It's been a summer of leaks and exposed government surveillance programs. In latest news, your snail mail is being tracked too. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe yesterday confirmed the existence of a mail scanning program. Are you surprised or alarmed? How does this surveillance compare to electronic data? Also, will graduate students be paying the price for lower student loan interest rates for undergrads, and how do you feel about wildlife in your neighborhood? Later, our Filmweek critics review the latest movies and discuss the value or lack thereof of remakes. Which classics should never be remade? All that and more, today on AirTalk.
The government is tracking all your snail mail, too
It's been a summer of leaks and exposed government surveillance programs. The Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe confirmed the existence of a mail scanning program to the Associated Press in an interview published yesterday. The program, called the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program, in which USPS computers scan the exterior of every piece of domestic mail, was first uncovered by the New York Times in July.
Donahoe told the AP the scanning program is used mostly for mail sorting purposes, but law enforcement agencies have used these images "a couple of times" in criminal investigations. Furthermore, Donahoe said the scans are only stored for up to 30 days and are then erased. "We don't snoop on customers," Donahoe told the AP. "It's extremely expensive to keep pictures of billions of pieces of mail. So there's no need for us to do that."
Guests:
Ron Nixon, Washington Correspondent, The New York Times
Amie Stepanovich, Director of the Domestic Surveillance Project at the Electronic Privacy Information Center in DC focusing on emerging civil liberties issues
Does the student loan deal cripple grad students and the 'Knowledge Economy?'
After weeks of wrangling, Washington has reached a compromise on student loan interest rates. While many eyes were focused on the numbers, a critical new precedent has been set in this deal. For the first time, the federal Stafford loan program will have different rates for graduate and undergraduate loans.
To the dismay of some in the ivory tower, graduate students will be required to pay interest on their loans at a higher rate (5.4%) than undergraduates (3.9%). Debra Stewart, president of the Council of Graduate Schools, says the move is bizarrely counter-intuitive for a country that needs to feed the knowledge economy with ever more brilliant minds.
The new deal only exasperates her hand-wringing after last year’s decision by Congress to make grad students ineligible for the program that pays interest on federal student loans for low-income students while they are still in school.
How could this affect American industries down the road? What is the earning potential for those with postgraduate degrees? What does that mean for their debt repayment? Will these new policies unwisely exclude promising minds?
Guests:
Debra Stewart, president of the Council of Graduate Schools, an organization representing graduate education and research in the U.S. and worldwide.
Neal McCluskey, Associate Director, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato Institute - a Libertarian-leaning public policy think tank; former high school English teacher; Author, “Feds in the Classroom: How Big Government Corrupts, Cripples, and Compromises American Education.”
The unique relationship between humans and wildlife in urban Los Angeles
Residents of Los Angeles are blessed with a topographical treasure found in no other city on the planet — ours is traversed by a mountain range.
In addition to the Santa Monica mountains, we are also in constant contact with a host of other natural elements, from the Angeles Forest to the Pacific Ocean, and Angelenos often find themselves living in dense urban communities while minutes away from mountains, rivers and beaches.
The close proximity to nature can be both beautiful and exciting, and it also means a healthy dose of interaction with animals, from the most ubiquitous crows to rarer species like mountain lions and black bears. These interactions can range from being funny and disorienting to downright frightening.
Think of the recent story of a coyote that sneaked up on a family at an Orange County cemetery and dragged away a 2-year-old with its teeth before the baby’s mother wrestled her back away. Or how about Meatball, the Glendale bear who for months in 2012 came out to rummage for food on trash days.
These incidences are often amusing, even if a little more than frightening, but how are we supposed to react? What are the proper ways to deal with animals that “trespass” in human environments? Are there trends that humans are responsible for that endanger animals or might cause them to roam from their habitats? Are there ways to prevent these interactions, or are they just a part of life in LA? Are there misconceptions about the threat of animals in human habitats? How does the public safety concern compare with the concern of environmentalists and preservationists?
Guest:
Beth Pratt, California Director of the National Wildlife Federation
This topic will be the focus of an upcoming panel discussion at Zocalo Public Square, titled “Does LA appreciate its wild animals?”, on Friday, August 9th.
Filmweek: 2 Guns, The Spectacular Now, The Smurfs 2 and more
Guest host Patt Morrison and KPCC critics Peter Rainer, Lael Loewenstein and Charles Solomon review this week’s releases, including 2 Guns, The Spectacular Now, The Smurfs 2 and more.
We'll also talk about the legacy of Eileen Brennan, the actress best known for her Oscar-nominated performance as Doreen Lewis in "Private Benjamin." Brennan died earlier this week at age 80.
2 Guns
The Spectacular Now
The Smurfs 2
Guests:
Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and the Christian Science Monitor, author of “Rainer on Film: Thirty Years of Film Writing in a Turbulent and Transformative Era”
Lael Loewenstein, film critic for KPCC and Variety
Charles Solomon, animation film critic for KPCC and author and historian for amazon.com
Untouchable roles: Can 2013's 'Carrie' hold a candle to Sissy Spacek?
Because Hollywood never tires of remakes, you may have seen trailers for the reimagining of "Carrie," in theatres in October.
Back in 1976, Brian De Palma first directed the screen adaptation of Stephen King's creepy tale of a sweet, meek and tortured teen with the power of telekinesis. Lead actress Sissy Spacek scored an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Carrie, a rare recognition for a horror flick.
This year, young Chloe Grace Moretz is cast as Carrie. The 16-year-old actress doesn't have the same haunting looks as Spacek, but Moretz is not a lightweight, having worked with directors Tim Burton and Martin Scorsese.
"You shouldn't remake great movies, you should remake movies that had great ideas, but didn't work," said Peter Ranier, film critic fir the Christian Science Monitor, on AirTalk. "There are a lot of movies that could have been good that got botched along the way. Unless the remake really has a reason for being and a whole new guise, I'm not sure you should touch it."
When reprising a role, the comparisons are inevitable. Universal has been planning to remake "Scarface," and it looks like the director may be David Yates, director of four of the "Harry Potter" movies.
One thing for sure is that whoever is cast as the next Tony Montana has some pretty big shoes to fill. Who might you cast?
Ranier points out that some of the best remakes are when foreign films are adapted into American movies.
"Some of the greatest remakes have been the French to Hollywood movies, like the great Renior movie 'Boudu Saved from Drowning,' which was remade as 'Down and Out in Beverly Hills' with Nick Nolte and Richard Dreyfuss," he said.
Ranier also cites the Phil Kaufman 1978 remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" to be an example of an excellent remake, because it had a social message that made sense during the current sociopolitical climate at the time.
"There's a reason for that film to have been remade because it was set in San Francisco in the 1970s during the human potential movement," he said. "It makes a lot of sense that these pod people would be in the human potential movement."
Could you imagine a new actress taking on Diane Keaton in "Annie Hall"? Jeff Bridges in "The Big Lebowski"? What about Marlon Brando in, well, anything? Which movie characters are owned outright by the actors who originally played them? How tough is it for casting directors to overcome such a challenge?
We want to hear from you: Which film characters do you think could never be played by another actor? Tell us in the comments!
Carrie (1976)
Carrie (2013)
Guests:
Avy Kaufman, Casting Director, “Carrie,” “Lincoln,” “Brokeback Mountain” and many more
Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and the Christian Science Monitor; author of “Rainer on Film: Thirty Years of Film Writing in a Turbulent and Transformative Era”