Writer Dave Eggers is among those concerned about NSA spying. ; Credit: Steve Rhodes via Flickr Creative Commons

Writers are silencing their thoughts for fear of  their work being misinterpreted by the government in the wake of the National Security Agency spying allegations.

According to a new survey by the PEN American Center, 88 percent of members are troubled by the NSA's surveillance program. 24 percent of those surveyed now avoid certain topics in email and phone conversations, while 16 percent have  abandoned projects entirely.

Will the self-censorship of writers cause a decrease in the intellectual output of America? Do writers have a responsibility to brave dangerous waters to discuss topics that need to be heard? Or are these writers simply overreacting to something that might be an inevitable new fact of life in the US?

Guest:

Deji Olukotun, Freedom to Write Fellow at PEN

Correspondent John Oliver (L) and host Jon Stewarttape "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Restoring Honor & Dignity to the White House" at the McNally Smith College of Music September 3, 2008 in St. Paul, Minnesota.; Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Comedy Central

It’s a classic debate -- who’s funnier, Americans, or Brits? There are many U.S. adaptations of British television comedies, and both Americans and Brits have adopted language and humor from one another over the years.  

In a new book, the Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations, author Gyles Brandeth is asking readers to take a side.

Is subtle British wit funny in America? Do defining American comedians have as large an impact in England? We’ll put our senses of humor to the test with a collection of British and American comedians and let you decide who’s funniest.

Guests:

Michael Kosta, an American stand-up comedian based who regularly appears on The Tonight Show and this year, he performed in his first stand-up special, Comedy Central Presents: Michael Kosta

Luke Ashlocke, a Scottish stand-up comedian that has appeared on “The Montreal Comedy Festival” and the NBC series “Night Shift” and

Matt Kirshen, a British stand-up comedian who has performed all over the world, including Singapore, Dubai and Germany. He was on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” in 2007.

Narendra Parmar sits with Certified Enrollment Specialist, Laquanda Jordan, as he finishes the process of picking and signing up for health insurance through the Affordable Care act at a Miami Enrollment Assistance Center on December 23, 2013.; Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The deadline to get healthcare coverage that would start on the 1st of next year has come and gone… except it hasn’t.

The White House’s quiet decision yesterday to extend the deadline for enrollment in the ACA through their exchanges was ostensibly made to accommodate the number of Americans making last-minute enrollments.

California’s state exchange followed suit, calling it a grace period for those who had already made a “good-faith attempt” to sign up yesterday.

With the new deadline running down, how will the already pressed insurance industry handle one less day to process American’s paperwork for the start of coverage January 1st? Is the extension a sign that despite claims by the White House, the ACA exchange system is still in trouble?

Guest:

Chad Terhune, Healthcare reporter for the Los Angeles Times

Bing Crosby's contributions to Christmas cheer include his famous rendition of "White Christmas" and a "Little Drummer Boy" duet with David Bowie.; Credit: STF/AFP/Getty Images

The holiday season brings with it perennial favorite songs, but when was the last time you heard a new holiday song that makes you want to play it every year?

The last major breakout holiday song was Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” in 1994, but it’s not like other artists have stopped producing holiday tunes. Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Justin Bieber and others have all taken a swing at writing the next holiday earworm, but those songs have failed to gain the kind of play that the classics like Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” or even “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.”

Can we overcome this drought of worthwhile Christmas songs, or has the new Christmas tune become a thing of the past? 

Guest:

Chris Klimek, a writer in D.C. who’s written for the Guardian UK, Washington Post, Village Voice and other publications. His piece on Christmas music was recently published in Slate.

John Henry Faulk first recorded his Christmas story in 1974 for the program 'Voices in the Wind.'

A Christmas encore of story-teller and radio host John Henry Faulk reading his “Christmas Story.”

From Academy Award winning director Martin Scorsese comes The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Follow The Wolf of Wall Street movie on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TheWolfofWallSt

LIKE The Wolf of Wall Street movie on Facebook:
https://www.Facebook.com/TheWolfofWallStreet

Visit The Wolf of Wall Street official movie site:
http://www.TheWolfofWallStreet.com; Credit: Paramount Pictures (via YouTube)

Larry and KPCC film critics Tim Cogshell and Henry Sheehan review the Christmas releases, including The Wolf of Wall Street, August: Osage County, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and more. TGI-Filmweek!

The Wolf of Wall Street

August: Osage County

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Guests:

Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Alt Film Guide

Henry Sheehan, film critic for KPCC and CriticsAGoGo.com

San Jose, Calif. ; Credit: David McNew/Getty Images

A state judge has barred voter-approved pension cuts in San Jose -- the ruling may set a precedent for cities facing similar budget cuts.

Cash-strapped local governments across the country have debated their options when it comes to cutting budgets. In Southern California and Detroit, the debate over whether bondholders or pension cuts should take the greater hit has laid groundwork for similar battles across the country.

San Jose's Measure B, proposed by Mayor Chuck Reed, proposed pension cuts for municipal works and was well received at the polls, but this ruling would prevent the cuts, claiming that while reducing paychecks is legal, cutting into pension is not. Reed is pressing for a statewide ballot initiative aimed at cutting pensions, but for now, San Jose municipal workers are holding on to those funds.

How should local government deal with bankruptcy? What are the best cuts to make -- should cutting pension funds be illegal?

Guests:
Mike Rosenberg, a reporter at the San Jose Mercury News who has been covering the story

Sharon McNary, Politics reporter for KPCC

Catharine Candelario, an employee at the newly opened Henley Vaporium, vapes, or smokes an electronic cigarette, on December 19, 2013 in New York City. ; Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Smokers have long been banned from lighting up at work and public spaces, instead relegated to taking a puff huddled in doorways. While the rules are clear for traditional smokers, the growth in use of e-cigarettes is raising questions about where e-cig users can exhale their ‘vapors’.

So far, there is no evidence that the ‘smoke’ exhaled from e-cigarettes is harmful. For this reason, e-cig users say they should be able to light up anywhere. But etiquette experts argue that you shouldn’t use an e-cigarette anywhere you can’t smoke a traditional cigarette.

Where are some of the places you’ve seen someone use an e-cigarette? Should the same rules apply for e-cigarette and traditional cigarette use?

Guest:

Steven Petrow, Etiquette Expert and author of Manners in the Digital Age: Navigating Life in an Age Without Rules

YouTube Comedian Jenna Marbles reacts to her ceremonial first pitch before the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on July 26, 2013 in Los Angeles, California.; Credit: Harry How/Getty Images

YouTube, Twitter, and other follower-based social media sites are all about popularity – but how many of famous social mediaites' followers are legitimate?

In an independently-produced  investigative piece, Frank Elaridi explores the growing practice of purchasing followings. Buying social media clout may not be a bad idea for filmmakers or YouTube and Twitter personalities who are looking to expand their reach.

Fame: For Sale takes a deeper look at the phenomenon of artists and celebrities boosting their profiles and using their increased followership to cash in.

What are the incentives to building a faux following on social media? Are there any drawbacks? How might this kind of purchasing change the legitimacy of social media fame?   

Guest:
Frank Elaridi, the journalist behind “Fame: For Sale,” an independently-produced investigative feature. He is also a freelance producer for ABC Network News

Karen North, Director, Annenberg Program on Online Communities, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Passengers sleep on a low cost flight to Dinard in France on May 15, 2006 from London. ; Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

The holiday season is one of the biggest travel seasons of the year, and with all those people rushing home to meet their loved ones, things can get more than a little aggravating.

This is especially true for the holiday flight home, and travel website Expedia.com has just published a survey about what annoys their customers the most. Some airlines are planning to use customer’s personal data to allow them to offer custom upgraded packages for quieter rooms or more leg space, but some privacy experts contend this goes too far.

Are in-flight annoyances really that big a deal? how much would you pay to avoid them? Are the airlines giving customers what they want by using their data to customize plans, or is this a case where privacy should take precedence over convenience?

Guest:
Sarah Gavin, family travel expert and director of communications at Expedia, which conducted the survey

The St. Regis Signature Bloody Mary cocktails are served during 2013 World Snow Polo Championship on December 20, 2013 in Aspen, Colorado. ; Credit: Jason Bahr/Getty Images for The St. Regis A

For years, the medical community abstained from studying hangover cures because doctors didn’t want to be seen as encouraging overindulgence of alcohol.

What helped change that was grasping the severity of the problem: it’s estimated that painful hangovers cost the U.S. economy $148 billion annually. Recovering revelers either call in sick or show up with headaches, nausea, decreased skills and general misery. Now, scientists are calling for more research into cures.

What about tequila shots or a bottle of wine actually causes the pain of a hangover? Dehydration was blamed in the past, but that’s changing.

"There is an element of dehydration while the alcohol is in your system," said Dr. Sharon Orrange of USC's Keck School of Medicine. "What we are now seeing is that what happens with an alcohol hangover is an immune system activation. So if we measure inflammatory markers in a person's bloodstreams we're actually seeing that it's similar to a viral illness."

What influences a hangover?

• Genetics. Some people have very severe hangover, others don't have any symptoms at all. 
• The kind of alcohol. Darkers alcohols have naturally occurring compounds called conjoiner that can make a hangover worse. Vodka does not have any conjoiners.
• Proactivity. If you're going to drink and want to avoid a hangover, taking precautions the night before or while you're drinking is crucial. 
• Sleep quality and duration. If you drink heavily despite having to get up early in the morning you will likely suffer a bad hangover. Recent studies suggest that "sleeping it off" may actually help. 

Hangover Cures:

• Mary from Culver City suggests alternating alcoholic drinks with water and making sure to eat. In addition she takes vitamin B supplements and eats a banana before bed and when she wakes up.
• Justin in Little Tokyo suggests "hair of the dog," having an alcoholic beverage you were drinking the night before and plenty of sleep. (Dr. Orrange says sleeping it off is OK, but that "hair of the dog" doesn't work) 
• Phillip on the AirTalk page says two aspirin and plenty of water works for him. 
• Fred on the AirTalk says eating greasy, spicy chile rellenos helps cure his hangover.
• Rick in Anaheim says tomato juice and Tylenol helps cure his hangover. (Dr. Orrange says the saltiness of the juice is good for a hangover, but that Tylenol is not an anti-inflammatory, so won't help as much as an Advil, Motrin or Ibuprofen). 
• Chris in Los Feliz claims that children's Pedialyte before during and after drinking will prevent any hangover. 
• Matt from City of Orange says his brother, an EMT, uses a banana bag, which is a bag of solution with vitamins and minerals. 

Guest:

Dr. Sharon Orrange, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at USC; Also has a private practice in Internal Medicine at USC

California Gov. Jerry Brown.; Credit: Max Whittaker/Getty Images

It’s often been said that where California goes, the rest of the nation inevitably follows.

That’s certainly been the case for green policy, same-sex marriage rights and tech innovation. If the Golden State is the country’s spiritual leader, what does it say about us, the people, who live in the state?

As we approach the end of the year, AirTalk wants to know: Who do you think was the most influential Californian of the Year for the year 2013?

We're looking for the person — or group, organization or entity — who has not only made a mark in the state in 2013, but whose work and decisions have also reverberated across the country.

Here to talk about the candidates and what qualities he thinks that person should have is Kevin Starr, a noted historian.

Below is a list of candidates the show staff has come up with, but we want your vote for the Listeners' Choice for Californian of the Year. 

Guest:

Kevin Starr, California State Librarian Emeritus and University Professor at USC

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.

Who's Who:

Janet Napolitano
President, University of California
She was the first woman to serve as the head of the Department of Homeland Security and her appointment as the first female president of the 10-campus University of California system in 2013 was as controversial as it was unexpected. Supporters say Napolitano would bring years of high-level diplomatic skills, as well as a gilded Rolodex, to a storied public higher education institution that has been hamstrung by state budget cuts and an exodus of top talents. Critics question her commitment to preserving an open and welcoming atmosphere on campuses for all students, particularly those from undocumented families, citing her work on deportations. As UC President, one of her first orders of business was ensuring affordability of a UC education; at her first Regents meeting in November, she pushed to freeze undergraduate tuition next year.  

Prop 8 Plaintiffs
After being together for over 15 years, Kris Perry and Sandy Stier made history when they married in San Francisco on June 28, 2013. A few hours later in Los Angeles, Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, partners for over 12 years, also tied the knot. The thought of becoming the face of a movement was the furthest thing from the minds of these four people, but that's exactly happened when they – and a formidable legal team — filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court in 2009 to challenge Proposition 8 – the voter-approved ban on gay marriage. After a high-profile legal battle that culminated at the Supreme Court – Prop 8, along with the federal Defense of Marriage Act, were dismissed and struck down.   

Covered California
If the botched launch of healthcare.gov is any indication, it’s not easy to build a reliable website to change an entire industry. Covered California, the Golden State’s health insurance exchange established under the Affordable Care Act, has done for Californians what the federal health insurance site couldn’t do for the rest of America: namely, put in place a marketplace for health insurance that works – at least so far. As of Dec. 7, nearly 160,000 Californians have signed up for coverage through Covered California.   

Darrell Issa
The GOP Congressman who serves California’s 49th district
Issa made a name for himself this year as the anti-Obama, aggressively sniffing out scandals that touched the Oval Office. As Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Issa started his year off holding President’s feet to the fire on its handling of the deadly terror attack in Benghazi last September. Next came the probe into the Internal Revenue Service. Issa alleged the agency had given extra scrutiny to right-wing political organizations applying for tax-exempt status. The revelations caused uproar against the IRS and President Obama, before they turned out to be trumped up — as the IRS had similarly flagged liberal groups. 



In light of the botched Healthcare.gov rollout, House watchdog Issa is at the helm of another investigation — holding hearings and filing subpoenas in attempt to get to the bottom of the big-time bungle. While some misfires have cost Issa credibility, his dogged pursuit of scandal have kept Obama in the hot seat — and kept alive 2013’s polarized political climate.

Elon Musk
CEO, SpaceX and co-founder, Tesla Motors
The 44-year-old serial entrepreneur has proven to have the Midas touch. He first made his mark in on-line money transactions – making them easy, fast and safe in the form of PayPal. The sale of the payment service to eBay made Musk $160 million richer. In 2003, he co-founded the Palo Alto-based Tesla Motors, which designs and manufactures all-electric vehicles that are essentially art pieces on wheels. As if making the world a cleaner place isn’t a lofty enough goal, Musk also set his sights far beyond our mere planet. Through SpaceX, yet another one of his ventures in California, Musk wants to colonize Mars by 2025.   

Sheryl Sandberg
Facebook CEO
Facebook’s charismatic second-in-command launched the tech giant’s mobile advertising efforts this year and sent profits soaring. She also authored "Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead," a best-selling working woman’s manifesto that set off a worldwide movement to address gender inequality in the workplace — and formed the nonprofit Lean In to put her ideas into action.   

The 44-year-old COO hasn’t just made a name for herself in male-dominated Silicon Valley: She’s also an international icon whose reach and influence extends into business, politics and pop culture. She’s become as public a face for Facebook as its hoodied head honcho, and her ideas about corporate feminism, while criticized by some, brought working women and the hurdles they face to the forefront of conversation in 2013.     

Kendrick Lamar
Hip-hop artist

Hip-hop’s golden child spent much of 2013 on the road, performing tracks from his major-label-debut  album — "good kid, m.A.A.d city" — released late last year. The 26-year-old Compton native covered more ground than any other rapper, performing 171 shows and traveling nearly 230,000 miles, according to data from Songkick, a live music tracking site. He’s currently accompanying Kanye West on his Yeezus tour.  

He earned 7 Grammy nominations this year, proof that "good kid, m.A.A.d city" — a portrait of Lamar’s early life growing up in Compton — resonates with music fans far and wide.   

In August, Lamar made waves with his verse on Big Sean’s track “Control,” in which he calls out a number of notable rappers by name and proclaims himself “the king of New York.” The verse spurred dozens of diss track responses and immense buzz from fans, cementing Lamar in place at the center of the hip-hop ecosystem.   

Evan Spiegel
Snapchat CEO
The 23-year-old Snapchat CEO made headlines when he said no to a whopping $3 billion in Mark Zuckerberg bucks last month in a rebuff to Facebook’s offer to buy the photo and video-sending mobile app.   

First developed as Spiegel and friends’ Stanford class project, Snapchat launched in 2011. The app allows users to send pictures and videos to one another that flash on the screen for several seconds and then disappear forever. The Venice, Los Angeles-based company now shares 400 million “snaps” each day. That’s twice the number of photos that were being sent through Snapchat six months ago, and it’s more than the number of photos shared on Facebook and Instagram.  

Snapchat is certainly the star of Los Angeles’s "Silicon Beach" tech scene, but it’s more than that. In a social media landscape defined by a lack of privacy and the need to carefully craft an online image, Spiegel’s Snapchat stands out.    

Marissa Mayer
Yahoo!, CEO
Sure, the former Google executive was named Yahoo’s CEO last year, but 2013 has unquestionably been the year of the turnaround for the struggling search engine. Under Mayer’s leadership, the company spent a boatload of money this year on acquisitions alone, including the purchase of popular microblogging site Tumblr for $1.1 billion (in cash), to better compete with rivals Google and Facebook. Talent-wise, it poached both The New York Times’ David Pogue and CBS’ Katie Couric to lead its tech and news coverage, respectively. The efforts are paying off: In July, Yahoo beat Google as the most visited site in the country.   

Yasiel Puig
No. 66, Los Angeles Dodgers
The 23-year-old Cuban slugger made his MLB debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers in June and looks every bit like the real deal. He became  the first player in major league history to record at least 34 hits and seven home runs in his first 20 games and won both the National League Rookie of the Month Award and the National League Player of the Month Award, becoming the first player to do so in the first month of their Majors debut. Puig finished 2013 with a batting average of .319 in 104 games, 19 home runs and 42 RBI. There's no question that the kid can hit. But he also has plenty of style — the signature bat flip, the impassioned fist pumps — making No. 66 an instant crowd favorite, whether you love or hate the Dodgers.  

Jerry Brown
Governor of California 
We once called him Governor Moonbeam, and the new and improved California Gov. Jerry Brown is making good on his nickname. Back in the '70s and early '80s, Brown led the state to economic prosperity, and he's getting credit for doing it again. In a nice respite from years of budget cuts and tax increases, state legislators are looking at ways to spend a healthy surplus that’s expected to grow to $10 billion by 2018. Brown also oversaw major changes to the prison system under realignment and signed sweeping changes to school funding. The 75-year-old governor has been so influential this year that he's reportedly seeking an unprecedented fourth term in office. And why wouldn't he, with approval ratings topping 58 percent and more than half of registered voters saying they'd pick him again? So watch this space to see if Brown makes it back on this list in 2014.  

Andre Birotte Jr. 
U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California
Appointed by President Obama in 2010 to lead the second largest U.S. Attorney's office in the country, Andre Birotte Jr. is a federal government crime buster. No stranger to the Southland, Birotte has had a career that includes a three-year stint as a deputy public defender in L.A. and time serving as the Los Angeles Police Department's Inspector General in 2003. In his current role, in which he oversees the work of more than 200 prosecutors, Birotte has investigated cyber crime, sex trafficking, tax fraud and claims of civil rights abuses in the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. Birotte is also the first African-American U.S. Attorney for the Central District.  

Don't see your answer in the list above? Leave a comment with your choice and why so we can mention them on air. 

This post has been updated.

A chip and pin debit console is seen on 23 February, 2006, in Manchester, England.; Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

As Target continues to investigate how the details of 40 million credit cards were stolen from their stores, attention has now turned to improved payment technology. The use of magnetic strips on the back of cards has been blamed in part for the security breach at Target. Security experts say it's time to look again at the use of chip-and-PIN. 

Financial institutions in the U.K., Canada and Hong Kong transitioned to the new system a number of years ago. Cards are no longer swiped, but inserted into a terminal. Consumers then enter their secure 4 digit PIN or sign for their purchase.

While chip-and-PIN is unable to put an end to fraud, the cost of replicating cards embedded with chip-and-PIN technology is high for criminals.  A number of credit card companies plan to roll out chip-and-PIN in the United States in the next two years.

From October 2015, Visa says it will encourage the use of the embedded cards, but stores that fail to upgrade to the new payment terminals may be liable to costs if a customer with a chip-enabled card is the victim of a security breach.  

As a consumer, do you think banks should be moving faster to implement chip-and-PIN technology? Would this make you feel safer while making financial transactions?

Guest:

Mary Ann Miller, head of fraud and financial crime consulting at NICE Actimize, a provider of financial crime, risk and compliance solutions for financial institutions and government regulators

A display of incandescent light bulbs is seen at the Pacific Gas and Electric energy center January 31, 2007 in San Francisco.; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

2014 may be the last year of the good old-fashion incandescent light bulb, as increased efficiency standards established by 2007 federal law are effectively shutting down the light bulb’s manufacture.

Backers of the law say that getting Americans to switch to higher-efficiency compact fluorescent (CFL) and LED bulbs will save billions of dollars a year in energy costs, but not everyone is on board with the switch. Many people are anxious about losing the unique light textures that incandescent provide, and some are stocking up on the bulbs before they’re a thing of the past.

Are incandescents an inefficient holdover that we’re finally rid of? Or should Americans be worried about having to see ourselves in a new light?

Guest:

Jane Harman, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center and the former U.S. Representative for California's 36th congressional district

Randy Burkett, Fellow at the International Association of Lighting Designers, president of Randy Burkett Lighting Design of St. Louis

A woman looks at an Apple iPhone at one of the company's stores in Paris, on December 20, 2013.; Credit: PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images

Economists Scott Savage and Donald Waldman have looked into that very question in their study, “The Value of Online Privacy.”

They surveyed over 1,700 smartphone users and found that most respondents were willing to pay for a smartphone app that safeguards their private information.

How much, though, depended on the kind of data they wanted to protect. For example, consumers would pay around $2.25 for an app that won’t record their browser history; a little over $2.10 for an ad-free app; and about $4.00 for an app that wouldn’t be able to tap into their contact lists.

What price are you willing to pay for privacy?

Guest:
Donald Waldman, Professor at Economics at the University of Colorado and co-author of the study

Actor Leonardo Di Caprio (L) American filmmaker Martin Scorsese (C) and French actor Jean Dujardin (R) pose during the premiere of their new film 'The Wolf of Wall Street' on December 9, 2013 in Paris. ; Credit: PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images

Larry and KPCC film critics Tim Cogshell and Henry Sheehan review the Christmas releases, including The Wolf of Wall Street, August: Osage County, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and more. Then, Larry speaks with Nebraska director Alexander Payne. TGI-Filmweek!

The Wolf of Wall Street

August: Osage County

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Guests:

Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Alt Film Guide

Henry Sheehan, film critic for KPCC and CriticsAGoGo.com

Alexander Payne, film director 'Nebraska,' 'The Descendants' 

Customers use wireless devices at a coffee shop in downtown Hanoi on November 28, 2013.; Credit: HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images

The spread of wireless networks from our homes to coffee shops, libraries, planes, and trains has been steady and expansive.

 Free, public wifi is available in stores and on public transit. Paid wifi on airplanes offers users access without a code once they pay, and Amtrak has expanded free wifi into more and more of its trains. Harlem has expanded a free wifi hotspot that is now the largest in the country, and frequently free, open internet is becoming an expectation. 

But how do you protect your data and personal information on a network that large and minimally maintained? How secure are free wifi hotspot networks?

Why are they so unprotected, and how should they be managed to make them as effective and secure as possible? The U.S. trails behind advances to public wireless internet that have already been put into effect in Europe and Japan – how can we catch up and make American networks most useful and safe?

Guest:

Chester Wisniewski, Senior Security Advisor at Sophos Canada

US army soldiers march from the Forward Base Honaker Miracle at Watahpur District in Kunar province during a joint patrol on April 18, 2013.; Credit: MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP/Getty Images

According to a new, classified report by U.S. intelligence agencies, security conditions in Afghanistan will likely worsen regardless of the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

The assessment warns that insurgents could rapidly take back control of key areas and threaten Kabul as early as 2015 if troops are fully withdrawn.

Support for the continued occupation of Afghanistan is incredibly low, but will bringing American soldiers home have devastating security repercussions?

How many troops should remain to support to protect the Afghan government? What issues will the U.S. face in its dealings with Afghanistan in the coming year?

Guests:

Jason Campbell, Associate policy analyst at the RAND Corporation think tank, where he focuses on issues of international security; Campbell returned from Afghanistan recently

US Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor answers a question from Sen John Cornyn,R-TX, (not seen)on July 15, 2009 during the third day of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.; Credit: KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images

At the request of a small group of nuns in Colorado, Justice Sotomayor issued a stay on the contraception mandate for Roman Catholic groups using the Christian Brothers Employee Benefit Trust health plan.

Sotomayor’s decision came on Tuesday night, just before the law would have gone into effect for the new year, and will temporarily block the mandate for these small subsets until a more permanent decision is made by the federal government on Friday.

What is the significance behind Justice Sotomayor’s decision? What expectations can healthcare providers and consumers have for the more permanent issuance to be handed down on Friday?

Should the contraception mandate be universal, or should some groups be exempt? What’s fair?

Guest:  

Lisa McElroy, Associate Professor of Law, Drexel University School of Law

Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong on Jan. 1, 2014. A wave of pyrotechnic displays kicked off new year celebrations in major cities around the world, with Hong Kong welcoming 2014 with a choreographed music and fireworks show.; Credit: Alex Ogle/AFP/Getty Images

You might be packing a bag for the gym or starting the first day of a juice cleanse -- it’s the season for keeping New Year’s resolutions, at least for now.

But after days, weeks, or months of hard work, many people find themselves back where they started.

What’s the best way to approach a New Year’s resolution? How can making the right kind of resolution or laying out a plan for following through change your life in the new year?

We’re talking about resolutions from start to finish -- call in at 866-893-5722 and tell us what you have planned for this year.

Guest:

D.P. Waldman, Professional Certified Life Coach with the International Coach Federation