Rachel Canning (right) sits with her friend Jamie Inglesino during a hearing at the Morris County Courthouse on Tuesday. Canning, an honor student who says her parents kicked her out of the house when she turned 18, is now asking a court to make them support her and pay for her college.; Credit: John O'Boyle/AP

A court ruling this week has dealt a setback to a New Jersey teenager who's sued her parents for immediate financial assistance. Rachel Canning, 18, alleges in her suit that her parents kicked her out of their New Jersey home and she is unable to support herself financially.

The suit asks that her parents pay for her private high school tuition, her living expenses, and her future college tuition, among other things. The judge presiding over the case denied the request for high school tuition and living expenses, but will consider other remaining issues in April.

Do parents have a financial obligation to pay their kid's college tuition? While the case might seem a bit farfetched, it touches on a common personal finance issue many parents have to face: the emotional pull-and-tug involved in figuring out realistically how much to contribute to their kid's college education.  

Guest:

Liz Weston, an award-winning, nationally-syndicated personal finance columnist who has been following the case. She is also the author of the national best-seller, “Your Credit Score” (FT Press, 2011)

John Dvorak's book “Earthquake Storms: The Fascinating History and Volatile Future of the San Andreas Fault” (Pegasus, 2014).

California lives under the threat of a tectonic time bomb, thanks to the San Andreas fault. While earthquake kits are commonplace in homes across the state in preparation for ‘the big one’, little attention is given to the history of the geological feature.

In his new book, Earthquake Storms, John Dvorak begins to demystify the inner workings of the San Andreas fault through the stories of scientists who've studied the vast crack in the earth for over a century. The book also explores the evolving nature of the fault and the insight it provides into America's seismic future.

Guest:  

John Dvorak, scientist and author of “Earthquake Storms: The Fascinating History and Volatile Future of the San Andreas Fault” (Pegasus, 2014)

Guests gamble at the Sahara Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on May 6, 2011. ; Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

A California businessman who filed a lawsuit against the Downtown Grand Las Vegas Hotel and Casino says he's not being a sore loser after leaving a hefty $500,000 behind on the casino's blackjack tables.

Mark Johnston says he was served 20 free drinks by the casino, which he claims used the alcohol as a tactic to part him from his cash. Johnston says he shouldn't have to pay his debt to the casino - including the $250,000 the casino loaned him - because its employees gave him so much alcohol that he blacked out and could not be responsible for his actions.

Johnston describes himself as a veteran gambler who's lost his fair share of cash in casinos, so why should he not be held responsible this time around?

It turns out that casinos do bear some responsibility for the free drinks they dole out to gamblers. The Nevada Gaming Control Board is now investigating the Downtown Grand to determine whether it violated gaming regulations that prohibit casinos from "permitting persons who are visibly intoxicated to participate in gaming activity" and from providing "complimentary service of intoxicating beverages in the casino area to persons who are visibly intoxicated."

Does Johnston have a legal case that he was too drunk to gamble? Should casinos be responsible for over-serving alcohol to gamblers?

Guest:

Sean Lyttle, lawyer in Las Vegas representing Mark Johnston, the plaintiff, in the case

Joseph M Kelly, a professor of business law at SUNY College at Buffalo and an associate of the Catania Consulting Group, a gaming consultancy in New Jersey. He is licensed to practice law in Illinois, Nevada, and Wisconsin. He is also co-editor of Gaming Law Review. He has represented many major casinos, but not in the area of debt collection.

"The Sabremetric Revolution: Assessing The Growth of Analytics in Baseball” (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014) written by Andrew Zimbalist and Robert A. Woods.

In the decade since the Oakland Athletics record winning season and the subsequent publishing of bestselling book “Moneyball,” sabremetrics, the empirical analysis of baseball, has revolutionized front offices for teams all over the country.

The 2002 A’s used creative statistical interpretation to topple the richest, most stacked teams, setting an example for other teams that mathematical analysis could help win baseball games.

In their new book, Benjamin Baumer, former Mets sabremetician, and Anderw Zimbalist, an economics professor and sports industry consultant, explore the growth of sabremetrics in baseball.

How accurate are sabremetrics? Does this kind of statistical analysis really level the playing field, or is there only so much you can do with the talent you have? Is sabremetrics just a trend, or does it have larger potential?     

Guests: 

Andrew Zimbalist, Coauthor, “The Sabremetric Revolution: Assessing The Growth of Analytics in Baseball” (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014); Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics at Smith College, a frequent sports industry consultant and media commentator, and author of many books, including In the Best Interests of Baseball? Governing the National Pastime

Passengers check in for a Malaysia Airlines flight from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur at China's Beijing Airport on March 10, 2014. Malaysia said a missing airliner carrying 239 people may have inexplicably turned back as authorities launched a terror probe into the plane's sudden disappearance, investigating suspect passengers who boarded with stolen passports. ; Credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

Questions still linger over why a Malaysian jetliner carrying 239 people vanished on a flight between Kuala Lumpur to Beijing over the weekend. A few clues including a large oil slick found in the ocean near Vietnam and a yellow object that looked like a life raft turned out to be false leads and there is still no sign of the Boeing 777 aircraft.

Investigators are looking into the identities of all passengers on board and have identified one man who was traveling on a false passport.

International investigators haven't ruled out any possible causes of the accident, including terrorism, but Taiwan's national security agency dismissed reports that an anonymous tip they received last week warning that terrorists were targeting Beijing's international airport was connected to the disaster.

Answers to what happened to the jetliner are likely to remain a mystery until wreckage from the crash is found, which could take years.

How do investigators start piecing together what happened to the jet? What are some leads that investigators are pursuing? Is it possible that a mechanical malfunction brought down the jet? How does a huge aircraft completely vanish from the radar with no distress signal?

Guest:  

Captain Ross "Rusty" Aimer, former United Airlines pilot and CEO of Aero Consulting

Brian Michael Jenkins, Terrorism Expert and Senior Advisor to the President of the Rand Corporation

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord International Hotel and Conference Center March 7, 2014 in National Harbor, Maryland. The CPAC annual meeting brings together conservative politicians, pundits and their supporters for speeches, panels and classes.; Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Once again this year, Senator Rand Paul (KY) was the most popular choice for a presidential candidacy as voted by the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The annual straw poll had Paul ahead by 20 points with 31 percent.

Although Tea Party champion Senator Ted Cruz (TX) and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie are more well known across the country, they came in with  just 11 percent and 8 percent respectively.Sliding in between was Ben Carson - a popular African-American conservative speaker and former neurosurgeon - with 9 percent of the vote. 

Why was the Republican who is most committed to libertarian principles vaulted to the top for a second year in a row? Will there be a resurgence of that wing of the GOP?

Guest:  

Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times

; Credit: /iStockphoto

UC Davis has introduced a new Coffee Center to its Foods for Health Institute. The coffee-focused program joins other food and beverage programs at UC Davis, which has made valuable contributions to the food and wine industries and  is home to the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.

The UC Davis Coffee Center is currently being run on an ad hoc basis, funded by the Foods for Health Institute but without a permanent home. Once partnerships with the coffee industry firm up funding models, the university may introduce a coffee sciences major.

Research at the coffee center will examine every stage of production in the ever-growing coffee industry. Coffee producers that have partnered with Davis to foster the new coffee program cite the changing market and the need to better understand coffee crops as part of what inspired the Coffee Center.  

How could research in coffee science change the industry? Can UC Davis do for coffee what it did for wine?

Guest:

J. Bruce German, director of the Foods for Health Institute at UC Davis

Pope Francis waves from the Popemobile on his way to attend the Via Crucis on Copacabana Beach during World Youth Day celebrations on July 26, 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.; Credit: Buda Mendes/Getty Images

He's been called a 'rock star' and Superman, but how much impact has Pope Francis had on the Catholic Church during his first year in office?

This week marks the one year anniversary since Argentinian-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio replaced the retiring Pope Benedict XVI to become the first non-European to head the church in 1,300 years. Pope Francis didn't waste any time redirecting the church's focus away from the Vatican and towards issues of poverty and social inequality.

He's ruffled some feathers inside the establishment for calling on Vatican officials to live more simply. Francis himself chose to live in a boarding house rather than the Apostolic Palace and drive a Ford Focus instead of the papal limousine. He's called for a stronger role for women in the church and welcomed atheists into the fold.

A new study out from the Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project shows that Catholics overwhelmingly approve of the new pope's direction. More than eight-in-ten American Catholics say they have a favorable view of Pope Francis, including half who view him very favorably.

He may have high approval ratings, but is that translating to more church attendance or involvement? What have been the Pope's biggest achievements and what does he have planned for the years to come? Has there been much push back from the establishment to the pontiff's new direction for the church?

Guests:

Rocco Palmo, commentator on the Catholic Church and author of the influential Vatican blog Whispers in the Loggia.

Greg Smith, director of US religion surveys at the Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project

Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity house at San Diego State University. ; Credit: Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images

The American college fraternity system has been in the hot seat lately after a number of high profile incidents landed some new recruits in the hospital. A Bloomberg News investigation found that least ten deaths since 2006 have been linked to hazing, alcohol or drugs at at one of the country's biggest fraternities - Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

In response, the fraternity made the historic announcement on Friday that it would ban pledging for new members. Fraternity and sorority pledging has involved a high number of cases where prospective members were forced to drink large quantities of alcohol until they pass out, often ending up in the hospital with dangerously high blood alcohol levels.

The Atlantic magazine's March cover story, The Dark Power of Fraternities, features a yearlong investigation into lawsuits, accidents and deaths in Greek houses across the country. The article argues that the Greek system has become too powerful within university administrations to police itself and protect vulnerable new members.

So is Greek membership inherently bad for college students? New research published in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics shows that fraternity and sorority membership actually has a positive impact on students grades and campus participation.

Is Greek membership beneficial for students despite the dangers? Does the Greek system have too much power? Do the positive impacts of fraternity membership outweigh the risks?

Guests:  

Caitlin Flanagan, writer and author of a recent article in The Atlantic, The Dark Power of Fraternities  

Jay Walker, assistant professor of economics at Niagara University

Brandon Weghorst, spokesman for Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity

A man (R) looking at his smartphone while having dinner at a street food restaurant in Bangkok. ; Credit: NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images

A new study published this week in the journal Pediatrics shows that parents are increasingly distracted by their mobile devices.

A group of researchers, led by Dr. Jenny Radesky at Boston Medical Center, observed 55 caregivers, mostly parents, at a fast-food restaurant as they dined with their children. Forty of them used their smartphones during the meal, and 16 of them checked their phones throughout the meal.

It's an issue most digitally-connected parents have to wrestle with. Many studies have found that mealtime is particularly sacred in fostering healthy parent-child relationships.

What are the effects of a parent's mobile usage on a child's development? How do you negotiate your smartphone use while your kids are around?

Guests:

Dr. Jenny Radesky, MD, a research fellow in developmental behavioral pediatrics at Boston Medical Center and lead author of the study

Rahil Briggs, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and Director of Pediatric Behavioral Health Services,  Montefiore Medical Center

CIA director John Brennan, then the President's nominee for the position, meets with U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) at Feinstein's office at Hart Senate Office Building January 31, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.; Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

As far as inside-the-beltway conflicts transpire, it rarely gets more serious than this. Today, in a 40-minute speech on the Senate floor, Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) publicly accused the Central Intelligence Agency of spying on Senate staffer computers.

As reported by the LA Times, this dispute had been occurring behind the scenes. Then today, Feinstein escalated the complaint shortly before CIA Director John Brennan was scheduled to speak at a special event.

His response: "We are not in any way trying to thwart the (Senate Intelligence Committee) report's progress (or) release," Brennan said at a Council on Foreign Relations event. "As far as the allegations of the CIA hacking into computers, nothing could be further from the truth."

The clash stems from a Senate investigation into CIA interrogation techniques under the George W. Bush administration. Senate staffers were reviewing hundreds of CIA documents at the agency when they reportedly gained access to an internal CIA review critical of interrogation practices. In response, it's alleged the CIA covertly tried to track the Senate staffers’ work.

If true, does it break the law and interfere with the separation of powers? Will President Obama get involved? What could come of a Justice Department investigation? How will this harm relations between the top legislator on intelligence and the powerful spy agency?

Guest:

Ken Dilanian, Intelligence and National Security reporter, Los Angeles Times  

A man walks past a medicinal marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles,CA on November 2, 2010. ; Credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

Two California lawmakers have introduced bills aimed at regulating medical marijuana in the state. Senator Lou Correa’s SB 1262 and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano’s AB 604 take different approaches to medical marijuana regulation. 

Correa’s proposed bill would create California’s first-ever licensing process for marijuana dispensaries and growers.  Under this bill, the state Department of Health would set quality standards for medical marijuana but does not create uniform regulatory policy, which would continue current local regulation.

Ammiano’s bill would regulate and tax marijuana similarly to alcohol and place fewer restrictions on doctors than Correa’s proposed bill.

How would these bills impact the marijuana industry? What are the benefits of implementing legislation?

Guest:

Peter Hecht, senior writer at the Sacramento Bee and author of “Weed Land: Inside America’s Marijuana Epicenter and How Pot Went Legit” (University of California Press, 2014)

Curtis Notsinneh, Policy Director for Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, who co-sponsored AB 604, a bill that would regulate medical cannabis in the state.

In this photograph illustration a ten-year-old boy uses an Apple Ipad tablet computer on November 29, 2011 in Knutsford, United Kingdom. ; Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

It's nearly impossible to imagine life in 2014 without the internet but 25 years ago the web was just a twinkle in the eye of a computer scientist named Sir Tim Berners-Lee.

In March 1989, he wrote a paper proposing an "information management" system that grew into what we know today as the web. A quarter century of internet connectivity has brought us countless technical innovations (and cat videos) and has fundamentally changed our lives and the way we interact with each other.

But has it all been for the better? Most young adults can't remember life without the internet as our level of connectivity expanded from the desktop computer to smartphones to wearable technology.

We've come a long way in a short period of time so can we even imagine what the future will bring? Two internet visionaries give differing views of how the web has changed us and what the next 25 years will bring.

Guests:

Jaron Lanier, computer scientist and author of 'Who Owns the Future?'

Kevin Kelly, co-founded Wired magazine in 1993 and author of the book, What Technology Wants

U.S. President Barack Obama waves as he walks across the South Lawn before boarding Marine One and departing the White House June 25, 2012 in Washington, DC. ; Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Obama made his comedy web series debut on Tuesday by sitting down with comedian Zach Galifianakis as his guest on "Between Two Ferns". The fake public access show airs on the comedy website Funny or Die and features Galifianakis asking awkward questions to high-profile guests.

Obama appeared with the comedian to encourage young people to enroll in a health care plan through Obamacare. But first he had to face Galifianakis asking him if "Ambassador Rodman" had gone to North Korea on his behalf and whether he would put his presidential library in Hawaii or his "home country of Kenya."

Obama seemed willing to face the deadpan jabs from Galifianakis if it meant reaching that coveted millennial age group that the Affordable Care Act needs to attract in order to keep costs down.

The comedian begrudgingly let Obama "plug" the healthcare law and the website, which Obama said "works great now."

The gambit appeared to pay off — according to a member of the White House communications staff, Funny Or Die was the top driver of traffic to HealthCare.gov Tuesday morning.

Tweet

The President is no stranger to pop culture and has "slow-jammed" the news with Jimmy Fallon, faced off with Stephen Colbert and mocked himself in a sketch for the White House Correspondents dinner by playing Daniel Day Lewis (playing President Obama, of course).  

Obama might be the most web savvy, digitally connected president in history but should the president of the United States be chatting with comedians on a low-budget web TV series?

What does it say about the millennial generation that the president needs to appear on a web series in order to reach them? Will the communication strategy actually work?

Guest: 

Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian and Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of multiple books on U.S. political history, including “Jimmy Carter” (Times books, 2010) “Conservatives in Power: The Reagan Years, 1981-1989 (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010)

This story has been updated.

Chief operating officer of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg speaks onstage at the FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit on October 16, 2013 in Washington, DC. ; Credit: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for FORTUNE

The idea that the vocabulary used to describe women in leadership positions is different than that to describe men is not a new idea. Feminists and supporters have long argued that women should have a more positive set of adjectives ascribed to them to match those applied to men: assertive, strong, ambitious.

Lean In has partnered with Girl Scouts, Lifetime, and a slew of powerful celebrity spokeswomen to end what the group sees as the pervasive use of the word “bossy.” Young girls with “executive leadership potential” are often called “bossy,” while boys in the same position are innately seen as leaders.

Lean In’s Ban Bossy campaign calls for the end of the use of the word bossy, and was introduce with a new ad featuring Beyonce, who says, “I’m not bossy, I’m the boss.”

But can limiting use of a single word really impact the mindset of young girls and women? Should the focus really be on eliminating bossy, or should young female leaders focus on the best ways to move on and grow, regardless of what words someone else might use to describe them?

Can Lean In really ban bossy? And if they can, what effect will it have? What does it mean to be a feminist activist in an age of increasing equality?

Guest:

Rachel Thomas, co-founder and president of Lean In

Signs stand in front of the General Motors world headquarters complex November 18, 2010 in Detroit, Michigan. ; Credit: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

General Motors will have some explaining to do when the Justice Department investigates why it took the company years to recall 1.6 million vehicles after it knew that a faulty engine switch was responsible for the deaths of 13 people.

According to the Associated Press, the department will investigate whether GM broke any laws by taking so long to address the problem.

Compact GM cars including the Chevy Cobalt and the Pontiac G5 and the Saturn Ion from roughly 2003 - 2007 have been recalled after the company admitted that the ignition switch was faulty and could shut off the engine - disabling power-assisted brakes, the airbags and power steering.

Accidents related to the faulty switches have been traced to more than 30 accidents and a dozen deaths. Internal reports from GM show that company executives knew about the problem for years before taking any action.

Why did GM rely on internal investigations after it knew about the accidents? Is there any possibility of GM executives facing criminal charges related to the deaths? What sort of punishment could the Justice Department levy against GM?

Guest:  

Keith Naughton, Bloomberg News Autos Reporter

AirTalk takes a look at a growing academic trend in college classes that talk about war, rape, suicide, mental illness and more. Should students be warned that classroom material may "trigger" traumatic reactions?
; Credit: Photo by Don Harder via Flickr Creative Commons

Student leaders at the University of California Santa Barbara passed a resolution recently moving the school closer to including "trigger warnings" on class syllabi. Trigger warnings are disclaimers that alert you to material containing potentially traumatic subject matter.

The idea started on blogs, but it's now a growing academic trend in college classes that talk about war, rape, suicide, mental illness and the like that could provoke symptoms in victims of post-traumatic stress disorder.

At the UCSB students senate meeting, sponsoring student Bailey Loverin explained her reasoning: “Tonight I am coming to you…first as a student, second as a woman and third, as a survivor of sexual abuse,” Loverin said. “Two weeks ago, I sat in class watching a film screening and felt forced to watch two scenes in which the instance of sexual assault was insinuated and one in which an instance of rape was graphically depicted … there was no warning before this film screening ... and it was incredibly difficult to sit through.”

She says adding warnings is a simple fix that has nothing to do with censorship. Still, the concept has provoked strong reactions, summed up by this Guardian column and a round-up from The Nation.

How can professors handle tough topics gingerly for students who've endured trauma? What is the harm done if "trigger warnings" are included?

Guest:

Bailey Loverin, Literature major at UC Santa Barbara; Loverin sponsored the mandate at the UC Santa Barbara Associated Students Senate

Jill Filipovic, Writer on gender issues for The Guardian

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks while congratulating the 2012-13 NCAA Division I men's and women's champions on the South Lawn of the White House March 10, 2014 in Washington, DC.; Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Obama is set to issue an executive order that would expand overtime pay requirements for millions of workers, according to the New York Times. 

On Thursday, the president will order the Labor Department to require businesses to include "executive" or "managerial" workers for overtime pay. That category of workers could include a fast-food restaurant manager to a loan officer to a computer technician.

Under current laws, workers belonging to that classification that make about $24,000 a year could be denied overtime pay. President Obama, according to the Times, intends to raise that threshold.

Guests:

Ross Eisenbrey, Vice President of the Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan think tank focusing on low- and middle-income workers.

Daniel Mitchell, Senior Fellow at the CATO Institute, a libertarian think tank in DC. He served on the 1988 Bush/Quayle transition team and was an economist for the Senate Finance Committee

Co-Chair of Disney Media Networks and President of Disney/ABC Television Group Anne Sweeney speaks onstage during the Girls Inc. Los Angeles Celebration Luncheon at Beverly Hills Hotel on November 20, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. ; Credit: Mike Windle/Getty Images

Anne Sweeney, one of television’s most powerful women, has announced that she will step down from her post as president of the Disney-ABC Television group. She began her career at Nickelodeon and FX and has been with Disney since 1996. Sweeney is leaving her position at Disney with plans to follow her creative aspirations by pursuing a career in television directing.

In a statement Sweeney said, “The past 18 years at Disney have been the highlight of my executive career. I’ve been part of an amazing evolution in our business and our industry, and have achieved far more than I ever thought possible.”

Both Sweeney and other Disney Executives have said in interviews that Sweeney made the decision to leave voluntarily. However, there has been some speculation that lack of opportunity for future promotion may have been a factor in Sweeney’s decision to leave Disney.   

What does Sweeney’s departure mean for the future of Disney? Who will replace Sweeney?

Guest:  

Meg James, Los Angeles Times reporter covering the business of television

The lifesize humanoid robot 'RoboThespian' interacts with fair visitors at the Engineered Arts Ltd stand of the 2014 CeBIT computer technology trade fair on March 11, 2014 in Hanover, central Germany. The robot, featured at the fair's opening ceremony, is 'a fully programmable interactive humanoid robot designed to inspire, communicate, interact and entertain'. Great Britain is partner country of the fair considered as the world's biggest high-tech fair running from March 10 to 14, 2014. ; Credit: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images

Machines are getting smarter. It’s an age of self-driving cars, robots that can beat master chess players and win Jeopardy, take customer service calls, and turn on the lights in your home from miles away.

Robots are taking our jobs, people are increasingly reliant on machines. But is that such a bad thing? MIT economist Erik Brynjolfsson says the “new machine age” is great for the economy -- as long as people can learn to effectively coexist with technology.

How is technology changing the economy and job market? Will robots and machines change employment prospects? How? What role does big data play in the new machine age?

Guest:

Erik Brynjolfsson, Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Director of the MIT Center for Digital Business, co-author of The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technology