Los Angeles City Prosecutor Carmen Trutanich Credit: Roberto (Bear) Guerra

There is a dogged battle in the race for L.A. city attorney. The defending incumbent, Carmen Trutanich, is facing ambitious challengers. Mike Feuer, former state assemblyman and past L.A. City Council member, has raised nearly $1 million to aggressively take on Trutanich as a known quantity. Also funding a tough campaign is Greg Smith. The private attorney  has a formidable war chest of several hundred thousand dollars. He's using some of it to fund TV ads - the only campaign to do so. It's all in an effort to be the city's number one attorney: counsel to the mayor and city leadership; defender in court cases and prosecutor of misdemeanors.

What kind of city attorney do Angelenos need? How can he balance the interests of citizens with the interests of city leadership? What's your question for the candidates?

Guests:
Carmen Trutanich, Incumbent City Attorney for Los Angeles

Mike Feuer, Candidate for City ATtorney of Los Angeles; Former State Assemblyman; Former L.A. City Council member

Greg Smith, Candidate for City Attorney of Los Angeles; Attorney in private practice

Ravers dance at the "Nature One" electronic music festival in the former US missile base Pydna near Kastellaun, western Germany, on August 6, 2011. The festival is expecting around 55,000 visitor and is one of the largest open air festival for electronic music in Europe. Credit: THOMAS FREY/AFP/Getty Images

Since 2006, 14 people have died from overdoses or other drug related deaths in Southern California raves. In the past decade, rave culture has been a boon to the Southern California economy – events like the Electric Daisy Carnival in Los Angeles can bring in tens of millions of dollars yearly.

Some argue that events that involve drug culture should not be encouraged, even if they do bring in cash. Raves boost local revenue, filling hotels and providing local businesses with a steady stream of income in the days around the event. But raves also carry the risk of drug overdoses. Many participants bring drugs like ecstasy into the concert with them, and many rave-goers are high on arrival. Even though accommodations are made to help prevent the escalation of a dangerous situation (free water, long hours of public transportation), risk of injury and death is implicit when it comes to illegal drugs.

Music promoters Pasquale Rotella and Reza Gerami, of Insomniac Inc. and Go Ventures, respectively, face charges for bribery in connection to their raves at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Dissenters think that stricter enforcement of anti-drug laws and age restrictions could prevent rave-related injuries and deaths.

Should raves be banned altogether? Would banning raves put an end to drug overdoses, or could it potentially drive rave culture underground and make it more unsafe? What would be the best way to moderate these events in order to keep people safe?

Guest:

Ron Lin, metro reporter at the Los Angeles Times, has been following the fallout of rave deaths in the L.A. area and across the country

Inmates at Chino State Prison exercise in the yard. Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

In 2011, Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill (AB) 109, which was called “realignment” and was designed to help reduce costs, ease overcrowding, and close the revolving door of low-level inmates cycling in and out of state prisons, which for a long time have been far beyond capacity. Offenders are ending up back on the street faster than before, and watchers of this phenomenon are wondering if realignment isn’t to blame. Could this attempt to lessen our prison population be putting a strain on police departments and local communities?

Guests:

Frank Stoltze, KPCC Crime and Politics Reporter

Tyler Izen, president, Los Angeles Police Protective League

Film Director Roman Coppola. Credit: Rebecca Hill/KPCC

The field of nominations for the original screenplay Oscar this year is rife with darkness, violence and psychodrama - from the gratuitous shoot-em-ups and racial slurs in Django Unchained to the all-too-real, moment to moment hunt for Bin Laden depicted in Zero Dark Thirty.  

Thank goodness for Moonrise Kingdom, which brings a lightness and charm to the field that make it stand out among the other, more serious entries.  The film, a first-love fairy tale between two misfit pre-teens, is set on a windswept New England outpost in 1965. Its co-authors are Wes Anderson, (Bottle Rocket, The Fantastic Mr. Fox), and Roman Coppola.  Coppola entered the family business portraying the young Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, Part II, directed by his father, Francis Ford Coppola.  

Along the way he’s served as a cinematographer, producer, director of music videos and second-unit director to his sister, writer/director Sofia Coppola.  He both wrote and directed his next release, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, which stars Charlie Sheen, Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette and yet another member of la familia Coppola, Jason Schwartzman.  Anderson and Coppola previously teamed up to write The Darjeeling Limited.  

In their latest collaboration, the writers have managed to create an authentically off-kilter world, buoyed by whimsy but grounded by a very real love story with very real consequences for its protagonists.  

Guest:

Roman Coppola, producer, director and writer.  His screenplay for Moonrise Kingdom, co-written with director Wes Anderson, is nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder leads a news conference with Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart Delery and attorneys general from eight states and the District of Columbia at the Department of Justice February 5, 2013 in Washington, DC. Holder announced that the United States is bringing a civil lawsuit against the ratings agency Standards & Poor's and its parent company, McGraw-Hill Companies, over its pre-fiscal crisis bond ratings. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The California and U.S. governments have filed suit against credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's over its ratings of subprime mortgage investments. The suits claim S & P knowingly gave favorable ratings to high-risk investments so as to increase its market share and revenue. "When the housing bubble burst, S&P's house of cards collapsed and California paid the price - in billions," said California Attorney General Kamala Harris in a statement.

Was the agency just incompetent or willfully negligent? Why has the Justice Department pursued the same legal action against other credit rating groups such as Moody's? Are there political motivations behind these suits? Could the suits lead to positive change or unintended adverse consequences?

Guest:

Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research

Alex Pollock, resident fellow, American Enterprise Institute

Las Abuelas del Parque is an exercise group for senior citizens. The class meets in Cypress Park. Baby boomers aren't babies any more, not by a long shot, but the first of them are entering the stage of life where they may need more intensive and even more expensive care than children. Credit: Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC

With all their obsession over yoga, exercise, attention to alcohol consumption and the evils of smoking, you’d think baby boomers would be the healthiest generation ever. Not true, says a new study just published in JAMA Internal Medicine.  

Researchers surveyed a sample of the nearly 80 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 and compared their overall health to that of their parents at the same age.  Surprisingly, the survey showed higher rates of hypertension, diabetese, obesity and high cholesterol than that of the previous generation. Similarly aged Americans in 1988 to 1994 - from 46 to 64 years old - were actually in better overall health.

Currently, only 13 percent of boomers rate themselves in ‘excellent’ health; 32 percent of their parents in the same age bracket gave themselves that rating. There have been major advances in medical care, awareness campaigns and public health policy since then - so what accounts for the difference?  

Guest:

Linda Martin, senior fellow at the RAND Corporation who has conducted research on population aging in the United States for 30 years 

Writer and director Tim Burton stops by KPCC to talk about his film, "Frankenweenie," on AirTalk on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Credit: Maya Sugarman/KPCC

Director Tim Burton was raised in suburban Burbank, but with 28 films under his belt, he’s created a world of his own. From Edward Scissorhands to Charlie And The Chocolate Factory to his latest film, Frankenweenie, Burton infuses his work with both childhood memories and a dark edge of the macabre.

Frankenweenie is his second to be nominated for an Academy Award (Best Animated Feature Film), and he’s in studio to talk about his new film, his filmmaking process, and his passion for the handmade feel of stop-motion film.

Guest:

Tim Burton, Academy Award-winning director, Frankenweenie

A mailman for the U.S. Postal Service delivers mail in Miami, Florida. The U.S. Postal Service recently reported a record annual yearly loss of $15.9 billion. The USPS plans to stop delivering mail on Saturdays but continue to deliver packages six days a week under a plan intended at saving about $2 billion annually, Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Today the U.S. Postal Service will announce the end of Saturday mail delivery, effective in August of this year. This news  is no surprise, as the USPS has been in the red for years now, with hefty financial obligations to retirees and a business model that becomes more and more outdated as technology continues to transform how we communicate.

Billions of dollars in debt, the USPS is looking for ways to remain relevant and profitable, but the question remains: What is the role of the post office in our lives? With the reliability of email and ecommerce at all time highs, is the post office headed for extinction? Or are there ways for the massive agency to remain relevant in the post-mail era?

Guest:
Ed O’Keefe, Washington Post reporter who has followed the USPS for quite a while

Proposed legislation in California would require gun owners to purchase liability insurance. Credit: Pat Sullivan/AP

Who should bear the costs of damages caused by gun violence? According to the non-profit Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, gun shootings cost the country $174 billion a year, roughly $644 per firearm owned in the U.S.  The agency took into account work lost, medical care, criminal justice expenses, insurance and pain and suffering. While nothing can replace a child, parent, spouse or future, there are quantifiable costs involved in every shooting; who should bear those costs?

A new bill introduced in Sacramento would require California gun owners to carry liability insurance to cover damages or injuries caused by their weapons.  To date, no other state has successfully passed such legislation, but it’s not for lack of trying. Similar bills have been proposed in Massachusetts, New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania, and recent high profile shootings have led to increased interest in the proposal nationwide.  The California bill, introduced by Assemblymen Philip Ting (San Francisco) and Jimmy Gomez (Los Angeles), would require anyone owning a weapon to carry the insurance, in the same way that drivers are required to have auto insurance, and seeks to ease some of the societal burden borne by taxpayers.

Opponents question the constitutionality of imposing insurance to exercise a Second Amendment right, and see it as an unfair burden on those in low income communities who may need to own weapons for self-protection.  And, they point out, those who own guns illegally would circumvent the requirement anyway. The National Rifle Association already provides optional insurance for its members, with personal liability amounts up to $250,000, covering bodily injury, property damage and some legal costs.

How much would mandatory gun liability insurance cost, and what exactly would be covered?  Would this requirement serve as a deterrent to gun ownership?  Is it a thinly disguised form of gun control?  Should society share in the unintended costs of a right that belongs to every American?

Is gun liability insurance a good idea? Is it unconstitutional to require someone to insure a firearm? Should there be discounts for gun owners who take training courses or who have proven to be safe over time?

Guests:
Chuck Michel, Attorney, Michel & Associates, who represents the National Rifle Association and litigates Second Amendment cases , Author of a new book, "California Gun Laws: A guide to state and federal firearm regulations"

Adam Winkler, Constitutional law professor at UCLA; author of Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America (2011); writer for The Huffington Post & Daily Beast

Justin Wolfers, Economist; Professor of Public Policy & Economics, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan

Russell Roberts, research fellow at the Hoover Institution, former professor of economics and the J. Fish and Lillian F. Smith Distinguished Scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Pete Moraga, Spokesperson for the Insurance Information Network of California - a non-lobbying, non-profit for the property and casualty insurance industry

Some backyard chickens take a walk. Credit: Sanden Totten / KPCC

Cities are all aflutter about the newest backyard pet – the chicken. San Marino ruled last month that residents will be allowed to raise chickens in the backyard. Chicken owners say there is a host of benefits for keeping chickens in the backyard such as fresh organic eggs, backyard manure and using chickens to eat up food waste. On top of it all, they can be a family pet. However, this family pet may not be well-loved by neighbors, who often complain about the noise.

San Marino is not the first city to allow chickens. According to the L.A. Daily News, Los Angeles, Pasadena, South Pasadena, Monterey Park, Glendora, Chino and Rancho Cucamonga already permit chickens, although there are restrictions on the number of chickens and bans on roosters.

Are you a chicken owner? What are the benefits to having a pet chicken? What are the difficulties? Would you want backyard chickens in your neighborhood? Should cities allow pet chickens in residential neighborhoods?

Guests:
Kelli Johnson, farm manager of the Spring Street Farm, which is sponsored by the non-profit organization Long Beach Community Action Partnership; the Spring Street Farm is home to two urban chicken coops

Richard Ward, Councilmember and Vice Mayor for the city of San Marino, cast the lone dissenting vote in lifting the backyard chicken ban in San Marino

Kim Sturla, Executive Director and co-founder, Animal Place - an animal sanctuary  in Grass Valley, California

Is a virtual community a way for the elderly to remain in their homes? Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

An innovative community concept that started in Boston ten years ago is catching on quickly across the country and in Southern California. They're simply called villages, but they're not physically in one place. They are virtual communities that enable aging folks the option of continuing to live in their homes - rather than move into elder-care facilities.

A recent survey of villages defined them as: "self-governing, grassroots community-based organizations that coordinate access to a variety of supportive services to promote aging in place, social integration, health and well-being." By paying monthly fees, members can call upon a wide range of services provided by either fellow members or volunteers. Sociologists have begun surveying and studying the villages to measure how the idea is changing lives. The goal isn't just to run shopping errands, but to avoid social isolation and stimulate the lives of older people.

Would you consider this as an option for yourself or your family? Right now, most villages skew primarily caucasian and upper income. How can it broaden to other communities? Is there a risk in giving some seniors a false sense of security - when they really ought to find 24-hour care?

Guests:
Andrew Scharlach, Eugene and Rose Kleiner Professor of Aging, School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley; Scharlach studies the village network and co-authored the Rutgers 2012 National Overview of Villages

Mike Babcock, Board of Directors, Pasadena Village

Larry Mantle moderates a debate between mayoral canidates (from right) Emanuel Pleitez, Jan Perry, Kevin James, Wendy Grueul and Eric Garcetti at KPCC's Crawford Family Forum on February 5, 2013. Credit: Grant Slater/KPCC

This year, Los Angeles will elect a new mayor for the first time since 2005.  It will be hard to match outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's flair for the dramatic, or his apparently boundless energy – for the past eight years, he’s seemingly been in every corner of the city at once.  But as the last weeks of the run-off campaign unwind, the candidates are doing their best to get their messages out. Here's a chance to hear them address the issues that L.A. faces over the next four years.

RELATED:View the KPCC voter guide 

It's a long list. Start with the city budget, transportation, crime and safety – add in public health, education, energy and the environment. Not to mention potholes, lighted billboards, runaway production and our future NFL team. What issues are most important to you? What should L.A.’s next mayor put at the top of his or her to-do list?

Video streaming by Ustream

Guests:           

Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles City Councilmember, District 13
Wendy Greuel, Los Angeles City Controller
Kevin James,  attorney and radio host
Jan Perry, Los Angeles City Councilmember, District 9
Emanuel Pleitez, former technology company executive

Murder suspect and former LAPD officer Christopher Jordan Dorner in an image with then-LAPD Chief Bill Bratton, in the August 2006 issue of the department's newsletter BEAT. Credit: LAPD

There is a feverish manhunt underway in the Southland. It all started when Christopher Jordan Dorner, a former LAPD officer, posted a manifesto on his Facebook page. Dorner, who is fixating on being forced out of his job in 2009, listed dozens of targets in the document and promised to bring “unconventional and asymmetrical warfare” against any law enforcement personnel who got in his way. The violence has already been staggering.

RELATED:View a timeline of Dorner's career with the LAPD up to the present

Dorner has been connected to a double homicide in Orange County which occurred last weekend. The victims were Monica Quan and her fiancé, Keith Lawrence. Quan is the daughter of Randy Quan, a retired LAPD captain mentioned in Dorner’s manifesto; Dorner targeted Quan for his role in Dorner’s dismissal from the force.

Then, very early Thursday morning, Dorner was connected to a shooting of two LAPD officers in Corona, who were protecting one of the other names on Dorner’s list. Shortly after that, two local officers were shot in Riverside, and Dorner is suspected of ambushing them. One of those officers has died, while others are in the hospital suffering from gunshot and graze wounds.

RELATED:View KPCC's full and developing coverage of the Dorner incident

Unfortunately, violence has begotten more violence in this manhunt, as innocent bystanders have been shot by police officers in pursuit. Two people in Torrance were shot by LAPD officers due to misidentifying a vehicle as Dorner’s, and a similar situation happened with Torrance officers shortly thereafter.

Apparently, before the initial shooting in Riverside, Dorner tried to steal a boat in San Diego to flee to Mexico, but was thwarted when the boat became inoperable. The California Highway Patrol has issued a “blue alert” statewide warning about Dorner, and the Nevada Highway Patrol has followed suit.

How has Dorner been successfully evading police for days? What is his psychological state? He lost his job in 2009, so what happened to push him over the edge? Who else is targeted in his manifesto, and what protections are being made by law enforcement? What will it take to end Dorner’s spree, bring him to justice and restore peace and safety in these communities?

Guests:

David Klinger, former LAPD officer; author of Into the Kill Zone: A Cop's Eye View of Deadly Force (Jossey-Bass); Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis

Ben Bergman, KPCC reporter

Eric Hickey, Ph.D., criminologist and dean of the California School of Forensic Studies, Alliant International University, former consultant to the FBI

Larry Altman, reporter, Daily Breeze in Torrance

James Usera, associate at the Law Offices of Harris, Wyatt & Amala, LLC, former friend and college football teammate of Christopher Jordan Dorner

Rina Palta, KPCC reporter

Frank Stoltze, KPCC reporter

Brian Watt, KPCC reporter

Robert J. Louden, Ph.D, Professor of Criminal Justice at Georgian Court University and retired Chief Hostage Negotiator for NYPD

Director Ang Lee (L) and actor Suraj Sharma at the 65th annual Directors Guild Of America Awards held February 2, 2013 at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland in Hollywood, California. Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Readers fell in love with Yann Martel’s novel “Life of Pi,” but to create a movie out of the literary fantasy seemed a dream. How could a ferocious Bengal tiger and a vulnerable young man survive on the high seas together? Somehow director Ang Lee and his team pulled it off. All the while, the story tells a spiritual journey that happens around the world and seemingly in and out of reality. The film been a commercial and critical success. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called it "a miraculous achievement of storytelling and a landmark of visual mastery." Special effects and live action are blended seamlessly.

How did Lee navigate the complicated visual storytelling? Why did he want to make this film? Where does “Life of Pi” stand in his growing list of big-screen achievements?

Guest:

Ang Lee, Oscar nominee for Best Director for “Life of Pi;” Oscar-winning director of  “Brokeback Mountain;” Lee’s other films with a slew of awards and nominations include “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Sense and Sensibility”

Al Gore tells Larry about "The Future," Gore's new book that analyzes six issues that are changing the world.

Al Gore’s new book, “The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change” draws upon his background and observation of the world and identifies six issues causing the degradation of the modern world. These “six drivers” are economic globalization, worldwide digital communications, emerging sources of power that are causing a U.S.-centered system power shift, unsustainable economic growth, genetic and biotechnological advancement that is redefining the natural course of human life and evolution, and the disruption of earth’s ecosystems. Gore asserts that because of these drivers, the world is becoming more linked together and is collectively on a downward path of degradation. However, by analyzing these problems there is potential for change and changing the course of the world. Although these six problems are each given a chapter in his book, Gore also covers topics ranging from cows in Switzerland that text their owners when it’s time to breed, to genetic enhancement and population growth and to income equality issues in the U.S.

Reviewers have criticized that Gore’s new book addresses too many topics and only offers vague solutions for the identified problems. Many have also heavily criticized that although Gore may consider himself a visionary of environmental and economic change, his $500 million sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera is hypocritical.

What solutions does Gore offer to the world’s problems? How accurate are his predictions? Is Gore truly a visionary or is this book just a political move for career possibilities? Is Gore a champion of modern causes or a hypocrite that’s just all talk?

Guest:

Al Gore, former Vice President and author of "The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change" (Random House); chairman of The Climate Reality Project, a nonprofit devoted to solving the climate crisis.  His previous books include "Earth in the Balance," "An Inconvenient Truth" and "The Assault on Reason."  He is a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Channing Tatum, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rooney Mara, Vinessa Shaw and Jude Law attend the premiere of "Side Effects" hosted by Open Road with The Cinema Society and Michael Kors at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on January 31, 2013 in New York City. Credit: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images

Larry is joined by KPCC film critics Andy Klein from the L.A. Times Community Paper chain and Peter Rainer from the Christian Science Monitor to review the week’s new film releases including Side Effects, Identity Thief, Lore, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III and more. TGI-FilmWeek!

Side Effects

Identity Thief

A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III

FilmWeek Oscar Preview at the Egyptian Theatre

Guests:

Andy Klein, film critic for KPCC and the L.A. Times Community Papers chain

Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and for the Christian Science Monitor

Are girls and boys, men and women, held to different standards when it comes to language? Credit: William Thomas Cain/Getty Images

Last week, young women at a New Jersey Catholic school took a vow to clean up their language. At the request of the high school’s officials, the female students signed a “no cursing” pledge, but the male students are exempt. “We want the ladies to act like ladies,” a teacher told the local newspaper.

Why the distinction between genders? How often do women swear compared to men? And are they judged differently for it?

Pope Benedict XVI today announced he will resign on February 28, a Vatican spokesman told AFP, which will make him the first pope to do so in centuries. Credit: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images

In a stunning announcement today, Pope Benedict XVI said that he would be resigning at the end of the month. It’s rare for a pope to retire (the last one to do so was 600 years ago), and only nine have done so in the entire history of the Catholic church. Pope Benedict cites his age and health as his reasons for retirement. George Ratzinger, his brother, supports that claim and says the Pope was discouraged from taking transatlantic flights by his physician and that simply walking had started to become increasingly difficult.

While this move comes as a surprise to the Vatican and the rest of the world, Pope Benedict himself nodded to such an exit in an interview when he said, “If a Pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically, and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right and, under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign.” In retrospect, it appears as if he was merely heeding his own advice. Some experts in the Catholic world, however, suspect that this is an effort on Pope Benedict’s behalf to indirectly address the problem of popes serving long into their elderly years, oftentimes after suffering from debilitating illnesses.

Will this make a change to how the Catholic church chooses a pope? Who are the potential successors? What does this mean going forward? If you’re Catholic, how are you processing this news?

Guests:

John Thavis, author of “The Vatican Diaries: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Power, Personalities and Politics at the Heart of the Catholic Church” (Viking Adult, 2013) 

Cathy Grossman, USA TODAY's reporter on religion, spirituality and ethics, she wrote the paper’s cover story on Benedict XVI’s announcement today. 

Father Allan Figueroa Deck,  Charles S. Casassa Chair of Catholic Social Values at Loyola Marymount University

Curt Fox got to LAX at 5:15 am for a 7:15 flight. He waited outside Terminal 1 for about one hour before a Southwest staffer got him out of line so he could make his flight to Little Rock, Arkansas. Credit: Brian Watt

The chief executive of Los Angeles County has determined that Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) has not fully complied with the result of a 2006 court settlement. At the time, LAX faced trouble in the court due to its expansion plans, and was so ordered to make an effort to better distribute air traffic to other airports in the area, such as Ontario International and the now defunct L.A./Palmdale Regional Airport.

William Fujioka, the L.A. County Chief Executive Officer, found that LAX failed to do just that, and any attempts made were superficial at best. The airport was ordered to regionalize air traffic to counteract negative environmental implications due to expansion and pollution from air traffic, as well as to bolster business at local airports. The failure to do just that is considered by most to be the reason Palmdale’s airport shuttered in 2009.

To prevent a repeat of Palmdale, several groups in the Inland Empire are stepping up and calling for locals to take over Ontario’s airport from LAWA’s control. They agree with Fukioka’s report, and are saying enough is enough. They’ve seen passenger volume drop a staggering 2.9 million people in five years, and want to turn the airport around before it’s too late.

Should Ontario be released from LAWA’s control? What efforts have been made to regionalize on LAWA’s behalf? What would be the benefits of Ontario being under local control? What effect would that have on the local communities?

Guests:
Jess Romo, General Manager of LA/Ontario International Airport

Steve Pontell, President of Ontario Airport Business Alliance

"Louder Than Words," by Benjamin Berger

Visualization has long been known to be a useful tool – for improving athletic performance, practicing the piano, memorizing a speech or planning your route to the grocery store, to give just a few examples.  Visualizing a loved one or recalling a childhood memory are pleasures we take for granted.

But visualization itself is somewhat of a mystery to most people.  What goes on in our brains when we think, read, listen to music? Just how do we turn abstract ideas and words – “left hook, “Martian invasion,” “driving lesson” – into pictures in our minds?  How do your mental pictures – built from your unique memories and experiences – differ from those of someone of a different generation, culture or time zone?  How did the human brain evolve to be able to visualize our thoughts in such complex and distinct ways?  Cognitive scientist Benjamin Bergen’s new book explores these questions, which bring up fascinating ideas about language, behavior, learning and meaning.  

What pictures fill  your mind on a daily basis, and how do they help you navigate your life?  What would they look like in the mind’s eye of another?  How do we use our imagination to turn clouds into circus animals, dreams into reality?

Guest:

Benjamin K. Bergen, author of "Louder Than Words: The New Science of How the Mind Makes Meaning"; Associate Professor, Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego