Today on AirTalk, we discuss a recently released study from Pew Research detailing that U.S. adult Twitters users are younger and skew towards liberal, educated, and women. We also examine a proposal by a Houston area school to implement a parent dress code; and more.
Measles outbreak advances tighter vaccination laws in CA
California lawmakers advanced tougher rules for vaccinations late Wednesday after hearing hours of testimony from hundreds of opponents while the nation grapples with the highest number of measles cases in decades.
The Senate Health Committee approved the proposal to give state public health officials instead of local doctors the power to decide which children can skip their shots before attending school. The push coincides with this year’s national measles tally reaching the highest it’s been since 1994, according to an Associated Press count.
Lawmakers decided stronger oversight is needed to stem bogus exemptions granted in many cases by doctors who are paid to excuse students from vaccinations.
They acted despite more than three hours of often emotional opposition from parents and some children, and after spending another hour debating where to draw the line between individual rights and public safety.
Democratic Sen. Richard Pan of Sacramento said his legislation would give state health officials the tools they need to prevent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, which in the first four months of the year have reached 28 confirmed cases in California.
With files from the AP
AirTalk contacted the bill’s sponsor, Senator Richard Pan, to request an interview but he was not available at the time we requested.
Guests:
Michelle Faust Raghavan, health care reporter for KPCC; she tweets
Paul Duprex, M.D., director of the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh; he tweets
Jacques Corriveau, M.D., pediatric hospitalist in Antioch, CA and senior chair of the State Government Affairs Committee at the American Academy of Pediatrics -- California, a co-sponsor of SB 276; he tweets
Robert Moxley, Wyoming-based attorney who represented plaintiffs in the 2016 lawsuit challenging SB 277, which ended California’s “personal belief” vaccination exemption
Twitter users younger, more educated and more likely democrat, according to study
U.S. adult Twitters users are younger and skew liberal, educated, and women, according to a report by Pew Research.
The report outlines that Twitter users are more likely to identify as Democrat than Republican, at 36 percent versus 30 percent. Twitter users have somewhat different values compared to the general population.
The analysis found also that a large majority of tweets come from a small minority of tweeters.
What do you think about these demographics of Twitter users? Should institutions and corporations use Twitter as a news source?
Guest:
Adam Hughes, computational social scientist at Pew Research Center; co-author of the new Pew report “Sizing Up Twitter Users”; he tweets
Anthony Nadler, associate professor of Media and Communication Studies at Ursinus College just outside of Philadelphia; co-editor of the forthcoming book, “News on the Right: Studying Conservative News Cultures”
A school in Houston implements a dress code… for parents
Shower caps, hair rollers, pajamas, sagging pants -- those are just some of things donned by parents of students at James Madison High School in Houston.
And its principal has had enough. The school recently issued a policy banning parents who dress inappropriately from entering the school.
The list of forbidden items, besides the aforementioned items, also includes low-rider shorts, torn jeans and leggings.
James Madison High isn’t the only school in the country that has instituted a dress code for parents. An elementary school in Richmond, Virginia, asked parents not to wear sleep caps, pajamas, short shorts and pants sitting below the waist. And a Tennessee lawmaker has introduced a bill requiring school districts to create a code of conduct for parents.
But these proposals are not without controversy. Critics argue that a dress code would discourage parents from participating in their son’s or daughter’s school.
Guest:
Tawnell D. Hobbs, national K-12 education reporter for The Wall Street Journal; she tweets
FilmWeek: ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ ‘J.T. Leroy,’‘The White Crow,’ and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Amy Nicholson and Wade Major review this weekend’s new movie releases.
- "Avengers:Endgame" in wide release
- "J.T. Leroy" in select theaters (check local listings)
- "The White Crow" at the Landmark Theater & ArcLight Hollywood
- "Nureyev" at Laemmle's Music Hall (opens at Laemmle's Playhouse, Royal, Town Center & Claremont on Monday April 29)
- "Knock Down the House" at the Landmark Theater (opens Wednesday May 1st) & streaming on Netflix (starts streaming Wednesday May 1st)
- "Mosul" at Laemmle's Music Hall
- "Instant Dreams" at Laemmle's Glendale
- "The Most Dangerous Year" at Laemmle's Music Hall
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that "Knock Down The House" would only have two screenings on May 1 and 2. It will have a full theatrical release at The Landmark starting May 1 and going through at least 5/9. We apologize for the error.
CRITICS' HITS
Wade: 'Avengers: Endgame, 'Nureyev' & 'Mosul'
Amy: 'The White Crow' & 'Knock Down the House,'
MIXED FEELINGS
Wade: 'J.T. Leroy'
Amy: 'Instant Dreams'
MISSES
Wade: 'The Most Dangerous Year'
Guests:
Amy Nicholson, film critic for KPCC, film writer for The Guardian and host of the podcasts ‘Unspooled’ and the podcast miniseries “Zoom”; she tweets
Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and CineGods.com
From bankruptcy to billions: How Marvel Studios came to dominate Hollywood in only a decade
When Marvel Studios first released “Iron Man” back in 2008, they could have never guessed that a little over 10 years later, their interconnected series of films would come to dominate the global box office.
Out of the highest grossing movies of all time, Marvel studios has four in the top 10 and with record pre-sale tickets, “Avengers: Endgame” is on track to be their fifth.
As the genre has dominated the box office throughout the 21st century, superhero films have grown beyond popcorn flicks to include critically acclaimed and Oscar winning fare such as “Black Panther” and “The Dark Knight,” and expanded beyond the standard PG-13 mold to audiences of all ages, from the R-rated “Deadpool” to the PG “Teen Titans Go To The Movies.”
Though “Avengers: Endgame” marks the epic end of the Marvel’s 22-installment series, the superhero genre show no signs of stopping. 2019 alone has 10 wide release movies based on comic book properties, with over 15 more movies being released in the next two years.
Today on FilmWeek, we talk with Ben Fritz, author of "The Big Picture: The Fight for the Future of Movies" and our critics Amy Nicholson and Wade Major about Marvel’s movie legacy and the future of superhero films.
Do you have superhero fatigue? What do you think has been the impact of Marvel Studios on the cinematic landscape? And what would you want to see going forward in the world of comic book movies?
Guests:
Ben Fritz, a Los Angeles bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal; author of "The Big Picture: The Fight for the Future of Movies" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018); he tweets
Amy Nicholson, film critic for KPCC, film writer for The Guardian and host of the podcasts ‘Unspooled’ and the podcast miniseries “Zoom”; she tweets
Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and CineGods.com