credit: ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images

Otto Warmbier, an American university student died earlier this month after being released from a North Korean labor camp.

And now, controversies have risen about his decision to visit the country. Warmbier, who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea after being convicted of stealing a propaganda banner in the country, was brought back to the U.S. in a coma, and died days after his return. He was 22 years old.

As reported by USA Today, University of Delaware anthropology professor, Katherine Dettwyler, was fired last week for a since-deleted Facebook post accusing the deceased student of being similar to typical “young, white, rich, clueless males” she sees in her classes. While it has not been proven that Warmbier stole the propaganda banner in the North Korean hotel where he stayed, the incident is leading some to question whether he should have traveled to the country at all.

With North Korea as a growing threat to the U.S., should he have taken more caution? What would make you go to a country that’s seen as dangerous? Do you have specific precautions you take to ensure safety when traveling to a less developed place? Have you ever realized you were in a dangerous travel situation and how did you handle it?

Guest:

Paul Theroux, travel writer and novelist, whose numerous books include “The Great Railway Bazaar” (Mariner Books; Reprint edition, 2006), and his newest, “Mother Land” (Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017)

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

In this photo illustration the logo of the multi-facetted internet giant Microsoft is displayed on a computer screen on April 13, 2006 in London, England. ; Credit: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

A ransomware attack which, according to Microsoft, began in Ukraine, has spread quickly across Europe and into parts of Asia, South America and the United States.

More than 12,500 machines with older Microsoft windows software were hit. Targets include an American pharmaceutical company, a French multinational, and a Russian energy company. Ukraine and Russia are most heavily affected.

Ransom money is involved: researchers found a bitcoin address from which attackers are demanding that victims pay $300, and some have complied As of this morning, 45 transactions had been made, though the address the attackers used has been shut down, meaning that they cannot restore access to files on hacked computers whether or not the victims paid ransom.

The attack comes on the heels of a similar May incident known as WannaCry, which hit dozens of countries across the globe, including computers in Russia’s interior ministry and in British hospitals.

Guests:

Lily Hay Newman, security staff writer at Wired who’s been following this story; she tweets @lilyhnewman @wired

Russell Brandom, reporter at the Verge; he’s been following this story and tweets @russellbrandom

Sean Hoar, partner in the Portland office of Lewis Brisbois and chair of the Data Privacy & Cyber Security Practice; he served as the lead cyber attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon 

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

General view of the CNN Journalist Award 2013 at the Künstlerhaus at Lenbachplatz on April 4, 2013 in Munich, Germany.; Credit: Dominik Bindl/Getty Images

More fuel on the fake news fire.

This week, three CNN reporters resigned after a Russian-connections piece was retracted for “not meeting editorial standards”.

President Trump turned to Twitter yesterday to disparage CNN’s “phony stories” and throw shade at other outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post. Later in the day, a Sentinel reporter and deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had a tense exchange about the role and responsibility of the media. Now, many news outlets (especially the big ones) have review processes before publishing investigative stories that include editors, fact-checkers and even lawyers – but they’re not always followed to the letter.

Even when all the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed, mistakes still happen – especially when you add deadline pressure and a lightening-fast news cycle to the mix. But with the increasingly strained relationship between the press and the Trump Administration, what can journalists do to avoid further fanning the flames of media distrust across the country?

Guests:

Jane Kirtley, professor of media ethics and law at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota

Thomas Peele, investigative reporter for the Bay Area News Group; 2017 Pulitzer Prize winner; lecturer at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism; he tweets @thomas_peele

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

The Booking and Release Center at the Orange County Jail is seen where Casey Anthony was released from on July 17th after being acquitted of murdering her daughter Caylee Anthony. ; Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

After almost a decade in office, Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens decided she will not be seeking reelection.

It’s been a rough few years for the law enforcement department and it’s leader. The OC Sheriffs have been under fire for their handling of jailhouse informants and last year’s prison break. Hutchens’s announcement yesterday to stay out of the next election came shortly after the American Civil Liberties Union released a report on allegedly violent and inhumane conditions in OC County Jails. Hutchens is also expected to testify next week in a case that used a jailhouse informant. Regardless of all that controversy, the OC Sheriff has said she’s retiring because “forty years is enough.”

Guest: 

Andre Mouchard, assistant managing editor of projects and investigations at Southern California News Group who’s been following the story

Frank Stoltze, KPCC correspondent who currently covers criminal justice and public safety issues  

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

Doctors, nurses, patients and activists listen as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks at Bellevue Hospital a day after the Republicans released their health care bill to the public on June 23, 2017 in New York City.; Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Health care politics are heating up – a reality that has some calling for a doctors’ March on Washington.

In a recent op-ed for the New York Times, physician and NYU professor Danielle Ofri argues doctors need to become more politically involved. She says that while it is part of a doctor’s job to advocate for patients with insurance companies, most doctors draw a line at political advocacy. But even if politics should usually be kept separate from doctor-patient relationships, she says, this legislation’s impact on patient health will be so significant that doctors have a moral duty to fight the bill the way they fight for their patients with hospitals and insurance companies.

Doctors – do you think the GOP bill presents a new need for political activism in the medical community? And patients – do you feel comfortable if your doctors are openly politically involved? Will the GOP bill herald a new era of political participation among doctors, or should the line between medicine and activism remain firmly in place?

Guests:

Danielle Ofri, M.D, PhD,  associate professor of medicine at New York University and author of the New York Times op-ed, “Time for a Doctors’ March on Washington”; her latest book is “What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear” (Beacon Press, 2017)

Arthur Caplan, professor of Medical Ethics at New York University Langone Medical Center and Director of the division of medical ethics; he tweets @ArthurCaplan

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

Maschinenmensch (machine-human) on display at the Science Museum at Preview Of The Science Museum's Robots Exhibition at Science Museum London.; Credit: Ming Yeung/Getty Images Entertainment Video

To what extent can we trust artificial intelligence if we don’t understand its decision-making process?

This may sound like a science fiction scenario, but it’s an ethical dilemma that we’re already grappling with.

In his recent MIT Technology Review cover story, “The Dark Secret at the Heart of AI,” Will Knight explores the ethical problems presented by deep learning.  

Some context: one of the most efficient types of artificial intelligence is machine learning – that’s when you program a computer to write its own algorithms. Deep learning is a subset of machine learning which involves training a neural network, a mathematical approximation of the way neurons process information, often by feeding it examples and allowing it to “learn.”

This technique has taken the tech world by storm, and is already being used for language translation, image captioning and translation. The possibilities are extensive, with powerful decision making potential that can be used for self-driving cars, the military and medicine.

However, when an AI writes its own algorithm, it often becomes so complicated that a human can’t decipher it, creating a “black box,” and an ethical dilemma. What are the trade-offs to using this powerful technique? To what extent can humans trust a decision-making process that they can’t understand? How can we regulate it?

Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle

Guest:

Will Knight, senior editor for AI at MIT Technology Review; he wrote the article “The Dark Secret at the Heart of AI;” he tweets @willknight

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

Miss America 2017 Savvy Shields (L) and television personality Rachel Lindsay present an award during the 2017 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.; Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

After 14 years as a ratings juggernaut, the reality TV franchise “The Bachelor” has finally featured a black person as its star: Texas attorney Rachel Lindsay.

She’s charming and smart, and Disney-princess-pretty – fabulously well-suited for this role. But after many years of ignoring race in content and casting, many viewers have been cringing this season watching themes of racial conflict between Rachel's suitors seemingly set up intentionally by producers. At least one of the contestants, a white musician from the South, has been accused of using coded racist language to antagonize black men in the competition. Tweets have now surfaced in which the musician, Lee Garrett, likens Black Lives Matter to a “terrorist group.”

So producers are not shying away from race – but is this a valuable conversation or a cynical ratings ploy? Are producers crossing a line by encouraging racism on television in order to juice reality show drama?

Guest host Libby Denkmann in for Larry Mantle

Guest:

Ali Barthwell, freelance writer for Vulture and writer for Cards Against Humanity; she wrote the Vulture article, “The Bachelorette Recap: Why is This Happening?;” she tweets @wtflanksteak

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