How does climate change impact the natural environment? ; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

After five years of silence, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a summary today stating they are 95 percent sure global warming is caused by “human influence.”

The full report will be released on Monday, but they are today calling for international action to limit CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions. In their last report in 2007, the IPCC called global warming because of human activity “very likely,” but scientists are now more certain of that assessment. Although the report also states that global warming has slowed down over the past 15 years, the IPCC says long-term trends are more telling.

They predict that the earth’s temperature will get hotter, heat waves will increase and last longer and dry regions will get even less rain. The report also states that ocean temperatures will rise, and sea levels are projected to rise 10-32 inches.

However, critics of climate change say that climate change predictions are faulty and unreliable. They say that the lack of climate change these past 15 years could be show that global warming has slowed down or stopped altogether.

Does this report leave room for doubt about global warming? Are climate prediction models faulty? Will this report lead to an international climate deal?

Guest:

Coral Davenport, energy and environment correspondent for National Journal

What do you think of the comments? ; Credit: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Barilla

Guido Barilla, chairman of the Italy-based pasta brand Barilla, stated in an Italian radio interview that the company would never display gay families in their ads. This led to a firestorm on Twitter by gay rights activists sounding the call to boycott Barilla productions, including pastas, cookies and bread.

Barilla has apologized if the comments offended anyone but stands by his statement. He said that the company would not display a homosexual couple out of sensitivity to those who don’t support homosexuality. Barilla also stated that he personally supports gay marriage but opposes gay adoption because women play a “central role” in a family.

Will the pasta brand be forever associated with these comments? Can companies backpedal from offensive comments and boycotts? Do apologies and explanations band-aid up the wound or just make it worse?

Guest:

Sasha Strauss, founder of Innovation Protocol, a management consulting firm focused on brand marketing; Professor at UCLA & USC

"The History of America in 101 Objects" ; Credit: by: Richard Kurin

What do a Singer sewing machine, the Declaration of Independence and Dorothy’s ruby slippers have in common? These three objects (and 98 others) are a vital part of the history of our country.

The Smithsonian Institution’s Richard Kurin has collected 101 objects that tell the history of the United States, and he chronicles their story in the new book, “The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects.”

What object that could tell the history of America would you nominate? Call us and share your suggestions.

Guest:

Richard Kurin, Smithsonian Institution’s Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture, responsible for many of its museums and educational programs and author of “The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects” (Penguin Press HC, 2013)

Richard Kurin is at our Crawford Family Forum tonight to talk for the book, “101 Objects that Tell America’s Story.” The event starts at 7:00pm. Admission is free, and you can RSVP on our website at KPCC.org 

Six Senate Democrats back Senator Mary Landrieu's bill to let people keep their insurance. ; Credit: Kris Connor/Getty Images

If you liked your health insurance, and didn’t get to keep it, you might still get to keep it.  Later this week the House will vote on a bill called the Keep Your Health Plan Act.  

But many Democrats who are facing tough re-elections next year are  also proposing keep your health plan bills. Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu would allow individuals who purchased health insurance to be grandfathered into their policies allowing them to keep their health insurance.

If any of these “Keep Your Healthcare” plans pass what would that mean for an already mangled health insurance system?  Is it feasible? Or is it too late to keep your plan?  

Guests:

Josh Gerstein, Senior White House Reporter for POLITICO

Nancy Metcalf, Health care editor, Consumer Reports; Consumer Reports’ recently launched web tool is HealthLawHelper.org for consumers navigating insurance options

Paul Howard, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute - a think tank focusedon economic choice and individual responsibility; Director of the Manhattan Institute's Center for Medical Progress.

An oil well sits in the middle of a corn field October 3, 2008 near Norris City, Illinois. Crude oil production in Illinois has been steadily declining since its peak in the mid-1980s. The state is now one of the nation?s top ethanol producing states.; Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

The Environmental Protection Agency could announce as early as this week how much ethanol must be blended into gasoline and diesel fuel in 2014. A draft of the proposal, leaked in October, points to a reduction of the so-called ethanol mandate by the EPA to 2012 levels, to 15.21 billion gallons.

A 2007 law had set the 2014 mandate at 18.15 billion gallons.The ethanol mandate was created by Congress in 2005 and strengthened in 2007. In the U.S., the biofuel is made mostly from corn. The oil industry has long been fighting to repeal the mandate.

But the anti-ethanol camp also includes many environmentalists, who point to the negative impact corn ethanol production causes the environment. Ethanol industry groups equate the mandate reduction to a subsidy for Big Oil. Should the ethanol mandate be slashed?

Guests:

Geoff Cooper, Vice President of Research and Analysis at the Renewable Fuels Association, the leading trade group for the American ethanol industry based in D.C.

Frank O’Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, a nonprofit watchdog organization in D.C.

Some food companies ditch the 'natural' label. ; Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Does an 'all natural' label make you more likely to buy a product? Many consumers think a 'natural' or 'all natural' label means those products are less processed but that's not always true. Unlike the "organic" designation, there are no federal guidelines for which food products can be labeled as natural.

Food manufacturers from PepsiCo to Pepperidge Farm have quietly stopped using the term after being slapped with lawsuits that allege the term is misleading to customers. Kid-friendly Goldfish crackers will no longer have the label of "natural" after Pepperidge Farm was targeted in a class action lawsuit this summer.

Pepsi-Co came under fire for releasing a marketing campaign for it's Frito-Lay division, which put an "all natural" label on Lay's potato chips, SunChips and Rold Gold pretzels. The company was hit with lawsuits that allege the snacks actually contained GMOs and additives including caramel color, citric acid and malodextrin.

Should the FDA come up with a set standard for the term "natural" like it does for organic foods? Should companies be allowed to label their foods as 'natural' if they contain preservatives or GMOs? Without a designation of what 'natural' means, can't almost anything be considered natural?

Guests:

Steve Gardner, litigation director for Center for Science in the Public Interest

Baylen Linnekin, attorney and executive director of Keep Food Legal, a non-profit that advocates for food freedom

"The Brothers"

American political history is filled with famous brothers. The Kennedys. The Bushes. The Kochs. In “The Brothers,” author and veteran New York Times reporter Stephen Kinzer casts the spotlight on John Foster Dulles and Allen Dulles, the secretary of state and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, respectively, under the Eisenhower Administration.

The Dulles brothers headed violent campaigns against foreign leaders they saw as threats to the United States, and set the stage for the country’s  involvement in the Vietnam War. The book is a biography of the Dulles brothers as well as that of modern America. Through the lives of the John Foster Dulles and Allen Dulles, Kinzer examines how our country became what it has become.

Guest:

Stephen Kinzer, author of “The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War” (Times Book, October 2013) and is a veteran New York Times correspondent.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about an administrative fix for some of the problems with the HealthCare.gov. website in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on November 14, 2013 in Washington, DC. The president announced that canceled insurance plans would be renewed for a year. ; Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

President Obama allows old health plans for one more year: President Barack Obama announced today that insurance companies will be allowed to extend for one year the health plans for those consumers who received cancellation notices about their policies.

The administration has come under fire recently about the number of Americans whose policies had been cancelled because they don't meet the requirements of the new health care law. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress had been calling on the president to keep his promise to allow Americans to keep health plans that they liked.

State insurance commissioners will have the final say over whether insurance companies will allowed to extend these policies through 2014. The new plan is likely going to cause some headaches for the insurance industry who will now have to deal with extending policies they thought were cancelled.

How are insurance companies reacting to this news? Will this cause more confusion for consumers who will eventually have to change policies anyway? Will this add to the cost of the ACA in general?

Guests:

Reid Epstein, White House Reporter for POLITICO

Denise Lombard, health insurance broker for Denise Lombard Insurance Services based in Oakland

J.B. Silvers, Professor of Health Care Finance at the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He is also the former President and Chief Executive Officer of QualChoice – a health plan and insurance company in Cleveland.  

What factors make an app successful? ; Credit: OLIVIER MORIN/AFP/Getty Images

Snapchat, a popular photo messaging app, reportedly turned down a $3 billion offer from Facebook to buy the company, according to the Wall Street Journal. The application lets users take and send pictures to friends that expire within 10 seconds or less.

Facebook’s offer to the 2-year-old company comes at a time when people are flocking away from the site with the emergence of new social media and messaging systems. Last month, Facebook’s CFO admitted the site was seeing a decrease in daily users.

What other messaging apps are young people using? With all the messengers teens and young adults can use—Facebook, Twitter, Kik, Snapchat, Cubie, Hike, etc.—what factors determine whether these apps will be successful? And what is it about Snapchat that allowed its 23-year-old founder to turn down $3 billion?

Guest:

Charlie Warzel, a Deputy Editor at Buzzfeed 

Do you have a preference on the gender of your boss?; Credit: iStockPhoto

A new Gallup poll reveals that Americans still prefer a male boss. Thirty-five percent of respondents preferred a male boss, while only 23 percent preferred a female boss. The poll survey over two thousand adults.

When Gallup first asked the question in 1953, 66 percent of Americans would rather have a male boss, and only 5 percent would rather work with a woman. In the recent survey, four out of 10 Americans do not care either way what the boss’s gender is.

While both men and women overall preferred a male boss, women were more likely to have a preference.

Who do prefer to have as your boss? What has been your experience with a male or female boss? Do you think it matters? Do you think people have different standards for a female boss?

Guests:

BJ Gallagher , sociologist, workplace consultant and author of the book “A Peacock in the Land of Penguins,” about how managers can understand and maximize the potential of a diverse workforce.  

Poll

KPCC's online polls are not scientific surveys of local or national opinion. Rather, they are designed as a way for our audience members to engage with each other and share their views. Let us know what you think on our Facebook page, facebook.com/kpcc, or in the comments below.

Business journalist Mark Lacter, a KPCC contributor who passed away Tuesday, Nov. 12.; Credit: Kevin Roderick/LA Observed

Mark Lacter who covered business for LA Observed since 2006 passed away.  In his career he was also a commentator for KPCC, and a columnist at LA Magazine.  Lacter suffered from a stroke. 

Guest:

Steve Julian,  KPCC's host for Morning Edition

Will Forte (L) and Bruce Dern pose on May 23, 2013 during a photocall for the film 'Nebraska' presented in Competition at the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes.; Credit: ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP/Getty Images

Larry is joined by KPCC critics Wade Major and Lael Loewenstein to review this week’s releases, including Nebraska, Charlie Countryman, Go For Sisters and more! TGI-FilmWeek!

Nebraska

Charlie Countryman

Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and producer and host for IGN’s DigiGods.com

Lael Loewenstein, film critic for KPCC and Variety

Inmates at Chino State Prison walk past their bunk beds in a gymnasium that was modified to house prisoners in Chino, California; Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

After a federal court ordered California to reduce its prison population, the state enacted “realignment.” The law shifted responsibility for tens of thousands of felons to counties. Now, two years after implementation, a new study gives the massive policy change mixed reviews.

The report from the Stanford Criminal Justice Center includes interviews with 125 representatives from 21 counties, covering every aspect of the criminal justice system, including police, judges and offenders themselves. Surprisingly, most are cautiously optimistic about the changes to the criminal justice system, but concerns, especially among prosecutors, remain.

The consensus was “this happened too fast, the infrastructure was not ready, and we went too far. We need to pull back a little bit,” said Stanford Law School professor Joan Petersilia, who authored the report. According to the findings, over 100,000 felons have been switched over to counties for punishment and probation since October 2011.

Experts say it’s too soon to link realignment rises in crime rates, but police believe property crime rates are up because realignment puts more convicted offenders on the streets quicker.

While realignment may have helped the overcrowding of state prisons, it may create new problems for the county’s jails, which weren’t designed for long-term stays. What recommendations does the report make? Are they in conflict with the demands of federal judges to reduce overcrowding in prisons?

Guests:

Joan Petersilia, Professor of Law, Stanford Law School and author of the study “Voices from the Field: How California Stakeholders View Public Safety Realignment

Kim Raney, Chief of Police, City of Covina; President of the California Police Chiefs Association

A mother and child walk in Shanghai ; Credit: PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images

China has relaxed the country's one-child policy -- another step in the gradual loosening of the one of the world’s most famous family planning rule. The Chinese Communist Party introduced the population-control measure in 1979 and the latest change would allow couples to have a second child if either of the parents is an only child. Currently, the state lets couples to have a second child only if both of the parents are only children. Ethnic minorities and some couples living in some rural areas are also exempt.

This newest tweak could mean 10 million more babies being born in the most populous nation in the world. It would have significantly demographic implications for the country, but also ecological ones for the rest of the world.

Guest:

Mei Fong, former Wall Street Journal reporter based in China who is currently working on a book on the country’s one-child policy

Why have films aimed at younger audiences become more violent?; Credit: Paul Kane/Getty Images

The level of gun violence in the top-grossing PG-13 images is on the rise and now rivals that of the most popular R-rated movies, according to the report “Gun Violence Trends in Movies,” published in the December issue of Pediatrics.

Researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that episodes of violence in films has doubled since 1950 and that gun violence in PG-13 films has more than tripled since 1985, when the PG-13 rating was instituted.

Researchers looked at the most popular and top selling films. Joan Graves, head of the MPAA, has defended the movie rating system in a statement to the Associated Press, saying “We try to get it right. The criticism of our system is no coming from the parents, who are the people we’re doing this for.” She also said that PG-13 is not a “namby-pamby rating,” and is meant to tell parents they are strongly cautioned about the film’s contents. 

What do these findings say about the American film viewing audience? Why have films aimed at younger audiences become more violent? Should MPAA ratings be more stringent about violence in films?

Guests:

Dan Romer, Associate Director of Research at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and co-author of the study.

Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and producer and host for IGN’s DigiGods.com

Lael Loewenstein, film critic for KPCC and Variety

Mercy Cabrera, an insurance agent with Sunshine Life and Health Advisors, speaks on the phone as she helps a person with information about an insurance policy under the Affordable Care Act at the store setup in the Westland Mall on November 14, 2013 in Hialeah, Florida. As the insurance agents continue to help people purchase and understand the policies offered under the Affordable Care Act, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that Americans who have had their health insurance plans canceled because of the Affordable Care Act can keep those plans for another year if they wish to. ; Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said he's asked Covered California, the state's health insurance exchange, to look into restoring health coverage to more than 1 million Californians who have had their health insurance plans cancelled under the Affordable Care Act.

The botched launch of the federal Obamacare website, coupled with mounting complaints from lawmakers and Americans angry about not being able to keep their existing health plans, have put pressure on President Obama to offer some sort of concession.

The President is leaving up to individual state's insurance commissioners to have the final say on whether cancelled policies would be reinstated. Oregon and Washington are among the states who have rejected the option.

How would the California Insurance Commission go about restoring these cancelled policies? Would it throw the delicate balance of Obamacare on the local level out of whack?

Guests:

Dave Jones, California Insurance Commissioner

Patrick Johnston, President & CEO, California Association of Health Plans

"The Infested Mind"

Do you feel disgusted when you a cockroach scurrying across the floor? What is your reaction when you hear someone says the word, “bed bugs?”  Seeing and talking about insects usually evokes a strong reaction, often fear, from many people.  

In his book, Jeffrey Lockwood goes in depth into why those fears exist. Why would such tiny creatures create such a stir in people’s emotions?  While researching grasshoppers in Wyoming, Lockwood was surrounded and engulfed by a swarm of grasshoppers.

His terrifying experience led him to explore why he had felt such fear. In looking at history, science and psychology, Lockwood delves into the phobia and anxiety many people feel towards insects.

Guest:

Jeffrey A. Lockwood, author, “The Infested Mind: Why human Fear, Loathe, and Love Insects

Will the ban drive parents to give supplements to their children in secret, putting them a further risk of problems?; Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Doctors usually ask you to disclose any herbs or supplements you may be taking because certain ones can interact negatively with traditional medicine. Now, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is taking an extra step by banning the use of herbs and supplements by their patients over concerns that they may interact negatively with treatment.

The hospital has created a list of herbs that will be allowed but it's aim is to "discourage" the use of supplements by patients.  If families want the patient to continue taking any herb, vitamin or supplement they will now be required to sign a waiver taking full responsibility for the outcome. The hospital will not administer them or order them through the pharmacy.

Is the hospital going too far in preventing families from making their own decisions about herbs and supplements? Will this make sure children get the best care possible without the added risk of complications from unregulated supplements? Will the ban drive parents  to give supplements to their children in secret, putting them a further risk of problems?

Guests:

Dr. Michael Carome,director of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization in D.C.

Cara Welch, Ph.D., Senior VP of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at the Natural Products Association, a nonprofit organization representing the supplement and natural product industry in D.C.

Many people with an STI haven't been tested and don't know they have one. If you were at risk, would you want your ex to let you know by text?; Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The first thing you're supposed to do when diagnosed with an STD — besides seeking treatment, of course — is to inform any past partners you think may have also been exposed. It's such an uncomfortable conversation that people often don't bother suffering through the awkward phone calls. That’s leaving a lot of people at risk.

The CDC estimates that there are 20 million new cases of STDS, also known as STI’s or sexually transmitted infections, every year. In an effort to curb a recent epidemic of gonorrhea, the Spokane Regional Health District is offering a service where their own health workers will track down and notify your exes anonymously that they may have been infected.

Can this service help get more people treatment who otherwise would never know? Would you use this government service if you happened to contract an STD? Does do a disservice that the notifications are anonymous?

Guest:

Karl Eastlund, CEO, Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho

California released new fracking regulations Friday that requires oil companies to request permission to extract oil through fracking. (Photo: Consol Energy employee Jeff Boggs in front of a horizontal drilling rig near Waynesburg, Penn. in 2012).; Credit: MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images

The proposed regulations, released Friday, would require that oil companies apply for permission to extract oil through the controversial practice known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The petroleum industry operating in the state is also required to monitor groundwater and test oil wells, as well as notify the public on the chemicals that would be used.

The California Department of Conservation said the new proposed rules take into account both environmental concerns and the economic opportunities brought forth by fracking. While the petroleum industry seems to welcome the proposed rules, environmentalists are up in arms.

Guests:

Jason Marshall, Chief Deputy Director, California Department of Conservation

Kassie Siegel, Director, Climate Law Institute, Center for Biological Diversity

Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President, the Western States Petroleum Association, a nonprofit trade group that represents oil producers in California and five other western states.

Rob Barnett, Bloomberg Government Senior Energy Analyst