Remembering Political Pioneer Gloria Molina, First Latina Elected To State Assembly, LA City Council and Board Of Supes
Gloria Molina, the political pioneer who was the first Latina elected to the State Assembly, the Los Angeles City Council, and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, has died at age 74.
Molina had announced on March 14 that she had terminal cancer and was entering a “transition in life.” She died Sunday in her Mount Washington home, according to a statement released on her official Facebook page. Gloria Flores, a close friend of Molina's, confirmed her death, saying she last saw her on Wednesday. Longtime colleagues and friends say Molina will be remembered for a variety of accomplishments, particularly her many battles on behalf of L.A.’s Eastside. Today on AirTalk, we reflect on Molina’s legacy and how she changed the landscape in local politics. Joining to discuss is Miguel Santana, president and CEO of the the Weingart Foundation and former chief administrative officer for the City of Los Angeles, Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and former L.A. County supervisor and city councilmember, L.A. county supervisor Kathryn Barger and Fernando Guerra, professor of political science and Chicano/Latino studies, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University and emeritus member of the LAist Board of Trustees.
With files from LAist. Read the full story here.
New CDC Data Finds That Teen Sex Has Dropped Since The Pandemic’s Start
The first years of the pandemic saw a huge decline in high school students having sex, according to a government survey. About three decades ago, more than half of teens said they’d had sex, according to a large government survey conducted every two years. By 2019, the share was 38%. In 2021, 30% of teens said they had ever had sex. That was the sharpest drop ever recorded by the survey. Has the general drop in social interaction in this time led to the number decreasing? Is this something we should expect to continue?
Today on AirTalk, Larry talks to Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, developmental psychologist and professor of pediatrics at Stanford University, about the decreasing number of teen’s having sex and what the impact of this will be for years to come.
With files from the Associated Press
New EPA Regulations Aim To Sharply Reduce Greenhouse Gasses
The Biden administration proposed new limits last Thursday on greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants. This is the administration's most ambitious effort yet to roll back planet-warming pollution from the nation’s second-largest contributor to climate change. A rule announced by the Environmental Protection Agency could force power plants to capture smokestack emissions using a technology that has long been promised but is not used widely in the United States. The plan would not only “improve air quality nationwide, but it will bring substantial health benefits to communities all across the country, especially our front-line communities ... that have unjustly borne the burden of pollution for decades,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a speech at the University of Maryland. President Joe Biden called the plan “a major step forward in the climate crisis and protecting public health.” Joining us today on AirTalk is Rebecca Leber, senior reporter covering climate change at Vox and David Schlissel, director of resource planning analysis at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis to talk about the new regulations.
With files from the Associated Press
A Birth Control Pill Could Soon Be Available Over The Counter, But It Might Not Be As Accessible As You Think
Federal health advisers said last week that a decades-old birth control pill should be sold without a prescription, paving the way for a likely U.S. approval of the first over-the-counter contraceptive medication.
The panel of FDA advisers voted unanimously in favor of drugmaker Perrigo’s request to sell its once-a-day medication on store shelves alongside eye drops and allergy pills. The recommendation came at the close of a two-day meeting focused on whether women could safely and effectively take the pill without professional supervision. A final FDA decision is expected this summer. If the agency follows the nonbinding recommendation, Perrigo’s drug, Opill, would become the first contraceptive pill to be moved out from behind the pharmacy counter. The company said sales could begin late this year if OK’d. Today on AirTalk, we discuss the impacts of the move, how it will impact access, what past contraceptive approvals could foreshadow and how to mitigate concerns. Joining the conversation is Dima Qato, associate professor of pharmacy and health policy at USC, and Mara Gandal-Powers, director of birth control access and a senior counsel at the National Women’s Law Center.
With files from the Associated Press
What’s A Commencement Speech That You’ll Always Remember?
As the class of 2023 ventures boldly into the world, we’re taking a look back at some favorite commencement speeches and wondering what the recipe is for a great one. A respected speaker? Good advice? Jokes that are actually funny? Likely, it’s some kind of alchemy that you can’t quite put your finger on, but know when you hear it. There are so many memorable speeches, from Steve Jobs exhorting the graduating class of Stanford to “Stay hungry, stay foolish” to Oprah telling Harvard students, “There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.”