AirTalk

While we've been fortunate to hear many stories of the resilience of businesses through the pandemic, sadly others have not been so lucky. From restaurants to gyms to movie theaters to retail shops and beyond, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who can't tell you one place they loved that had to close during the pandemic. In a recent photo essay for the nonprofit publication Capital & Main, Los Angeles based photographer Ted Soqui went out to capture some of the places in Southern California that fell victim to the coronavirus pandemic.

Today on AirTalk, we want to hear from you -- what beloved local business or landmark closed down in your neighborhood? What made it special to you? Join our live conversation by calling us at 866-893-5722

Guest:

Elina Shatkin, food editor for LAist; she tweets @elinashatkin

After a year of zoom, distancing and uncertainty, school is out for many teachers and students in Southern California. 

Some teachers taught virtually in their living rooms, while others taught kids in person, wearing masks and spaced apart - but regardless of the specific circumstances, it was a novel year for all. We reflect on the school year, its hardships and takeaways. And if you’re a student or teacher, we want to hear from you. Call us at 866-893-5722. 

Guests: 

Jessica Gutierrez, physics and chemistry teacher at Santa Monica High School in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District

Sonia Kearney,  fifth and sixth grade teacher at Deerfield Elementary in the Irvine Unified School District 

Ashley McGrath, kindergarten teacher in at Rowland Elementary School in the Rowland Unified School District; she co-hosts a podcast about literacy called Between the Ladies; she tweets @AshleyLyMcGrath

Miguel Covarrubias, 10th and 11th grade history teacher at Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts in Downtown Los Angeles; he’s also a Teacher Leader at the UCLA History-Geography Project, which trains SoCal teachers

Greg Knotts, professor of elementary education and incoming chair of the elementary education department at Cal State Northridge

Today on AirTalk, we break down the latest COVID-19 news. Also on the show, we talk with Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on vaccinations and cybersecurity; discuss the latest movie releases with our KPCC film critics; and more.

While most of you probably know KPCC by the voices you hear on air every day, our station requires the contributions of so many talented, unique individuals whose names aren’t said at the end of a news story or even in the production credits at the end of the week. These are the people who truly make KPCC -- who keep our broadcast equipment running, who put on our pledge drives and help secure sponsorships and major donations, who put together the pre-recorded spots you hear between shows, who make sure that our facilities at the Mohn Broadcast Center are operating smoothly

This week on AirTalk, we’re highlighting some of these amazing people who work at KPCC who might not be as familiar with but whose tireless efforts are critical to what you hear on the air every day. Today, we’re featuring Facilities Manager Yolanda Ware, who makes sure that our office building and all its infrastructure are running like a well oiled machine, and Talent Acquisition Manager Cello Sawyer, who works with all KPCC departments in helping to identify and interview potential job candidates.

Guests:

Yolanda Ware, KPCC facilities manager

Marcello Sawyer, KPCC talent acquisition manager

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is in Los Angeles for a visit centered on cybersecurity, domestic extremism and immigration policy. 

Secretary Mayorkas has also been spreading the word about vaccinations and immigration status— namely, that undocumented people can get the vaccine at any site, and that ICE will not be present at any vaccination sites. 

Today on AirTalk, we’re learning more about Secretary Mayorkas’ visit to Los Angeles and what undocumented immigrants should know about vaccinations.

Guest:

Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; he tweets @AliMayorkas

In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Shruti Gohil from UC Irvine’s School of Medicine. 

Topics today include:

California COVID-19 cases plummet to new lows

CDC lifts masking order for vaccinated individuals in transportation hubs

LA Teachers Union tentatively agree to mandate masks in LA Schools during the fall semester

Many J&J doses to be tossed out

Pfizer is effective in battling worrisome variants

Why some in the Orthodox Jewish community are vaccine hesitant

Guest:

Shruti Gohil, M.D., professor of medicine and associate medical director for epidemiology and infection prevention at UC Irvine’s School of Medicine

Today on AirTalk, we break down the latest COVID-19 news. Also on the show, we talk about the impact of pandemic on the veteran community; discuss the effect of California's drought conditions on water supply; and more.

Could the size of one’s pupils be an indicator of cognitive ability?

A newly-published study in the peer reviewed journal Cognition suggests there may indeed be a correlation between pupil size and higher scores on tests that measure cognitive abilities. The authors measured the size of the pupils of over 500 study participants with a high powered camera and computer that can measure how light reflects off the pupil and cornea. Then, they had the participants work through a series of tests that looked at things like memory capacity, “fluid intelligence,” which they define as the capacity to reason through new problems and attention control during distractions. The researchers report finding higher scores in fluid intelligence and attention control, and to a lesser degree memory capacity, among people with larger pupils, findings they argue tell us have some fascinating implications for what we know about the relationship between our eyes and the brain.

Today on AirTalk, we’ll talk more with the lead author of this new study about how they set up their experiment, what they found as they analyzed the data they collected and what it all tells us.

Guest:

Jason Tsukahara, Ph.D. student in cognition and brain science at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he does research in the Attention & Working Memory Lab; lead author of a new study published in the journal Cognition, “Is baseline pupil size related to cognitive ability? Yes (under proper lighting conditions)”

While most of you probably know KPCC by the voices you hear on air every day, our station requires the contributions of so many talented, unique individuals whose names aren’t said at the end of a news story or even in the production credits at the end of the week. These are the people who truly make KPCC -- who keep our broadcast equipment running, who put on our pledge drives and help secure sponsorships and major donations, who put together the pre-recorded spots you hear between shows, who make sure that our facilities at the Mohn Broadcast Center are operating smoothly.

This week on AirTalk, we’re highlighting some of these amazing people who work at KPCC who might not be as familiar with but whose tireless efforts are critical to what you hear on the air every day. Today, we’re featuring Veronica Lopez, who works in our underwriting department as director of corporate sponsorship, and Michael Cosentino, a member of our product development department which works on things like KPCC.org, LAist.com, the KPCC app and more.

Guests:

Veronica Lopez, KPCC director of corporate sponsorship

Michael Cosentino, KPCC senior producer for emerging platforms

President Joe Biden has named several goals over the last few months to get a handle on the coronavirus pandemic. That includes a goal of getting 70 percent of U.S. adults at least partially vaccinated by July 4. 

Although some say it’s looking unlikely that the country will meet that goal, the Department of Veterans Affairs is working to ensure every veteran has the opportunity to be vaccinated. Today on AirTalk, we talk about the impact of COVID-19 to the veteran community, vaccination efforts, homelessness and more. 

Today’s topics include: 

Covid-19 impact and vaccination efforts

CA incentive programs and how they apply to veterans

Handling of surge in need for care following the pandemic 

Homelessness 

The West LA VA campus 

Proposed tax plan to help CA veterans 

Priorities for women and LGBTQ individuals who have served 

Addressing suicide rates among veterans 

Health records updates and reviews

Guest: 

Denis McDonough, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs; he tweets @SecVetAffairs