AirTalk

In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Annabelle De St. Maurice of UCLA/Mattel Children’s Hospital.

Topics today include:

CDC reduces physical distancing guidelines for schoolchildren

CA logs record-breaking week of vaccinations

Cost to vaccinate Californians rises amid changes to Blue Shield oversight

Concerns about increased transmission in Florida during spring break

New U.K. study finds slow walkers more likely to die of COVID

Moderna testing vaccines on young children (a few days old but I think it’d be worth bringing up, given your area of expertise)

More than 4 in 10 health-care workers have not been vaccinated, Post-KFF poll finds

AstraZeneca COVID-19 shots resume in Germany after EU declares vaccine safe

Why side effects are worse after a second dose of COVID-19

GUEST:

Annabelle De St. Maurice, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics in the division of infectious diseases and the co-chief infection prevention officer at University of California Los Angeles/Mattel Children’s Hospital; she tweets @destmauricemd

Today on AirTalk, we update you on the latest COVID-19 headlines and learn about Netflix's efforts to curb password sharing. Also on the show, KPCC film critics Lael Lowenstein, Andy Klein and Tim Cogshell review this weekend's new movie releases.

For major Hollywood studios launching streaming services, film archives are a lucrative and nostalgic selling point— but they are also home to films with racist, homophobic and other unsavory elements that viewers don’t want to consume.

So how is Hollywood addressing problematic film and television assets? Disney has gathered an advisory council of interest groups, including the African American Film Critics Association and the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, to watch and discuss stereotypical content and offer their ideas for how to proceed. Some shows wind up with disclaimers cautioning users about offensive content, and in other instances original content is being generated to contextualize what viewers might see in streaming service catalogues. Although streamers may use original content to draw new viewers, it’s the archival content that keeps them. On Disney + in 2020, almost 80% of demand was for licensed library content over originals; on HBO Max, that number is closer to 90%. In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests, HBO Max scrambled to address criticisms of “Gone With The Wind,” an American classic which romanticizes slavery and perpetuates racist stereotypes. The streaming service initially removed the film after a Los Angeles Times op-ed by screenwriter John Ridley; HBO Max later reinstated the title with a four-minute introduction that framed the movie as one that “denies the horrors of slavery.”

Today on AirTalk, we’re discussing Hollywood’s rearview appraisal of problematic film and television shows. How would you like to see streaming acknowledge the issues in their catalogues? Comment below or give us a call at 866-893-5722.

GUESTS:

Rebecca Keegan, reporter at The Hollywood Reporter and author of the recent piece “Racist, Sexist … Classic? How Hollywood Is Dealing With Its Problematic Content”; she tweets @ThatRebecca

Gil Robertson, president of the African American Film Critics Association who sits on Disney's advisory council; he tweets @gilrobertson

The CDC’s current guidelines for schools is to keep masked students seated at desks “at least 6 feet apart when feasible,” but that guidance may soon shrink down to three feet.

A new study found that coronavirus infection rates did not significantly change whether masked students or staff were put three feet or six feet apart. If the guidance changes, it would help schools, particularly public ones, to bring their students back into classrooms with limited indoor space. But the guidelines are just one piece of complex reopening plans, which have had teachers, students and parents debating over how best to bring students back in for in-person instruction.

Today on AirTalk, we’re talking with students, teachers and parents about how they feel about the logistics of going back to school in person. How are you feeling? Give us a call at 866-893-5722 or comment below.

GUEST:

Howard Blume, reporter covering education for The Los Angeles Times; he tweets @howardblume

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

Topics today include:

As L.A. eyes orange coronavirus tier, is another wave of reopenings around the corner?

New California COVID-19 strain may reduce vaccine effectiveness

Coronavirus strains from CA, U.K. dominate U.S.

Is 3 feet enough? CDC looking at relaxing school distancing guidelines

Nevada opening vaccination to everyone over 16, Ohio opening to everyone over 16 on March 29

Long haul COVID-19 in kids

Danish researchers say elderly more likely to suffer repeat coronavirus infections

Trust in AstraZeneca vaccine is shaken in Europe

Some COVID long haulers say symptoms subside following vaccine

GUEST:

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

A series of shootings at three spas in the Atlanta area on Tuesday left eight people dead, and authorities have identified six of them as women of Asian descent, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. 

A 21-year-old white man, Robert Aaron Long, is in custody and has reportedly confessed to the crimes. Long drove tens of miles from one spa in a suburb across the Atlanta metro area to attack two other spas, according to officials. NPR reports that Long is believed to have previously visited the spas he attacked. Long told police that Tuesday’s attack was not racially motivated. He claimed to have a “sex addiction,” and authorities said he apparently lashed out at what he saw as sources of temptation. But those statements spurred outrage and widespread skepticism given the locations and that six of the eight victims were women of Asian descent. 

With reports of hate crimes against Asian Americans rising sharply over the past year, the attack prompted a strong and emotional response across the country, including Southern California. Recent violent attacks during the pandemic against Asian Americans, particularly older people, across the country — including several in California — have put the community on edge.

Today on AirTalk, we’re inviting Asian and Asian American members of our listening audience to call in and share how you are feeling and how you’re processing those feelings in following Tuesday’s mass shooting and in light of the increased instances of hate and discrimination towards Asians and Asian Americans since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Join our live conversation at 866-893-5722.

With files from the Associated Press

To read more on the reaction from local Asian communities from KPCC/LAist reporter Josie Huang, click here.

GUEST:

Josie Huang, KPCC/LAist correspondent covering Asian American Communities; she tweets @Josie_Huang

Today on AirTalk, we hear the reactions and feelings from our Asian American communities following the Atlanta spa shootings. We also discuss the latest COVID-19 headlines, how streaming services are dealing with problematic films and more.

Please support AirTalk during this spring membership drive. Donate now by visiting kpcc.org/SupportAirTalk. Thank you.

Today on AirTalk, we hear the latest news on the Atlanta massage parlor shootings. We also discuss recent COVID-19 headlines, the outlook for the March Madness tournament and more.

Shootings at two massage parlors in Atlanta and one in the suburbs Tuesday evening left eight people dead, many of them women of Asian descent, authorities said. A 21-year-old man suspected in the shootings was taken into custody in southwest Georgia hours later after a manhunt, police said.

The attacks began around 5 p.m., when five people were shot at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor in a strip mall near a rural area in Acworth, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Atlanta, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Jay Baker said. Two people died at the scene and three were transported to a hospital where two of them also died, Baker said.

No one was arrested at the scene.

Around 5:50 p.m., police in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta, responding to a call of a robbery in progress, found three women dead from apparent gunshot wounds at Gold Spa. While they were at that scene, they learned of a call reporting shots fired at another spa across the street, Aromatherapy Spa, and found a woman who appeared to have been shot dead inside the business.

“It appears that they may be Asian,” Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in statement Wednesday that its diplomats in Atlanta have confirmed from police that four of the victims who died were women of Korean descent. The ministry said the office of its Consulate General in Atlanta is trying to confirm the nationality of the women.

The killings came amid a recent wave of attacks against Asian Americans that coincided with the spread of the coronavirus across the United States.

With files from the Associated Press

GUESTS:

Cameron McWhirter, Wall Street Journal reporter based in Atlanta who is covering the shootings; he tweets @cammcwhirter

Judy Chu, U.S. Congresswoman representing California’s 27th Congressional District, which includes Pasadena and the west San Gabriel Valley; she tweets @RepJudyChu

Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council and co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, a reporting center that tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States; tweets @KulkarniManju