AirTalk

After 74 years of cash-only, the West L.A. old school diner fixture the “Apple Pan” has started taking credit cards due to the pandemic. 

Which got us thinking about late adopters. Whether it comes to tech, food or habits, were you a late adopter of something and how did it change your life? For the better? Or for worse?

Call us at 866-893-5722.

The Supreme Court appeared ready last week to side with two California agriculture businesses that want to bar labor organizers from their property, a case that could be another blow to unions.

The justices heard arguments in a case involving a California labor regulation put in place in 1975, following the efforts of labor leader Cesar Chavez. The regulation grants unions access to farms and other agriculture businesses in order to organize workers for up to three hours per day, 120 days per year.

The Supreme Court also said it will consider reinstating the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, presenting President Joe Biden with an early test of his opposition to capital punishment.

We’ll dive into these cases, as well as other issues on the docket, including abortion and gun control. Questions? Call us at 866-893-5722.

With files from the Associated Press.

GUEST:

Kimberly Robinson, U.S. Supreme Court reporter for Bloomberg Law and co-host of Bloomberg Law’s podcast “Cases and Controversies”; she tweets @KimberlyRobinsn

With contributions from Manny Valladares

President Joe Biden is aiming for summer passage of an infrastructure plan that is expected to cost more than $3 trillion, and the White House hopes to take a more deliberate and collaborative approach with the contentious Congress than it did on the COVID-19 rescue package, officials said Monday.

The president will announce parts of his “Build Back Better” package Wednesday in Pittsburgh. Sweeping in scope, the ambitious plan aims to make generational investments in infrastructure, revive domestic manufacturing, combat climate change and keep the United States competitive with China, according to the officials. It could include $3 trillion in tax increases.

The final price tag is in flux but was expected to be between $3 trillion and $4 trillion. One White House official said Monday night that it may end up being closer to $3 trillion.

Though the White House is emphasizing the urgency, it also insists this will not be considered an emergency response like the $1.9 trillion virus relief bill that Biden signed into law over Republican objections earlier this month. The administration wants to see progress on the new legislation by Memorial Day and have it passed over the summer, White House officials said.

“The president has a plan to fix our infrastructure and a plan to pay for it,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “But we certainly expect to have the discussion with members of Congress, as we move forward, about areas where they agree, where they disagree, where they would like to see greater emphasis or not.”

With files from the Associated Press

GUESTS:

Mario Parker, White House reporter for Bloomberg News who’s following Biden’s infrastructure plan; he tweets @MarioDParker 

Susan McWilliams Barndt, chair and professor of politics at Pomona College and editor of American Political Thought journal

Elementary students in L.A. County’s second-largest school district — Long Beach Unified — started returning to campuses this week. That’s one of several school district reopenings education reporter Kyle Stokes has been tracking.

Long Beach campuses returned students from transitional kindergarten through fifth grade on Monday. Students who don’t choose to remain in distance learning mode will spend two-and-a-half hours with their teacher, either in the morning or afternoon. “The return to in-person classes includes asymptomatic screening for staff and students,” said Superintendent Jill Baker in a video message last week. The Hart Union High School District, which serves Santa Clarita, reopened campuses for blended learning on Monday — with buildings operating at reduced capacity. Glendale Unified students in transitional kindergarten (TK) through second grade will return Monday. Students in third to sixth grade will go back to campuses on April 5. Like in Long Beach, students in Glendale will operate on a “hybrid” schedule. All Downey Unified elementary students will return to campuses on Monday. Today on AirTalk, we check in with officials from some of the districts on how it’s going and what they expect from here. We also want to hear from you. Is your child returning to in-person schooling? What has the experience been like? What are your thoughts and concerns? Give us a call at 866-893-5722.

With files from LAist. Read the full story here. 

GUESTS:

Jill Baker, superintendent of the Long Beach Unified School District, which opened elementary campuses on a hybrid schedule Monday; she tweets @jbaker000

John A. Garcia, superintendent of the Downey Unified School District, which opened all elementary campuses on Monday; he tweets  @DowneyUSDSupt

In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with UCLA’s Kristen Choi.

California is on track to reopen - what’s the risk for another wave?

Pfizer says clinical trials show their vaccine is 100% effective in kids ages 12 to 15

FEMA is set to pull two of California mass vaccination sites

Researchers look into efficacy of mix-and-matching a vaccine 

According to one survey, vaccine hesitancy is waning

According to Vox, at our current rate the U.S. is on track to have all adults vaccinated by July 4

GUEST:

Kristen R. Choi, professor of nursing and public health at UCLA; registered nurse practicing at Gateways Hospital, based in Echo Park

Today on AirTalk, we update you on the latest COVID-19 news and answer your questions. Also on the show, we update you on the latest on California politics; breakdown what are NFTs; and more.

Has America’s culture surrounding absolute rights gone off the rails? That’s the argument Professor Jamal Greene makes in his new book “How Rights Went Wrong: Why Our Obsession with Rights is Tearing America Apart," (March 2021). But he also suggests in his argument that there are ways to fix what he sees as the problem. 

Greene says that claiming one’s rights have been violated has become one of the best ways to seek out political interests and that courts should focus on context and justice over absolute rights. Today on AirTalk, Larry talks with Greene, a constitutional law scholar at Columbia, about his new book and what he sees as the problem and solution. Do you have questions or thoughts? Join the conversation by calling 866-893-5722. 

GUEST: 

Jamal Greene, Dwight Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, author of the new book "How Rights Went Wrong: Why Our Obsession with Rights is Tearing America Apart," (March 2021); he tweets @jamalgreene

A digital art piece, tweaked using cryptocurrency technology to make it one-of-a-kind, sold at auction earlier this month for nearly $70 million. That transaction made global headlines and buoyed already-mushrooming interest in these kinds of digital objects — known as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs — that have captured the attention of artists and collectors alike.

In economics jargon, a fungible token is an asset that can be exchanged on a one-for-one basis. Think of dollars or bitcoins — each one has the exact same value and can be traded freely. A non-fungible object, by contrast, has its own distinct value, like an old house or a classic car.

Cross this notion with cryptocurrency technology known as the blockchain and you get NFTs. These are effectively digital certificates of authenticity that can be attached to digital art or, well, pretty much anything else that comes in digital form — audio files, video clips, animated stickers, this article you’re reading.

NFTs confirm an item’s ownership by recording the details on a digital ledger known as a blockchain, which is public and stored on computers across the internet, making it effectively impossible to lose or destroy.

At the moment, these tokens are white-hot in the collecting world, where they’re being used to solve a problem central to digital collectibles: how to claim ownership of something that can be easily and endlessly duplicated.

Today on AirTalk, we’re learning more about what NFTs are, why some are so valuable, and what it all means. Questions? Give us a call at 866-893-5722.

With files from the Associated Press

GUESTS:

Liz Lopatto, deputy editor at The Verge who has been covering the story; she tweets @mslopatto

Moish Peltz, digital intellectual property attorney at Falcon Rappaport & Berkman; he tweets @peltzm

Today on AirTalk, we recap the latest major headlines in California's political news and discuss what these stories mean for the weeks ahead. 

CA to receive $42 billion from American Rescue Plan

CDC warns of fourth coronavirus wave, what this means for Newsom's reopening efforts

Potential Democratic challengers gauge whether or not to dip foot in gubernatorial race

Latest poll on Gov. Newsom’s approval rating

National GOP puts money behind recall effort

Rob Bonta appointed as the state’s new Attorney General

GOP’s misinformation leads to flipped California House seats

State lawmakers push to expand hate crime legislations

GUESTS:

Nicole Nixon, reporter covering politics and government for CapRadio; she tweets @_Nixo

Raphael J. Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles; author of “Politics in Black and White: Race and Power in Los Angeles” (Princeton University Press, 1994); he tweets @SonensheinPBI

The Elite Eight marks the halfway point of the NCAA Tournament, but don’t blink. It has the shelf life of chicken nuggets.

By the time your head hits the pillow tomorrow night, we’ll be down to a Final Four and find out whether the selection committee is any better at seeding teams than the cooks at your local McDonalds.

Three of the four teams handed No. 1s — Gonzaga, Baylor and Michigan — are still in the field, which is average. But so are three Pac-12 Conference teams — No. 6 USC, No. 11 UCLA and No. 12 Oregon State — which definitely is not. Needless to say, the road would have been a lot smoother for the Pac-12 entries if their league got anywhere near the respect the Big Ten and Big 12 carried inside the room where it (seeding) happens.

USC and UCLA were the last two teams to claim their seats Sunday. The Trojans handily beat fellow Pac-12 member and seventh-seeded Oregon, while the Bruins needed overtime — after a last-second hiccup — to put away No. 2 Alabama 88-78.

“I’ll never live that one down,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said afterward. “The kids bailed me out.”

In the two other games, Gonzaga looked unbeatable one more time while steamrolling No. 5 Creighton 83-65, while Michigan had surprisingly little trouble shaking No. 4 Florida State 76-58, once again displaying the kind of balance and depth to upend the Zags’ (29-0) quest for a title and the first perfect season since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers.

With files from the Associated Press

GUESTS:

Ryan Kartje, USC beat writer at the Los Angeles Times; he tweets @Ryan_Kartje

Ben Bolch, UCLA beat writer at the Los Angeles Times; he tweets @latbbolch