(1940-2017)
Professor of History at the University of Southern California and author of the seven-volume series Americans and the California Dream, including Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963, winner of the 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prize; State Librarian Emeritus of California
The History of Sunnylands President Obama is scheduled to host a summit with Southeast Asian leaders on Monday and Tuesday at the Sunnylands estate . That’s a 200-acre, 50-year-old retreat near Palm Springs that’s been a frequent stop for presidents – mostly Republican. Ronald Reagan used to celebrate New Year’s Eve at Sunnylands. The first George Bush held a state dinner there. Richard Nixon took refuge there after losing the presidency. We get a primer on the history of the property. Photo: Sunnylands' Room of Memories. Photo courtesy of Sunnylands.
Which Way, LA? The Question that Won't Go Away 23 years ago, the fires of the Rodney King riots were burning and the sirens wailing when KCRW first asked, WWLA? We've been through fires, floods, earthquakes and massive social, cultural and economic change. While this is the last program titled WWLA? the question still needs to be asked. We talk with a group of important and thoughtful people about what LA has become and about the challenges to be faced in the future…as we continue.
An Apology for The Hollywood Reporter's Role in the Blacklist Reporters Gary Baum and Daniel Miller have written extensively in this week's issue about The Hollywood Reporter's role in the Red Scare and the Hollywood Blacklist of the late 40's and 50's. Sixty-five years ago, a group of studio chiefs decreed a ban on employing 10 members of the film industry who had refused to cooperate with the House Committee on Un-American Activities. That led to the "blacklisting" of many more—merely because they were publicly accused of Communist sympathies — often in a front-page column in the Hollywood Reporter. World War II was over, Joseph Stalin was no longer a US ally, and anti-Communism had re-emerged as a full-blown movement. Southern California was a "garrison state for the Cold War" that was just beginning. We update the story with California State Librarian Emeritus Kevin Starr, blacklisted actress Marsha Hunt and Willie Wilkerson , son of the Hollywood Reporter's founder. Screenshot of Marsha Hunt from the trailer for the film "Pride and Prejudice" Nat Segaloff producer of "Hollywood Fights Back ... Again!" with actress Marsha Hunt, who appeared in the original broadcast Photo courtesy of the ACLU of Southern California
How Did California Become Such a Dysfunctional State? Governor Schwarzenegger and the Legislature are in the midst of re-writing the social contract, cutting education and services to poor children, the elderly, the blind and disabled. Debates over those measures are being held in public. Big tax cuts for major corporations have already been made, but they were negotiated in private. It’s not only because of the economic decline. How did it happen in the eighth largest economy in the world, a place where living standards have attracted millions of immigrants from almost every other country?
A California Drama without a Hollywood Ending Yesterday, while voters were trashing his ballot measures , the Governor was at the Obama White House for a photo-op on the federal adoption of California’s mileage standards. This morning, he was still in Washington. But Schwarzenegger's favorability rating has plunged into the low 30’s and, after yesterday’s election, all he can do is pick up the pieces. Five ballot measures suffered resounding defeat, leaving the state with a deficit of $21 billion -- larger than the entire budgets of most other states.
A California Drama without a Hollywood Ending Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says he came "to fix what is broken in California." But his favorability rating has plunged into the low 30's and, after yesterday's election , all he can do is pick up the pieces. Five ballot measures suffered resounding defeat, leaving the state with a deficit of $21 billion -- larger than the entire budgets of most other states. The biggest state in the union now faces massive cutbacks in healthcare, education, prisons and other services. Will Washington provide a bailout? Is the crisis due to a failure of leadership or the voters themselves? If California is "ungovernable," what does that mean for the rest of the country?
A Budget Finally Passes, but Schwarzenegger Says He'll Veto It The longest budget stalemate in state history is not over yet. Governor Schwarzenegger says he'll veto the plan finally approved this week by both parties. He says it contains "fake budget reform" and makes the fiscal crisis even worse because "it kicks that can down the alley" into next year.
How Should California Prep for a Population Surge? The California Department of Finance issued it's new population projections earlier this week, predicting not just an increase to sixty million residents but major changes in the makeup of the state. California is projected to become a majority Hispanic state by 2042, the San Francisco bay area will be home to even larger concentrations of Asian-Americans, and Riverside County will leap ahead of its neighbors in size. The projections make Los Angeles’ longstanding nemesis – traffic – even more daunting. Can the region build enough mass transit or freeways to cope? Where are all these new residents going to be housed, or go to school?
Arnold Schwarzenegger on the State of the State In his State of the State address, Governor Schwarzenegger said tonight that California has the ideas of ancient Athens and the power of Sparta. He said this state can lead the nation and the world into the future, and he called for massive new borrowing to equal the $43 billion in bonds passed by voters last year. He reminded reminded the legislature of last year's bipartisan agreements on the minimum wage, prescription drug costs and reducing greenhouse gases, and proposed that California move away from fossil fuels and foreign oil. We hear what he said and how he said it, and talk with several commentators, including historian Kevin Starr, who helped shape the Governor's vision.
The Kavanaugh Factor and the Midterm Elections Republicans have secured their long-term goal: a right-wing majority on the U.S. Supreme Court. There are conflicting expectations for rulings on abortion, immigration, voting rights--and the powers of both the White House and Congress. In this divided nation, public trust in the rule of law is also at stake. How will the bitter battle over Brett Kavanaugh impact next month’s midterm elections?