AirTalk dives into the newest information from Barcelona after Spain was hit with two vehicular attacks Thursday. We also look into tech companies’ new role in drawing the line between free speech and hate speech after GoDaddy, Google and more stopped servicing a neo-Nazi website; review this weekend’s new movie releases on FilmWeek; and more.
A look at the latest after vehicles plow through crowds in Barcelona, Cambrils
The Catalonian cities of Barcelona and Cambrils in Spain were targets of two new attacks where vehicles plowed into a crowded area.
As reported by the BBC, a white van zig-zagged through Barcelona’s famous Las Ramblas district Thursday afternoon, hitting as many pedestrians as possible before fleeing the scene. The suspect is still at-large and has been identified as 17-year-old Moussa Oukabir. Oukabir is believed by law enforcement to have used his older brother’s documents to rent the van that plowed through the crowd. Spanish police have described the incident as a terrorist attack, leaving 13 dead and more than 100 injured.
In a related attack early the next morning, an Audi A3 was driven through a crowd of pedestrians, this time in Cambrils, a resort town 68 miles south-west of Barcelona. The car overturned and five people emerged, some wearing fake suicide belts. They were shot and killed by police. A woman who was hurt in the attack died later at the hospital. Five other people were injured, one of whom is a police officer. Victims of the attack included an American whose name has not yet been released, and there were at least 34 nationalities representing people who were either killed or injured during the two incidents.
ISIS has no evidence that it was behind what happened in Las Ramblas, but claimed it was behind the attack. Earlier today, a stabbing spree in Turku, Finland was also reported. Details are still emerging. According to CNN, at least one person was killed and seven others were hospitalized.
To find out more, Larry speaks to a reporter who is on the scene in Barcelona.
Guests:
Bahman Kalbasi, correspondent for the BBC reporting from Barcelona; he tweets
Brian Michael Jenkins, senior advisor to the president of the Rand Corporation and one of the nation's leading experts on terrorism and homeland security; he tweets
Breaking news: Steve Bannon out at White House
Marc Fisher, senior editor for the Washington Post
After Charlottesville, examining how tech giants are becoming gatekeepers for online content
In the days since the violence in Charlottesville, major tech companies across the spectrum have been wading into the national discussion about how far free speech protections go when it comes to the kinds of hate speech that white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups use to promote their beliefs.
Monday, Domain name registrar GoDaddy de-listed the popular neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer. Google did the same after backlash when the site switched its registration there.
All of this raises the issue of whether, and if so how much, tech companies like Google, Facebook and GoDaddy should be policing the content on their sites. Some say it’s about time the companies start taking responsibility for offensive things that use their infrastructure as a platform to spread their message. Others worry about a slippery slope situation regarding free speech, and that the censorship could go too far.
Do you think these tech giants should be the gatekeepers in deciding what is offensive and what isn’t for their sites, or do you worry about the potential for going too far and running afoul of the First Amendment?
Guests:
Elizabeth Dwoskin, Silicon Valley correspondent for the Washington Post
Matthew Prince, CEO and co-founder of Cloudflare, a SF-based company that provides content delivery, internet security services and domain name server services; it recently announced it would stop servicing the neo-Nazi website ‘Daily Stormer’
Barry McDonald, professor of law at Pepperdine University
T-minus 3 days: Total solar eclipse
Over the next seventy-two hours, Angelenos will travel all over the country to cities and states in the once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse’s path of totality.
We’ll speak with them live on Monday as the eclipse peaks here in southern California. In the meantime, we talk with science writer John Dvorak, who has been following the eclipse's path for the last week, about what how people are preparing and what to expect from what is said to be a life-changing event.
Guest:
John Dvorak, a tech writer and author of numerous books, including his latest, “Mask of the Sun: The Science, History and Forgotten Lore of Eclipses” (Pegasus Books, 2017)
FilmWeek: ‘Logan Lucky,’ ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Claudia Puig and Justin Chang review this weekend’s new movie releases including:
- "Logan Lucky" in wide release
- "The Hitman's Bodyguard" in wide release
- "Marjorie Prime" at Laemmle's Monica Film Center and Laemmle's Playhouse
- "Patti Cake$" at ArcLight Hollywood and The Landmark
- "Gook" at ArcLight Hollywood and Regal Cinemas L.A. Live
- '"Lemon" at Nuart Theatre
- "Whitney: Can I Be Me?" at Laemmle's Music Hall
- "The Fencer" at Laemmle's Playhouse and Laemmle's Royal Theatre
Critics' Hits
- Justin: "Logan Lucky" & "Patti Cake$"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPzvKH8AVf0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-591Dqa48g
- Claudia: "Marjorie Prime" & "Gook"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SccmZSOW3OA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Duh20o-qWs
Mixed Feelings
- Justin: "Lemon"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG_WE2vue4c
- Claudia: "Logan Lucky"
Misses!
- Justin & Claudia: "The Hitman's Bodyguard"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpKmt4MpctM
Guests:
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association; she tweets
Justin Chang, film critic for KPCC and the Los Angeles Times; he tweets
How four immigrant brothers created an American film empire
The studio behind the “Harry Potter” film franchise, Heath Ledger’s award-winning turn as the Joker and now feminist box office hit “Wonder Woman” didn’t always have a promising future.
Founded in the early twentieth century by four Jewish immigrants, Warner Bros. got off to a shaky start before making history with groundbreaking films like “The Jazz Singer” and “Casablanca.”
In his new book “Warner Bros: The Making of an American Movie Studio,” film critic David Thomson reveals how the Warners’ roots led them to create a film empire that reshaped ideas of what it meant to be Jewish, an immigrant and an American.
FilmWeek sits down with Thomson to hear about the rise of Warner Bros. through the four very different brothers behind the scenes, their most notable films, and the producers, directors and stars who made them.
Guest:
David Thomson, film critic, historian and author; his most recent book is “Warner Bros: The Making of an American Movie Studio”