"Before Sunrise"
Richard Linklater - 1995; Credit: Susana

We’ve all heard the same old complaints about romantic comedies; they give women unrealistic expectations, the plots always work out unreasonably well, and the relationships in them just don’t feel real. It’s not just the romantic comedy that’s tended to be guilty of this, and throughout films, depictions of relationships tend to feature a lot more of the relationship action, and a lot less of the relationship everyday.

Why is it that movies have such a difficult time depicting the everyday drama that makes relationships such a complicated part of people’s lives? And what can we learn from those rare films that get this balancing act right?

Guest:

 Dr. Mary-Lou Galician, professor of media analysis and criticism at Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, author of ‘Sex, Love, and Romance in the Mass Media: Analysis and Criticism of Unrealistic Portrayals and Their Influence’

Julie Delpy, Actress, currently Golden-Globe nominated for her role in “Before Midnight” (Sony Classics) - the third film in director Richard Linklater’s “Before” trilogy, co-starring Ethan Hawke; Delpy, Hawke and Linklater were co-writers of the film

A staff displays TCB International Corp.'s new products, the 'Health Bracelet' and its APP 'Blood Management Your (BMY)', during the 2013 Computex in Taipei on June 5, 2013. Lifelogging apps are becoming increasingly popular and offer a variety of ways for individuals to record emotions, events, and more. ; Credit: AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Forget living the examined life. Technophiles nowadays are turning to their smartphones and apps and wearable computers to achieve a better self.

The idea is called lifelogging--tracking and recording every aspects of your life digitally and analyzing those data so you could become healthier and happier--and a nascent movement has emerged called Quantified Self predicated precisely on this incessant documentation. And companies from sports giant Nike to tech behemoth Google to no-name startups like Saga have taken note, producing gadgets and products that help us become more actualized.

Guest:

Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired magazine and co-founder of the Quantified Self Labs in Northern California, a collaboration of users and tool makers who share an interest in gaining self knowledge through self-tracking. He is author the author of “Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities” (Cool Tools Lab, 2013)

Mark Krynsky, blogger and founder of Lifestream Blog, a blog on lifelogging among other things

Actress Julie Delpy attends the premiere of Sony Pictures Classics' "Before Midnight" at the Directors Guild Of America on May 21, 2013 in Los Angeles, California.; Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Richard Linklater’s 1995 "Before Sunrise" was a cult classic romantic drama that took a real, sometimes uncomfortably close look at the birth of a relationship between Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy).

Two sequels later, Linklater’s 2013 "Before Midnight" shows that 18 years on, the story of these two characters, like their relationship, is surviving the test of time.

We talk to actress Julie Delpy about the film, and how it feels to be a part of the classic romantic movie trilogy.

What are the aspects that make the "Before" series so durable? How is it that Delpy and her co-writers can keep getting the stark realities of relationships right, 18 years after their first success?

Guest:

Julie Delpy, Actress, currently Golden-Globe nominated for her role in “Before Midnight” (Sony Classics) - the third film in director Richard Linklater’s “Before” trilogy, co-starring Ethan Hawke; Delpy, Hawke and Linklater were co-writers of the film

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser (L), president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, Melvin Bledsoe (2nd L), Abdirizak Bihi (2nd R), director of the Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center, and Leroy Baca (R), Sheriff of Los Angeles County, testify before the Committee on Homeland Security holds the first in a series of hearings on radicalization in the American Muslim community, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 10, 2011. ; Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

In the post-9/11 backlash against the Muslim-American community, Sheriff Baca made a name for himself as an advocate of outreach and understanding towards members of the Muslim community. While his newly announced retirement has brought with it a slew of issues, Baca’s aid for American followers of Islam has been a relatively strong point. What does his retirement mean for the Muslim-American community? 

As for some sectors of the Latino community, Baca's resignation is being applauded. "Sheriff Baca leaves behind a terrible record on immigration," says Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. That organization is critical of LA County's deportations under the federal Secure Communities program. How will the current political conversation about immigration play into the coming campaign for LA Sheriff?

Guest:

Salam Al-Marayati, Director, Muslim Public Affairs Council

Chris Newman, Legal Director, National Day Laborer Organizing Network

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's SWAT team helicopter flies low over homes in the search zone during a massive manhunt for a suspect who attempted to kill two LAPD detectives on June 25, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. ; Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Spurred by frustration from Los Angeles area residents, California congressmen are advocating for a provision on helicopter noise to be included in a 2014 spending bill.

Last May, the Federal Aviation Administration released a 56-page document analyzing the noise caused by helicopters in the area, but failed to enforce any regulations. The FAA only made recommendations on how the communities could work with helicopter operators.

Residents say efforts to find a viable solution are taking too long, and little agreement is being reached between pilots and residents. Without regulations, neighborhood leaders are concerned the helicopters used by tourists, news media, and the police will continue to fly freely over their homes.

Guests:

Bob Anderson, President of the Los Angeles Area Helicopter Noise Coalition

Chuck Street, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Area Helicopter Operators Association

A picture shows St Edward's Crown, the crown used in coronations for English and later British monarchs, and one of the senior Crown Jewels of Britain, during a service to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in London on June 4, 2013. ; Credit: JACK HILL/AFP/Getty Images

With Republicans and Democrats showing no signs of ending the partisan bickering it might be time to daydream about what it would be like if we had a different form of government. Would America be better off if it had a non-partisan figurehead instead of a president?

Back even before American independence, John Adams argued in favor of a "republican monarchy" of laws, lamenting, "We have so many Men of Wealth, of ambitious Spirits, of Intrigue … that incessant Factions will disturb our Peace." Scholar Michael Auslin recently agreed with Mr. Adams and called for a new post in the US government. He argued that "we need a person who can sit above politics and help strengthen our commitment to republican values. We need a king, or something like one."

The idea of having a non-partisan figurehead who can represent the country is not a new idea and many other countries have a similar system. Most people probably don't know that Germany, for instance, has both a prime minister and a president. One is responsible for political issues, the other serves as a role model and represent the country in non-political matters.

Has the US ever considered this type of figurehead? How does it work in other countries? Would adding another non-partisan figure to represent the US help with American unity? Would you support this idea?

Guests:

 Michael Auslin, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute

Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University

(L-R), U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkly (D-OR), speak to the media after the Senate voted on unemployment insurance at the U.S. Capitol January 7, 2014 in Washington, DC. ; Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

In a bipartisan procedural vote, the U.S. senate agreed to consider a proposal to extend jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. The vote was 60-37, with 60 votes as the minimum to prolong the benefits.

The extension  affects approximately 1.3 million Americans whose benefits expired Dec. 28. It is estimated to cost more than 6 billion dollars. The bill's fate in the House is less certain. However, President Obama is said to have called key Republicans about possibly negotiating spending cuts as a trade. With job numbers trending in a more positive direction, how will that affect the bill? What do you think of a proposed extension?

Guest:

Manu Raju, Senior Congressional Reporter for POLITICO

Dust billows as a farmer plows a dry field near Buttonwillow, California. Central Valley farmers and farm workers are suffering through the third year of the worsening California drought with extreme water shortages and job losses.; Credit: David McNew/Getty Images

While the lack of rain this winter may have been easy on California drivers, it was definitely much harder on our water supply.

Officials hoping that the levels of the California River would be replenished after two consecutive years of drought were disappointed, and 2013 set record lows for rainfall all across the state.

With 2014 expected to continue the trend, people are trying desperately to fix the situation any way they can. California water officials are considering an emergency draft declaration, while the California Conference of Catholic Bishops has started asking people to pray for some downpours.

What will California do if these drought conditions continue? What will the economic and environmental impact of the drought be on America’s most fruitful states, and will we be better able to adapt to drought conditions in the future?

Guest: 

Peter Gleick, President and Co-founder of The Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security

Paul Betancourt, Partner at VF Farms in Fresno County

Marvin Curiel, an assistant teacher, leads a group of students in the transitional kindergarten program at the Martha Escutia Primary Center.; Credit: Mae Ryan/KPCC

Democrats in the California Senate introduced legislation on Tuesday that would fund public preschool for children in the state. The proposal, backed by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, builds on the transitional kindergarten program that came into effect under the 2010 law that required children to be over the age of five when they enrolled in kindergarten.

Senate Bill 837 would increase the number of kids in the transitional kindergarten by almost triple, to 350,000, and would certainly be costly - current estimates predict that the program would cost $198 million annually, and would reach almost $1 billion by 2019. Is this plan the most cost effective way to offer public kindergarten in the state of California? How will legislator’s find the funds for the bill, and is it worth the extra expenditure? Or are the kids of California getting a service they don’t need?

Guest: 

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-6th District (most of Sacramento County). He introduced the bill yesterday

Tim Donnelly,  State Assemblyman, R-33rd District (including Apple Valley, Big Bear Lake and Victorville) and gubernatorial candidate

Attendees look at a display of the Sony Xperia Z1 compact smartphone in the Sony booth at the 2014 International CES at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 7, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 10.; Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Sociologist Everett Rogers came up with five stages of technology adoption. A new technology, he says, must first be embraced by a class of daredevil "innovators", followed by the "early adopters" and the cycle of adoption is only complete when a product gets buy-in from the "laggards," or the final hold-outs. Apple, that omnipresent brand name of products seemingly beloved by all, is a good example of that theory.

But does the idea still hold now, when new tech and apps are introduced hourly? In the new book, "Big BanG Disruption," authors Larry Downes and Paul Nunes argue that this inundation has made it tougher than ever for a new product to succeed in the marketplace and they have come up their own theory on tech adoption to accommodate these changes.

Guest:

 Larry Downes, co-author of “Big Bang Disruptions: Strategy in the Age of Devastating Innovation (Portfolio Hardcover, 2014). He is also a business consultant.  He joins us from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The book was chosen for the inaugural Book Club at CES.

A rendering of what a high-speed rail train would look like traversing California's desert. ; Credit: Courtesy California High Speed Rail Authority

California's beleaguered high speed rail project may be getting a breath of new life if Governor Jerry Brown's new budget is passed. The Governor is expected to propose a portion of the state's cap-and-trade revenue to be used to fund the first phase of the $68 billion rail project.

The Los Angeles - San Francisco high speed rail line has been plagued with setbacks and political opposition since voters first approved a referendum to build the train in 2008. In November, a judge blocked the state from using $8.6 billion in bond money to finance the first part of the rail line, putting both the train's future and $3 billion in federal funds in jeopardy.

Now, Brown wants to use nearly a third of the $850 million in revenue that the state expects to collect next year from cap-and-trade funds. The funds are earned from "carbon credits" bought by businesses who exceed the cap on carbon dioxide emissions.

The money may help rescue the project but some environmentalists are concerned that the train won't show any environmental benefits for 20 to 30 years. They argue the money should be spent on projects that will immediately reduce California's greenhouse gas emissions.

Is the high speed rail project 'green' enough to warrant using cap-and-trade funds? If the proposal is rejected will it kill the high speed rail project? What other funding options are out there? What could be a better use of cap-and-trade funds?

Guests: 

David Siders, reporter for the Sacramento Bee covering state politics

Rod Diridon, former chair of the High Speed Rail Authority and executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute

Kathryn Phillips, Director of the Sierra Club of California

A homeless woman sits amid their belongings on a street in downtown Los Angeles, California, on January 8, 2014. Poverty in the world's largest economy remains far from being eradicated fifty years after President Lyndon Johnson declared a war on poverty in America in his first State of the Union address on this date in 1964, with a US Census Bureau report revealing on January 7 that nearly one in three Americans experienced poverty for at least two months during the global recession between 2009 and 2011. And in 2012, poverty affected some 47 million Americans, including 13 million children.; Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson launched a War on Poverty in America, and a half century later, President Obama is using the anniversary to establish poverty-fighting  “Promise Zones” in a handful of cities across the across the country.

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The first five cities chosen for the new initiative are San Antonio, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Southeastern Kentucky and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. LA’s zone, which includes the Koreatown, Hollywood, Westlake and Pico-Union area, is set to receive tens of millions of federal improvement dollars, up to $500 million in the next decade.

The concept of “place-based subsidy,” which the “Promise Zone” program embodies, isn’t new, and economists have long debated the approach’s efficacy in eradicating poverty in any given idea. And Los Angeles already has its work cut out for it. According to a new report from the L.A. 2020 Commission, the city is economic as well as a leadership crisis, having failed to tackle both economic and standard-of-living issues.

What does money from this new program mean for some of the most poverty-stricken urban areas in the nation? How are legislators planning to use the money if the total amount has yet to be decided, and how will the inevitable brawl over where to spend the federal money play out?

Guests: 

Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles Mayor

Matthew Kahn,  Professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment, the Department of Economics, and the Department of Public Policy. He was trained as an economist at the University of Chicago

Enrico Moretti, Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of “The New Geography of Jobs” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012)

Austin Beutner, Co-Chair, Los Angeles 2020 Commission; Former First Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks about his knowledge of a traffic study that snarled traffic at the George Washington Bridge during a news conference on January 9, 2014 at the Statehouse in Trenton, New Jersey. ; Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

"I was blindsided," New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said at a lengthy news conference Thursday morning as he apologized for a political scandal that could affect his future political ambitions.

Christie said he knew nothing of a plan by some of his closest aides to create traffic jams as political playback to a town mayor. Christie said he fired one of the aides involved after texts and emails showed that she arranged lane closings on the George Washington Bridge to punish the town's mayor who refused to endorse Christie.

The closings created gridlock for several days in September and surely ticked off the residents of Fort Lee, New Jersey. A federal prosecutor has announced an investigation into the highway shutdown and the town’s mayor Mark Sokolich publicly told Christie not to bother visiting and to apologize to the town’s residents instead.

The political fallout could harm Christie's second term and likely run for president in 2016. Will this scandal wreck his national political ambitions? How did he handle the apology? Do you believe him that he had no knowledge of the lane closures? Is this incident more evidence that Christie has bullied political rivals?

Guests:

Bob Ingle, Senior Political Columnist for Gannett New Jersey newspapers and co-author of “Chris Christie: The Inside Story of His Rise to Power” (St Martin’s Press, 2012)

Lisa Gritzner, President of Cerrell Associates public relations firm

Ryan Bell preaching at the Hollywood Adventist Church in Los Angeles. Ryan was Senior Pastor at the church from 2005 to 2013. ; Credit: Ansel Oliver via Flickr Creative Commons

For his 2014 new year’s resolution, former pastor Ryan Bell decided to give up the Christian faith for a year and “try on atheism,” a move that cost him teaching jobs at two Christian universities and has spurred conversation and debate among Christian and atheist communities.

For the next year, the former senior pastor at Hollywood Adventist Church says he will live as if there is no God, refraining from prayer, worship and his many roles in the Christian community. Instead, he’ll be reading texts by prominent atheist thinkers, communing with non-believers and blogging about his insights.

Bell’s project highlights a trend of Americans abandoning their religious affiliations or switching to new belief systems. A 2009 Pew Research report found that half of American adults have changed their religious affiliation at least once during their lives. The fastest growing religious group in recent decades is those unaffiliated with any particular religion.

What do you make of Bell’s project? Can someone really “try on” a belief system for a year? Have you left one religious tradition to dabble in another? How do these sorts of faith transformations  impact your life?  

Guests:

Ryan Bell, former pastor, Hollywood Adventist Church, blogging at http://yearwithoutgod.com

Brie Loskota, Managing Director, USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture

Director Renny Harlin (L) and actor Kellen Lutz attend "The Legend Of Hercules" premiere after party at MasionO on January 6, 2014 in New York City.; Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Larry and KPCC film critics Andy Klein and Alynda Wheat review this week’s releases, including The Legend of Hercules, Cold Comes the Night, The Truth About Emanuel and more. TGI-Filmweek!

The Legend of Hercules

Cold Comes the Night

The Truth About Emanuel

Guests:

Alynda Wheat, film critic for KPCC and People

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

Customers order food from a McDonald's restaurant on October 24, 2013 in Des Plaines, Illinois. ; Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

The story goes like this - a woman orders coffee from McDonald's, spills it on herself, sues the restaurant and becomes an overnight millionaire. In the early 1990s, the case of Liebeck vs. McDonald's became legendary as an example of the frivolity of American lawsuits. The reality of what actually happened to Ms. Liebeck became lost in late night jokes and media headlines.

Now, 20 years later another lawsuit has been filed by a Los Angeles woman who says she had hot coffee spilled on her at a McDonald's drive-through when the lid to the cup was not secured properly. Paulette Carr is seeking unspecified monetary damages in the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

How similar are the two cases? How has tort law changed in the two decades since the 1994 decision made it the punchline of jokes? Why was the original Liebeck vs. McDonald's case so misrepresented?

Guests: 

Ken Wagner, attorney in Albuquerque, NM who represented Stella Liebeck in the original case.

Adam Zimmerman, professor of law at Loyola Law School

This photo taken on July 16, 2013 shows a chef and restaurant owner preparing sushi for a customer at a high-end sushi restaurant in Tokyo.; Credit: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images

A new addition to the California Retail Food Code bans restaurant workers from handling ready-to-eat food with bare hands. This includes sushi chefs, deli workers, or anyone preparing food that will not be cooked or reheated.

Instead, workers are now required to wear gloves or use utensils. Local health departments are responsible for enforcing the new law, which went into effect at the start of this year. However, because many local health department have not done adequate outreach on the issue, the law will have a soft roll out for the first six months of 2014.

Establishments found in violation of the law will receive a warning. 

There is an opportunity for restaurants to apply for an exception to the rule, as long as they're not serving a "highly susceptible population," and obtain approval from a local health department. 

The application for approval includes identification of foods touched by bare hands, documentation of employee training in proper hand washing, prevention of cross-contamination, a written health plan and documentation that employees use added measures to prevent contamination.

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.

Will this reduce food contamination and the spread of disease? How will chefs respond to the new law, especially those who handle foods constantly?

Guests: 

Professor Michael Roberts, Executive Director of the UCLA Law Resnick Program on Food Law and Policy

Raymond Graham, Assistant Manager of Dog Haus

The Chinese flag is seen in front of a view of the moon at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on December 13, 2013. ; Credit: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

China has long been a major exporter on the world market, but its increase in imports in 2013 add up to the country usurping the U.S. as the biggest trader of goods in the world, according to the Financial Times and figures released by Beijing.

The country's annual trade topped $4 trillion - despite its export growth slowing through last year. The new figures come after billionaire investor George Soros warned last week that China’s future is the “major uncertainty” facing the global economy.

On the flipside, one uncertainty facing China is consumer behavior in the U.S. New employment numbers out today are not inspiring huge confidence. While preliminary data shows a welcome decrease in unemployment from 7 percent in November to 6.7 percent in December, analysts say a major driver was the number of Americans who stopped looking for work.

New jobs showed just a slight uptick of 74,000 jobs added last month.Why don't the job numbers match optimism from economists of late? What fed China's growth in trade last year? And what are the reverberations of its new position?

Guests: 

Phillip Izzo, economics reporter at the Wall Street Journal

William Yu, economist that specializes on Chinese trade issues at the UCLA Anderson Forecast, which provides economic analysis for business, government and the academic community

Michael Caine and Tobey Maguire star in 'The Cider House Rules,' directed by Lasse Hallstrom ; Credit: Getty Images/Getty Images

Blockbuster films can make lasting impacts on our political attitudes, according to recent research.

A University of Notre Dame study published last month found that viewers who watched a movie with a health care-related message—in this case Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Rainmaker” or James L. Brooks’ “As Good As It Gets,” saw their support for the Affordable Care Act increase.

The findings build on other research demonstrating film’s impact on public opinion. “The Day After Tomorrow” changed minds about global warming, one study found.  “The Cider House Rules” shifted opinions on abortion, according to another. “All The President’s Men” impacted the public’s view of the press along partisan lines.

What movies have you seen that changed your mind on a political issue? How effective can message films be? How does film’s political influence compare to that of news reports or advertisements?

Guest:

Kenneth Mulligan, professor at Southern Illinois University. His research and teaching interests center on American mass political behavior, political psychology, public opinion, survey research, and research methods. Some of the titles used in his research about film’s impact on political attitudes include Wag The Dog, The Cider House Rules and Bella.

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

The Chinese flag is seen in front of a view of the moon at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on December 13, 2013. ; Credit: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

China has long been a major exporter on the world market, but its increase in imports in 2013 add up to the country usurping the U.S. as the biggest trader of goods in the world, according to the Financial Times and figures released by Beijing.

The country's annual trade topped $4 trillion - despite its export growth slowing through last year. The new figures come after billionaire investor George Soros warned last week that China’s future is the “major uncertainty” facing the global economy.

On the flipside, one uncertainty facing China is consumer behavior in the U.S. New employment numbers out today are not inspiring huge confidence. While preliminary data shows a welcome decrease in unemployment from 7 percent in November to 6.7 percent in December, analysts say a major driver was the number of Americans who stopped looking for work.

New jobs showed just a slight uptick of 74,000 jobs added last month.Why don't the job numbers match optimism from economists of late? What fed China's growth in trade last year? And what are the reverberations of its new position?

Guests: 

Phillip Izzo, economics reporter at the Wall Street Journal

William Yu, economist that specializes on Chinese trade issues at the UCLA Anderson Forecast, which provides economic analysis for business, government and the academic community