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Today on AirTalk, we look into how a long-standing environmental law has affected California housing projects. Also on the show, we examine some of the risks associated with taking supplements; we continue our conversation on neurodiversity, looking into the history of diagnosis; AirTalk listeners who are expats and transplants share what they love about SoCal; and more.
Under a California law created more than 50 years ago, housing projects large and small across the state have been required to undergo environmental review. The process outlined by the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970 (widely known as CEQA) is intended to push developers to mitigate potential environmental harms. It can also delay projects for years, cost developers millions of dollars and even kill projects in wealthy neighborhoods that rarely build new housing. Now, an independent state agency is recommending that lawmakers broadly exempt new urban housing from these reviews in the interest of moving the needle on the state’s intractable housing crisis. Joining to discuss is David Wagner, LAist housing reporter, David Petit, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) Environmental Health Department, and Scott Epstein, policy and research director for Abundant Housing LA. If you have questions, call 866-893-5722 or email atcomments@laist.com.
Read David Wagner’s full story here
Clouds naturally reflect sunlight, helping cool the earth. But a group of scientists are experimenting with ways to make clouds even brighter and more reflective. The study is the first of its kind, aiming at infusing clouds with artificial sea salt that will, in theory, brighten clouds and cool the planet. Earlier research has shown that emissions from both natural sources and human activity provide a cooling effect. Of course, we know pollution from human activities can have a terrible impact on our health, but strangely, the particles increase the reflectivity of clouds which in turn helps cooling. Now, scientists are testing whether or not they can put non-polluting particles into clouds to achieve a cooling effect. Will it work and is it safe?
Joining us to discuss is Tapio Schneider, professor of environmental science and engineering at CalTech.
Hundreds of bottles of dietary supplements line the shelves in the “natural remedies” section of your drugstore. Options are dizzying, but that hasn’t stopped almost 60% of adults in this country from taking some sort of supplement, whether it’s a probiotic or multivitamin or obscure herb touted by enthusiasts. A recent piece in the Washington Post outlines the risks of taking supplements: among them, limited regulation of their contents, and potential interactions with medications. So when are supplements the right choice? And what about the risks? Joining us to discuss is David Seres, professor of medicine in the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
For most of the 20th Century, neurodiverse conditions like autism were considered to be quite rare, having less to do with their prevalence but more so with their researcher characteristics. Despite books like “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” having definitions for disabilities like ADHD or autism, the 1990s saw notable increases for both once clinical diagnoses began to understand the complexities of neurodiversity. So today on AirTalk, for this installment of our neurodiversity series, we get into this century-long development of definitions and how recent decades have led to a much more nuanced look into what neurodiversity is.
Joining hosts Austin Cross and Julia Paskin for this discussion are Steve Silberman, science writer and author of the book “NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity”, and Dr. Shulamite Green, licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA.
For many of us who aren’t from Southern California originally, there’s a certain…mystique to the idea of living here. Growing up from somewhere like the East Coast or another country altogether, our idea of what it’s like to live in SoCal might be informed by the way it’s often portrayed in TV and movies — a sun-splashed, palm tree-laden utopia with horrible traffic where people go surfing before work and your morning trip to the coffee shop could land you in line behind a celebrity or movie star. Such was the mental image that LAist senior editor Suzanne Levy, who grew up in London and lived in New York before finally settling in L.A. with her husband, had conjured up before coming here. And as she writes in a new essay for LAist, that early vision of SoCal she had in her head wasn’t one she was necessarily excited about being part of in the time leading up to her living here. But that all changed when she arrived in SoCal to discover that while some of those preconceived notions about living here were true, they just added to the charm and allure of it all. Today on AirTalk, Suzanne joins us to share some of her reflections from her essay “A Love Letter To L.A., From A Brit Who Never Thought She’d Fit In.”
LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network.