AirTalk

A sharply limited number of fans will be allowed to attend the Tokyo Olympics, organizers announced Monday as they tried to save some of the spirit of the Games where even cheering has been banned.

Organizers set a limit of 50% capacity — up to a maximum of 10,000 fans, all of whom must be Japanese residents — for each Olympic venue, regardless of whether it is indoors or outdoors. Officials said that if coronavirus cases rise again the rules could be changed and fans could still be barred all together. Spectators from abroad were banned several months ago, and now some local fans who have tickets will be forced to give them up.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles is already starting to think about its plan for the city ahead of the 2028 Olympics. We check in on the latest. 

With files from the Associated Press.

Guests:

David Wharton, feature sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times who covers the Olympics; he tweets @LATimesWharton

Ed Hula, founder of Around the Rings, a publication based in Atlanta, Georgia devoted to covering the Olympics

Construction has officially begun on LAX's long-awaited Airport Metro Connector Project, which connects Los Angeles International Airport with the Metro system. 

On Monday, the Metro held a groundbreaking ceremony commencing construction of the $898.6 million project. The Airport Metro Connector Project is slated to be completed by 2024 and will include a bus plaza, a bicycle hub and a private-vehicle drop-off zone. That station will be linked to the under-construction Metro Crenshaw/LAX line via the airport's Automated People Mover. 

The People Mover system, which is expected to be operating by 2023, will span 2.2 miles and connect directly with LAX's terminals. Today on AirTalk, we get more details on the construction of this near $900 million project. 

A representative from LAWA was originally set to join us, but they pulled out this morning.

Guests:

Tim Lindholm, senior executive officer for Program Management at LA Metro

Brett Snyder, airline industry expert and author/founder of "The Cranky Flier blog" and "The Cranky Concierge" air travel assistance service; he’s held many jobs in the airline industry, including in operations, sales, pricing, and planning

In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Dean Blumberg from UC Davis. 

Topics today include:

Did California’s vaccine lottery boost vaccinations?

Black Angelenos have highest COVID case and death rates

10% of world’s population is fully vaccinated, data shows

Pandemic worsens in Africa as more contagious variants spread

Over 150 Texas healthcare workers resign or were fired over mandatory vaccination policy

LA Police commission wants LAPD to look into legality of mandating vaccinations for those folks

CDC to discuss rare heart problems in young, vaccinated people

Delta variant detected in all states except South Dakota

Guest:

Dean Blumberg, M.D., professor of medicine and chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital; he tweets @DBlumbergPedsID

Today on AirTalk, LAPD Chief Michel Moore joins Larry Mantle for his monthly interview to discuss the latest in law enforcement.

What is LA Sheriff Villanueva doing in Venice Beach? 

Chief Moore says city making sure homeless encampments don't return to Echo Park Lake 

New LA program to divert certain low-level arrestees away from jail and into treatment 

Ring gave LAPD officers free cameras, pushed product promos 

LAPD Chief Michel Moore wants more officer training 

LAPD shootings stayed near historic low in 2020; up in 2021 

Chief Moore told the Police Commission that the city has experienced a 50% increase in shooting victims this year compared to the same period last year 

LA City's $11.2 billion budget boosts LAPD spending and dedicates $1 billion for homelessness 

LAPD policy mum on armed, off-duty officers drinking alcohol

Commission requests LAPD COVID-19 vaccine mandate report 

LA County Supervisors vote 4-1 to close Men’s Central Jail 

Two more reports find fault in LAPD's handling of summer protests

In court, BLM says LAPD 'failed completely' to punish officers in protest abuses

Guest:

Michel Moore, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department

Today on AirTalk, we break down the latest COVID-19 news. Also on the show, we preview today's primary for the New York City mayoral race; talk with our LGBTQ listeners about their experiences in team sports; and more.

Author Clint Smith traveled to some of the most charged places in America’s history, from the Monticello Plantation in Virginia to the Blandford Cemetery, where Confederate soldiers are buried, to gain a deeper understanding of America’s history with slavery and its relationship to this history. 

We sit down with Smith to discuss his new book, “How The Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America.” 

Guest: 

Clint Smith, author of “How The Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America” (June 2021, Little, Brown and Company); he is a staff writer for the Atlantic, a poet and host of the YouTube series Crash Course Black American History; he tweets @ClintSmithIII

Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib on Monday became the first active NFL player to come out as gay.

Nassib, who is entering his sixth NFL season and second with the Raiders, announced the news on Instagram, saying he wasn’t doing it for the attention but because he felt representation and visibility were important.

“I just wanted to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay,” Nassib said in his video message from his home in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now, but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest.

“I really have the best life. I got the best family, friends and job a guy can ask for. I’m a pretty private person, so I hope you guys know that I’m really not doing this for attention. I just think that representation and visibility are so important.”

Nassib added in a written message that followed the video that he “agonized over this moment for the last 15 years” and only recently decided to go public with his sexuality after receiving the support of family and friends.

Today on AirTalk, we want to hear from LGBTQ listeners about their experiences, positive or negative, playing organized sports. Join our live conversation by calling us at 866-893-5722.

Guests: 

Nicki Jhabvala, Washington Football Team reporter for the Washington Post; she tweets @NickiJhabvala

Eric Anderson, professor of Masculinities, Sexualities and Sport at the University of Winchester, in England; he is the author of many books, including “Men and Masculinities” (Routledge, 2019)

In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, we speak with Dr. Kimberly Shriner from Huntington Hospital in Pasadena. 

Today’s topics include:

U.S. hits 150 million people vaccinated

Delta variant could dominate U.S. in weeks

Scientists warn that COVID-19 may shrink parts of the brain

Black Angelenos have highest COVID-19 case rates and deaths

Nearly 4,000 breakthrough COVID infections reported in Massachusetts

Some undocumented immigrant communities turn to unproven drugs to treat COVID-19

Guest: 

Kimberly Shriner, M.D., infectious disease specialist at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena

One of iconic musician Joni Mitchell’s most beloved albums, “Blue,” has its 50th birthday this week. According to Ann Powers, NPR’s music critic, it’s an album that has continuously restored itself over the decades, offering new meanings to different listeners. 

Love, loss, place and loneliness, all themes of the album that resonate deeply and profoundly. Mitchell in the past has described making the album as bleeding the songs onto the pages. In honor of the anniversary, the artist’s label has also released “Blue 50,” which features previously unreleased recordings from the album. Today on AirTalk, we discuss the importance of the album on its 50th anniversary, how it evolved overtime and its connection to Los Angeles and California. What does “Blue” mean to you? Share your thoughts on the AirTalk Facebook page or Twitter or give us a call at 866-893-5722. 

NPR is hosting a listening party to commemorate the 50th anniversary of “Blue.” Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile joins NPR music critic Ann Powers coming right up at 11 am Pacific Time. You can watch that conversation on YouTube.

NPR's Ann Powers wrote a piece celebrating the 50th anniversary of "Blue" and looking at her connection to Miles Davis. You can read that here.

Guests: 

David Yaffe, author of “Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell”; he tweets @davidmyaffe 

Jenn Pelly, contributing editor at Pitchfork and writer for the LA Times, her latest piece is “In 1971, nothing sounded like Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue.’ 50 years later, it’s still a miracle;” she tweets @jennpelly

Ranked choice voting makes its debut in New York City's mayoral primary Tuesday in one of the most high-profile tests yet for a system  gaining use in pockets across the U.S.

The system is based on a simple premise: Democracy works better if people aren't forced to make an all-or-nothing choice with their vote. Rather than pick just one candidate, voters get to rank several in order of preference. Even if a voter's top choice doesn't have enough support to win, their rankings of other candidates still play a role in determining the victor. But the system is more complex than a traditional election, making it tough to forecast a winner. It could take longer to get results. But the system is tough to grasp. It requires voters to do a lot more research. It also makes races less predictable. Transparency and trust are also potential problems. 

In New York City's version, voters get to rank up to five candidates, from first to last, on their ballot. If one candidate is the first choice of a majority of voters - more than 50% - that person wins the race outright, just like in a traditional election. If nobody hits that threshold, ranked choice analysis kicks in. Vote tabulation is done in rounds, and all rounds of counting are done by computer in a process that takes very little time. In each round, the candidate in last place is eliminated. Votes cast ranking that candidate first are then redistributed to those voters' second choices. That process repeats until there are only two candidates left. 

Today on AirTalk, we’ll get a preview of what’s at stake in today’s primary and find out more about how ranked choice voting works.

With files from the Associated Press

Guests:

Shelly Banjo, New York City bureau chief for Bloomberg; she tweets @sbanjo

Rick Pildes, professor of constitutional law at NYU school of law