Many in the Republican establishment still want Trump out, and party rules just might make that possible; a doctors explains how a reindeer that's been dead since the 1940s caused a recent anthrax crisis; plus, KPCC film critics Amy Nicholson, Charles Solomon, and Peter Rainer review this week’s new movie releases, including the supervillain blockbuster “Suicide Squad.” TGI-FilmWeek!
Trump dropping out rumors are just rumors, but is now the time if he’s going to do it?
Rumors have been circulating this week that RNC Chair Reince Priebus and members of the Trump campaign are in talks over whether Donald Trump might actually withdraw from the Republican ticket.
Many have brushed off the notion as wishful thinking on the part of some Republican elected officials, but then Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort accidentally endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan for President on Thursday.
So what would happen if he were to withdraw?
According to RNC rule No. 9, “If a presidential nominee dies or withdraws, the RNC is empowered to replace her or him via one of two methods: (1) a vote by the RNC itself in which each state would cast the same number of votes as it possessed at the recent national convention, or (2) an actual reconvening of said convention.”
The only recent precedent was in 1972 when the Democratic VP nominee, Senator Tom Eagleton, withdrew from the ticket a couple weeks after the convention after it came to light that he has several DUIs.
Guests:
Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC and adjunct faculty at USC Annenberg School
Jeffrey Lord, a contributing editor to The American Spectator, a former aide to Ronald Reagan and author of "What America Needs: The Case for Trump"
Zika vaccines show promise, and Siberia’s anthrax outbreak is linked to climate change
Florida officials this week have confirmed the first cases of Zika transmission in the US.
As the disease spreads around the globe, scientists have been hard at work to come up with a vaccine for the mosquito-borne virus.
A new study published on the website of the journal, Science, on Thursday, shows promise in the race for a Zika vaccine.
A research team from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Maryland, developed three experimental vaccines. The 16 monkey that were vaccinated did not contract the Zika virus.
Progress aside, researchers warn that it’d still take years for a vaccine to be available. Early trials are next, possibly slated for later this year.
Cases of Zika were first reported in Brazil in 2015. A different disease, one that is much older, has recently been affecting Siberia.
An anthrax outbreak has sickened a handful of people and caused one death. The culprit: a reindeer carcass infected with anthrax spores that has recently been thawed out by a heat wave in the region.
It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but many scientists have warned that the warming planet could resuscitate once dormant diseases.
Guests:
Dan Barouch, M.D., an immunologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, who co-led the Zika study
William Schaffner, MD., Professor of Preventive Medicine at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. He’s worked on a range of CDC advisory committees
Men open up about why they identify as feminists
President Barack Obama wrote an article for “Glamour” magazine Thursday on his role as both a father and a feminist.
In the “Glamour” exclusive, “President Barack Obama Says, ‘This Is What a Feminist Looks Like,’” Obama gives a positive outlook on the opportunities for his daughters and recounts the struggle of his single, working mother. He also acknowledges there’s more work to be done for gender equality and how his feminist ideals were shaped by rejecting the stereotypes around masculinity.
So what does it mean to be a male feminist? What can dads teach their kids about being feminists? Patt Morrison speaks to a feminist father and to listeners today for an inside look.
Hayden in Palm Springs: I’m 23 years old and I think among people my age, it’s not such a big deal to consider yourself a feminist. I agree with your guest, I think feminism has moved towards a humanist standpoint, which I think it’s great. It’s much more inclusive—in terms of the whole LGBTQ+.
Even beyond that, my mom is one of the toughest and smartest people that I know. And because of that, it’s very easy for me to be with women who are powerful and smart. I think more and more, that is the case with people my age; however, I do think that part of the reason that I hold this belief is because my mom just went back to school for her master’s degree, and she puts in about 60 hours per week at work—but she’s on salary so she doesn’t make any overtime pay. However, she makes less than my dad, who doesn’t have a college degree. He’s been at the company for 20 years and he’s pretty high up in the ranks, but it’s frustrating for all of us in my family right now that my family busts her butt the way that she does. She’s such a tough, wonderful woman and she doesn’t get the extra pay. My mom is the most bada** person that I know.
Anthony in Silver Lake: I’m so disappointed that feminism has to be an issue. I was raised with five sisters and believe me, I know what it’s like to go to the grocery store for tampons. It has nothing to do with being feminine or masculine, it’s about intelligence. My sisters have taught me that it’s not about being male or female, but intelligence. I feel bad that women have to have this distinction, but it’s ridiculous.
James in Hollywood: I have been surrounded by wonderful, strong women in my family, my profession and in my relationships. But I think I really started identifying as a feminist was just before graduate school, and in graduate school. I started connecting the lack of feminist values in our culture, in a broad way, to larger issues: to ecology, health; to men’s issues, in terms of the way that the men’s culture is and how that can be awkward and stifling and limiting; to sexuality and to gender issues. I started to see how calling myself a feminist sort of aligned with all the values I had socially and politically, and not just in terms of women’s issues.
Guests:
Kathleen Gerson, a professor of sociology at New York University, where she writes about gender, work, and family life in the US. She is the author of many books, including “No Man’s Land: Men’s Changing Commitments to Family and Work” (Basic Books, 1994)
Michael Kasdan, Director of Special Projects at The Good Men Project, an online publication focusing on modern masculinity. A declared feminist, he is a dad of a son and a daughter
This story has been updated.
Listener comments have been edited for clarity.
FilmWeek: ‘Suicide Squad,’ ‘Nine Lives,’ ‘The Little Prince’ and more
Guest host Patt Morrison and KPCC film critics Amy Nicholson, Charles Solomon, and Peter Rainer review this week’s new movie releases including the supervillain blockbuster “Suicide Squad,” Kevin Spacey as a cat in “Nine Lives,” an animated version of the children’s classic “The Little Prince,” and more.
For tickets to tonight's screening of "Tiempo de morir," click here.
TGI-FilmWeek!
Amy's Hits
- "Nine Lives"
- "Lace Crater"
- "Embers"
Mixed Reviews
- Peter and Charles: "The Little Prince"
- Charles and Peter: "Hieronymous Bosch, Touched By the Devil"
- Amy: "The Dwarvenaut"
This Week's Misses
- Amy and Peter: "Suicide Squad"
- Amy: "Amateur Night"
- Peter: "Five Nights in Main"
- Amy: "Hieronymous Bosch, Touched By the Devil"
Guests:
Peter Rainer, Film Critic for KPCC and the Christian Science Monitor
Charles Solomon, Film Critic for KPCC and Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine
Amy Nicholson, Film Critic for KPCC and Chief Film Critic, MTV News; she tweets from
The life and career of 'Miss Sharon Jones!'
She's a force of nature on stage, in the recording studio, and as the subject of the new documentary "Miss Sharon Jones!" by Oscar-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple.
The Grammy-nominated Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings have brought back the raw energy of soul music at its best. The film opens in select cinemas today and tracks the electrifying soul diva as she faces a life-threatening illness.
Larry Mantle speaks with Sharon about her start as a recording artist at age 40, her inspiration, and her ongoing battle with an illness while touring the world.
“Miss Sharon Jones!” opens today in Los Angeles; Sharon will be at the Nuart for tonight's screenings (7:30 p.m. show with a Q&A; 9:55 p.m. show with an Intro)
Guest:
Sharon Jones, Soul singer featured in “Miss Sharon Jones! a new documentary by Oscar-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple (“Harlan County, USA”)